The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1903-11-21
TAKE oATHs TO DO MURDER.
Bound by a Terrible Obligation to
Perform Their Work.

Perform Their Work.
Few people. even in San Francisco,
have a correct idea Of the Chinese high
binder and the cause Of the frequent wars
I'm the Chinese quarter The word high
binder is, perhaps. a localism. and it has
no special meaning. 1T was applied by
the police to the societies of Chinese as
sassins because they did not know the
names of the societies According to the
statement Of a Christianized Chinese to
one Of the mission teachers, there are m
this city several such societies. with
membership of from fifty to perhaps 200
each. They have names indicating that
they are bands of brotherhood but the
members are professional assassins and
viii kill anyone for pay, SAYS the san
Francisco News Letter.
They are bound by Oaths. like the Car
bouari OF Italy. and a traitor meets
death n the hands of one of the mem
bers. who is selected by lot The organ
izations differ in detail. but the main OBJ
jact OF all IS the same-tO rob and muir
der. The organization Of one of the larg-
est highlander societies IN the Chinese
quarter is partly described by this Chris
uaniZed Chinlman. who was certainly
member. but who said that his cousin
told him. There are q chief seclnd
chief. a secretary an ''iutrOducer' and
eight swOrdsm5n. The candidate for ad-
mission unplaits his queue. indicating his
abieCt submission to his superior Officers.
He then led into The room by the Off
cial introdUcer, red robe Is thrown over
him and he IS required TO kneei under an
arch or eight swords. One of these
sWOrdsmeu places thc. blade of a sword
uu0n the back Of the candidates neck
as am indication of his fate If he betrays
his associates The chief dressed i'm red.
sits ON a small platform. which is draped
in the same color, and TO mis- right is a
book containing the Oatns- passwords ana
signs of the order In a raid few years
ago the police captured one of these
books and had 10 translated The society
tLen adopted a new manual There are
number Of oaths, the principal ones bind
ing the members to obey the orders Of
the society without question. and the
rules prescribe penalties for refusal.
When the candidate is taking the oath
his finger is pierced with a needle and
the blood drops into a glass of wine held
by the member who stands sponsor for
him. They bOtn drink from this glass,
siguifying that they are of the same so
ciety and of the same blood relation
ship The grips and passwords are then
communicated to him, and he rs now a
full-fledged highbinder-an assassin for
pay.
When the society receives a commission
20 kill a man a good hatchet man Is Sc
war. the society details a number 81 its
best shots. The blood money goes into
the common fund and is used for the de-
Tense Of criminals care of the wounded
and pensions IF sent to the state prison.
The surplus is divided according to the
rank and services rendered. If a high
binder is killed while i'm the discharge Of
his bloody work the society gives him
large funeral. sends his bones to China.
and pays MS FAMILY a small pension. A
society viii not abandon any Of it's mem
bers I'm trouble and will fee a lawyer as
long as 1t has a dollar or can get funds
by forced loans or threats Of assassina-
ton.
These societies levy tribute upon mer-
chants and II not paid robbery or per
haps. assassination follows. They terror
ize the depraved women and collect from
them sums weekly; also from the owners
Of these women. II the owner refuses to
be blackmailed they steal or fOrcibly
take one OF his women and hold her for
a reward or sell her to some other bag
noi keeper. Sometimes the bagnoi keep
or hires a rival society 90 protect his
dens. Then there is war between two
Highlander societies.
When one society invades the district
of another a war IS the result. The rival
bands Of outlaws have the Chinese quar-
ter divided. and IL is q violation Of the
treaty to plumber or murder in each 9TH
er's territory The gambling houses ara
also a steady source Of revenue, paying
an agreed sum weekly TO be let alone.
The highlander societies are terror 10
the merchants. who would gladly sec
them driven out Of the city Then peace
would reign Ia the Chinese quarter.