Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-07

His mother, wife and ministers guarded
him very carefully They would not per-
could prevent It, ana never even allowed
him to see the British resident alone for
tear he might exposeatheir crimes and COM
spiracies or do soTfething to provoke Brit l.
seems to have been In predicament SINH.
lar to that of the Emperor Of China at
present practically a. prisoner In his own
palace, and the key OF his cell was carried
at the girdle of hsd1dfe or his mother, who
exercised as much authority as the empress
dowager at Pekin..
This situation was naturally resented by
the rest of the family, which was very
had more than 100 wives, and nearly all of
them bore him children Twenty-six of his
thirty sons were ratz that time alive, and
as most of them took an active part in the
gov eminent and the politics and intrigues
of the court they continually interfered
win the plans and purposes of that gentle
iaty, queen Supayalat. Therefore. with
the approval of her mother and the CO.
operation OF Taing-Du, one of the minis
ters, she had every blessed one of her hus-
bands. relations slaughtered, sparing
neither sex, infancy nor age. She made
clean job of 1t.
The Massacre.
On the night of February 10, 1879. about
eight months after the coronation, the Jail
IL the palace grounds was cleared of the or
d'nary prisoners, vino were taken elsewhere.
large trench was dug along the lakewood
stockade that surrounds it. Messengers
went from house to house within the walled
city and summoned all the princes and
princesses, with ali their children, to appear
IortnW'ih at the palace. Instead of being
conducted into tie royal presence, as they
expected, they were called out of the au-
uence chamber one by one bound hand and
foot, and escorted to the Jail, where they
Mi ,ntrf n al
Most of them were beheaded, others We're
stabbed or strangled in struggles to defend
themselves. 1t was an extraordinary sur
prise party. The party were entertained
pleasantly IN the palace until their turn
came in order that they should not suspect
what was going en- about them
The slaughter continued through the night
ana all the next day until between eighty
ana one hundred persons were slain. The
exact number cannot be stated, because no
record was kept and the number of children
belonging to the several families is un-
KNOWN The only relatives of the king who
escaped were Thebaws mother, his mother
in-law, his three wives and another half
sister, who was in Buddhist convent,
Prince Nyan-quay-an and Prince Mingin,
VINO with their mother had fled to Cal
cutta. SsSaSSinS were officially sent to dis
patch the latter, but the news of the mas
Sacre arrived there several days in advance,
and, although they pretended to bear a
friendly message from the king to his broth
terfered and arrested Them and after.
time sent them hack to Mandalay. The two
princes who escaped are still living in Bur-
ma, having been granted pensions by the
British government.
The massacre was conducted so secretly
that the facts were not known outside the
walls for several days, although there were
whispered rumors in the bazaars on the
10Th and 18th Of February. 1t was not
until the murdered persons began to be
missed and their disappearance caused in
quiry that their terrible fate became
known, and the full facts were not dis
closed for several months afterward The
bodies of the dead were buried in the trench
within the Jail inclosuTe but it would not
hold them all. and for some reason, in
stead of digging another trench, the re.
red velvet, loaded with weights, hauled
four miles to the banks of the Irrawaddy
river and cast into its waters.
A General Slaughter.
The nurmurs of ,slscontent and the fears
of a general uprising caused by the mas
sacre-for several ofsIthe members of the
royal family wereicvery popular and at
least three of the kings brothers were
leaders of political ganizations-provoked
general slaughter throughout the king
dom until the number of official assaSsna-
tons reached thousand Tor more. Every
person of political Importance who was
including several foreigners, and several
attempts were. made to- assasslnate the
British resident. y h.WaS afterWafd7 dis-.
closed that the massacre OF the entire lot
eign population of Burma was contem-
plated minister's; cOnSulSs missionaries,
merchants and several ,employes OF the
government included. The orders were
actually given by, the queen, but her MIN
listers, who realized the consequences that
would follow, refused to carry them out.
Thebaw, "the Merciful, the King of the
World the Friend of the Rising SuA the
Lord of the White Elephant" lost his head
entirely. He must have been distracted by
the horrors that were committed IN ms
name for he fled to monastery Wlthin
the walled city, where he appealed to the
sorcerers and soothsayers. who, for their
own reasons, aggravated his fears and hor-
rors until he became practically demented
and permitted his wife and his ministers 10
plunee the country into war with Great
Britain which could have only one result.
AS soon as he surrendered to Gen. Pen
dergrast he begged for protection against
his own people, and at his urgent request
he and his mother, his sister queen and two
half sister wives, with several members of
his household, and his servants, were con-
cealed in covered army wagons and hauled
to a steamer on the river, which carried
Them without stopping, to Rangoon. With
out landing they We're transferred to a gum
boat in the harbor and carried at once to
Madras, where they remained under pro-
lection until their present residence at
Putnajhuri was prepared for them.
When you ask why the lives of these
monsters were spared you are told that the
British government feared an uprising of
the people, who, through centuries have in
herited a reverence for royalty and are
convinced that their kings and queens can
do no wrong. Subayalat atoned to her gods
for her crimes by building 1.-The Golden
monastery on the outskirts of Mandalay
so-cailed because the exterior is entirely
covered with gold leaf.