The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1907-05-10
FRIDAY AFTERNOON, MAY 10, 1907.
DECAPITATIoN BY CHINESE.
Tragedy Witnessed on Good Friday
by Alvin E. Shaeffer.

I'll now confine my thoughts to lighter
vein. Social life ? No, that has too much
of ''Tea'' flavor about it. Sports or di-
versions of the foreigner? No, they are
a bit prosaic 1t behoove me, therefore,
to revert to the stereotyped subject of Chi
nese Characteristics or Customs, and, after
all. I do not know of anything which
would be of more interest to you than
hasty description Of a certain tragedy OF
which was a witness on Good Friday. 1t
was decapitation scene, and there were
two victims. Presumably the best way to
deal with this subject is to 90 into details,
although fully realize how painful con
dition this is-to the reader. | shall,
therefore, again ask your patient indul-
gence.
The day was cloudy and decidedly unfit
for photograph work. The streets were
ouagmire, as all Chinese streets are during
the rainy season. The smells were not
modified by the dampness, nor were the
crowds any smaller than usual, In fact, the
street leading from the Yamen to the Elk
ecution Ground was thronged with a mob
of natives, who, scrambling for superior
positions and babbling in their uncouth and
unintelligible tongue, were anxious to see
the criminals as they were carried by.
We plodded along through the filth of
the streets and jostled vermin infected
coolies with an abandon, typically charac-
teristic, of people bent on some mission on
which their thoughts were seriously CEN
tered, and totally obliyious to the more
impending conditions. Suffice to say we
reached our destination in due season, and
in advance of the Mandarins, which, of
course, was our primary object.
We had not long to wait. Even while
we were bewailing the fate of our clothing,
which was muck and mud bespattered to a
frghtful degree, the verger Of the Man
DARN appeared in the distance. lmmedi-
ately preceding him were the two con-
demned men. They were shackled in
most substantial manner, and were being
carried by four coolies in the same fashion
they carry merchandise, i. e., they were
hung between the bearers on ropes through
which bamboo poles were thrust, and sup
ported on the shoulders of the carriers.
When they reached the place where they
were to spend their last moments Of lite,
they were dropped by their supporters in
precisely the same way coolies drop heavy
loads upon arriving at their destination
This was but the initial scene Of the many
succeeding barbarous acts which symbolic
the custom of decapitation in this truly
heather land.
An immense crowd had assembled to
witness the execution, and strenuous meas
ures were used to keep them back, in Or
der to provide space for the tragedy which
was to be enacted, shortly. The scene Of
the beheading is simply an open lot, con-
veniently near, or otherwise, to the Iamen,
and no attempt whatever is made towards
its upkeep; it is simply a barren waste.
The incessant rains Of the previous week
had converted it into an artificial lake, in
places, and you can imagine, perhaps, the
conditions obtaining at the time men
toned, with the surging hundreds endeav
oring to get near the spot where were To-
Gated the unfortunate beings who were
about to lose their lives.
Stripped to the waist, and on Bonded
knee, they were placed in line with each
other, facing the North, and their arms
were tied behind them in such way as to
throw the head forward when someone
lifted the arms upwards. Attendants
cropped the hair on the back of the necks
to facilitate the bloody work of the stern
looking executioners who held heavy gilt
tering blades of sharp steel in their hands.
Two other attendants, standing in front of
the condemned, held taut their queues
to steady the neck and to make it a more
solid base for the descending sword. The
only evidence of life in the criminals was
manifested by the heavy breathing of both,
and the violent shudders which success
sively passed over the other Not a muir
muir escaped their lips. They did not
close their eyes. Still their earthly end
was near. Yes, there is the silent signal
Absolute silence reigns AS quickly it is
broken by the irregular salute which is
fired by the company of soldiers. The
executioners take aim at the necks Of their
victims. Mechanical like the great blades
are lifted high above their heads, and at
the second signal, they swiftly descend on
their mission of destruction. The end has
come. The head of the one nearest me
jumped, as it were, from the body, and
the life blood leaped after it in such
manner as to cause me to think that it was
determined not to be denied the privilege
it had enjoyed during the years now past
and gone, never more to return. The
dismembered head fell with a sickening
thud in the mire of the field, not dozen
feet from me- could not help observing
the Gfe-ike condition Of the eyes, and the
rapid, but gradual, death stare which pos
sessed them almost Immediately. Twas
a gruesome sight, and needless to say, it
left an impression on my mind vivid and
austere.
The feet observation of ones mind
compasses, almost instantaneously, details
Of like incidents, which, to describe them,
takes hours. And the order of their oc-
currence is often lost to the readers mind
by the description necessary to portray
them accurately, especially on an occasion
like this, when things of a material nature
happen in such quick succession.
To return to my subject, the body, with
convulsive shudder, lunged forward and
lay still, awaiting to be unshackled and
unbound, and then placed in the odd and
rudely constructed coffin.
The second executioner was not as sue
cessful as the first, in that he failed to
sever the head at the initial blow. 1t APP
pears that the attendant, who had been
holding the queue Of his victim, let go be-
fore the proper time, and this made it
harder for the executioner. Nevertheless,
he did not seem the least bit perturbed
over his inability to do clean job, and in
most indifferent way grasped the hair of