Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-10-25
DOES THE SEVERED HEAD LIvEs


Has Seen Many Decapitations.
Does decapitation cause instantaneous
death? DR.. Oliver D. Norton Of the
United States navy declares that 1t does
not. and his conclusions are based on
personal observations gained as a wit
ness Of nearly fifty executions.
DR.. Norton has been in the naval SER
vice for eighteen years. He Is at pres
ent stationed on the receiving ship Min
neapolis, at the League Island navy
yard. He has been around the world
several times. He has seen much SER
vice in the Philippines, and when the
allied forces marched to the relief of
Pekin he accompanied them. 1t was on
this expedition that he gathered the
data that forms the basis Of his declar-
alton that the death Of a man beheaded
Is not instantaneous. At Canton he
witnessed the execution Of thirty-six
Chinese in one afternoon, and studied
the gruesome spectacle from purely
scientific standpoint. In telling about
the spectacle yesterday DR.. Norton
said:
It was on Sunday afternoon in last
November that the wholesale execution
took place. I was standing outside a
pottery where the official execution
ground is situated, when there were
loud shouts and a crowd of Chinese
came running up. The thirty-six con-
demned men followed in litters carried
by coolies. The mems elbows were
drawn back and pinioned; their hands
were bound together and heavy irons
were on their legs. The liters were
turned over and their occupants spilled
out on the ground. Seven came in the
first batch, and these were. forced to
kneel in the street and wait nearly ten
minutes for the arrival Of the others.
Piracy and murder were theScrimes for
which the majority Of the men were to
be killed.
When the others arrived they too
were made to kneel. the party being ar
ranged in a long line. two and three
abreast. A tag was attached to each
mans pigtail and a similar tag was
fastened to the blouse. This was for
the purpose of Identification and to in
sure the burying Of each head with the
body to which it belonged. A stick
stuck out of the collar Of each mans
blouse and to this was attached an ac-
count Of the criminal and his crime.
The men showed no signs Of being un-
der the influence Of opium and were ap-
parently unconcerned.
A high official, with red umbrella,
came out to see that justice was done.
and guard Of fifteen soldiers lined up
to prevent any attempt at rescue.
Many Of the condemned men exchang-
ed farewells with friends in the crowd
of onlookers, but there were no signs
of grief or collapse on the part of any
one.
Two executioners performed the en-
tire &c decapitations. The headsmen
were armed with heavy two-handed
swords. They did their work cleanly
and rapidly, and in all but three cases
the heads fell at q single stroke. There
was no pause on the part Of the execu-
TONERS and each seemed to be anxious
to outdo the other by performing the
greater number of decapitations. Be-
fore each stroke the headsman rose on
his toes and delivered the blow with all
his force His assistants followed him
and when the bodies did not fall they
pushed them over.
The executioners began their work at
the front of the line and those behind
saw their companions accept the fate
that was to he theirs in few moments.
There was no f1inching. however, and
not a man tainted or showed any symp-
toms of being about to do so.
A remarkable feature Of the occasion
was the demeanor Of the spectators.
AS the sword fell on the first victim
there was a wild outburst Of cheering
and this was repeated after each stroke.
I asked a Chinese the reason for the
demonstration and he said that it was
to make the doomed men brave.