The Dickinson press., 1907-08-31
THE THUGS Of INDIA,
STRANGERS Who Inherit Their
Bloodthirsty. instinct.
THEY ARE BORN MuRDERERs.

THEY ARE BORN MURDERERs.
They Kill From a Sense Of Religious
Duty, and Every Corpse to Their
Credit ID q Stepping Stone to Heaven.
Methods Of These Vicious Nomads.
4 For centuries before the supremacy
of the British crown In India the en-
tire land, from Bengal to Bombay and
from the Himalayas to Travancore, was
harassed by bands of fiends known as
thugs (stranglers).
In 1857, when England deposed all
rulers and placed the purple upon the
shoulders Of her representative, the
Ciceroy, conditions changed, and,
among other outrages, the thugs were
hunted down and forced to cover I'M
der the penalties of the new laws. For
years they were unheard of. and men
gradually forgot the terrors they had
learned from the lips of their forefa-
khers, who considered it a prime duty
to caution their children against the
dangers that would beset them from
Hadledom till death by the prevalence
of thuggee.
But occasionally wen nowadays the
fhug gets in his deadly work. The
motive OF the thug IL threefold. His
horefathers for generations were blood
Ministers, and he comes by his call
ing through heredity. He must have
blood or he will die. He murders from
Tie instinct Of pure passion. Akin to
murder, as 1t necessarily is. the rob-
bling Of his victim Is a Joy, and he
Ehuckles 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 q class by himself-he is a murderer
6rom a sense of religious duty. His
Victims are a sacrifice to the gods. The
more victims, the more propitious the
sacriice. 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.
Ills system varies no more than the
pendulum. xiii and gain heaven; fail
and be damned" is his slogan. But he
never fails. The nets he lays r in
tricate, his plans complex, interchange
able. Where one falls short another
succeeds.
| The thug is a nomad. Nowhere Is
his permanent home, and any jungle
or mountain cave serves his purpose
Tor a shelter or a place tosvaunt his
treasure. He Is a perpetual traveller.
His victims r likewise travellers, for
Q lonely road and a forest path alone
suit his purpose. The city and the
palace are not for him.
/ The system, which is no misnomer,
l1or the method that Is used In the
practice Of thuggee, Is as unique as 1t
BIS terrible. In the history Of the ma
HONS no other organization has W
been known to proceed similarly. The
whole crime is committed al though
operated from an electric switchboard
"a mere passing of the current and
the deed Is done. The method Of pro-
eedure Is this:
After prayers have been offered to
The goddess Of death, Kali, the entire
band, usually from ten to forty men,
prepares for the expedition. Every
man strips to the skin, wearing only
d light leather girdle about the waist.
THE girdle is furnished with various
pockets to deposit plumber. Stripped,
the thugs engage for a time in ath-
1edc games, such as wrestling and run
ming, In order to be physically fit. A
bath Is then taken, and the whole body
from topknot to toe nail Is creased
with sweet oil. A small, keen blade Is
nipped into the girdle, a cord wrapped
tround the waist in loose coils. They
he ready to start.
With the stealth Of the tiger the band
proceeds through the jungle. Some
hines they walk, at others crawl.
Every tree, every shrub, is q vantage
point. and thither they seek shelter on
Die slightest suspicion. They scarcely
cause a fallen twig to crackle as they
tread, yet their movements are swift
. a serpent's. They glide rather than
move normally, and The Esniaky CLEAN Of
their eyes completes the sinaihtude.
They reach the appointed spot.
1t - along q lonely road passing
Through a lonely forest No light Is
visible save that from stray moon
beams percolating through the closely
woven boughs Of trees and overgrow-
ing shrubbery. The band assemblies
In silent conference for a few mo-
ments. The leader utters a few words
hn mysterious lingo. Instantly all but
-four Of their number disappear in the
forest. These have been chosen to
perform the deed. They confer eager
~ with each other for a few seconds,
then depart in opposite directions,
two each way along the roadside. At
given interval each man halts, lies
lat on his stomach on the ground and
With suppressed breathing awaits his
unsuspecting victim.
The wait 10 a long and tedious one.
But that matters little. Long school,
ing In the art has taught the thug the
var<nn If nafionrp and hA lies an i'm.