Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1907-08-08
THE THUGS OF INDIA,
Strangers Who Inherit Their
Rloodthirsty Instinct.

Strangers VINO inherit Their
Bloodthirsty Instinct.
THEY ARE BORN MURDERERs.
They Kill From Sense of Religious
Duty, and Every Corpse to Their
Credit Is q Stepping Stone to Heaven.
\ Methods Of These Vicious Nomads.
For centuries before the supremacy
Of the British crown in India the en-
tire land, from Bengal to Bombay and
from the Himalayas to Trayancore, was
harassed by bands of fends known as
thugs (stranglers).
In 1857, when England deposed all
rulers and placed the purple upon the
shoulders of her representative the.
viceroy, conditions changed, and,
among other outrages, the thugs were
hunted down and forced to cover un-
der the penalties OF the new laws. For
years they were Hnheard OF, and men
gradually forgot the terrors they had
learned from the lips of their forefa-
theirs, who considered it prime duty
to caution their children against the
dangers that would beset them from
:radledom till death by the prevalence
Of thuggee. 3sS
But occasionally even nowadays the
thug gets in his deadly work. The
motive Of the thug is threefo1d. His
forefathers for generations We're blood
thirsters, and he comes by his call
Ing through heredity. He must have
blood or he will die. He murders from
the instinct Of pure passion. Akin to
murder, as it necessarily is, the rob
bling of his victim Is a joy, and he
chuckles to himself as he drops a drip
ping ear or a bloody finger into his
girdle for the sake Of the jewels.
His last motive and here he stands
In class by himself he Is murderer
from a sense Of religious duty. Els
victims are sacrifice to the gods. The
more victims, the more propitious the
sacrifice. A corpse is his stepping
stone to heaven He must kill or he is
eternally lost.
He loses no time; no idle words are
| exchanged. He works like the clock.
| His system varies no more than the
pendulum aKill and gain heaven; fall
and be damned, 2 is his slogan But ne
! never falls. The nets he lays are in
tricate, his plans complex, interchange
| able. Where one falls short another
succeeds. u
| The thug is a nomad. Nowhere Is
his permanent home, and any jungle
| or mountain cave serves his purpose
for a shelter or q place to walnut bis
treasure. He Is a perpetual traveller
His victims are likewise travellers, FOL
"a lonely road and forest path alone
4 suit his purpose. The city and fhe
4 palace are not for him.
The system, which is no misnomer
! for the method that Is used in fht
practice of thuggee, is as unique as i
/ is terrible. In the history OF the ma
4 lions no other organization has eVel
been known to proceed similarly. The
4 whole crime is committed as though
4 operated from an electric switchboard
Ia mere passing Of the current ans e
the deed is done. The method or pro
/ cedure is this:
After prayers have been offered z
i the goddess Of death, Kali, the entir'
band, usually from ten to forty men
prepares for the expedition. Ever.
man strips to the skin, wearing oni.
| light leather girdle about the waist
The girdle is furnished with variou
pockets to deposit plumber. Stripped
the thugs engage for time in atf
/ letic games, such as wrestling and run
ming, in order to be physically ut.
bath Is then taken, and the whole bod
from topknot to toe nail is grease
with sweet OIL A small, keen blade
slipped into the girdle, cord Wrappe
around the waist in loose coils. The
are ready to start.
with the stealth of the tiger the ban
proceeds through the jungle. Som
!. times they walk, at others craW
Every tree, every shrub, Is a vantas
point. and thither they seek shelter g
the slightest suspicion. They scarcel
cause fallen twig to crackle as the
i tread, yet their movements are swi
J. as serpent's. They glide rather tina
!. move normally, and the snaky CLEAN !
!, their eyes completes the similitude.
They reach the appointed sps
Z It ii along q lonely road, passiI
; through lonely forest. No light
J. visible save that from stray moo
r beams pereolating through the close
]; woven bonghs OF trees and oyergro'
4 ing shrnbhery The band assembl
In silent conference for q few %
ments. The leader utters q few wor
2 In mysterious lingo. Instantly all 3
4 four Of their number disappear In t
forest. These have been chosen
ed perform the deed They confer Gags
iy with each other for a few secont
d then depart in opposite direction
two each way along the roadside.
Il given interval each man halts, i
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