The Dickinson press., 1908-02-01
THE THUGS OF |ND|l'
Strangers Who Inherit Thslf''
.sSY Blbodthirsty Instinct
THEY ARE BORN MuRDERERs.

THEl:lY ARE BORN MUR0ERERSs.
Thsy Kill Fem j Ssnss sfs Rsllsisss
Duty, and Every corpss Is Thsir
Credit q : stepping stons e Hsavsa.
Methods Of Thee Vicious Nemsda.
For centuries before the supremacy
Of the British crown In India the /.
tire land, from Bengal to Bombay md,
from the Himalayas to Travancore, was
harassed BY bands of aends known 40
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 nm.
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-
theirs, who considered 1t q prime duty
to caution their children against the
dangers that would beset them from
cradledom till death by the prevalence
Of thuggee.
But occasionally event nowadayssthe
thug gets In his deadly work. The
motive Of the thug Is threefold. His
forefathers for generations were blood
thirsters, and he ome by his call
ing through heredity. He must have
blood or he will die. He murders from
the instinct OF pnre passion, Akin to
murder as 1t necessarily Is, the rob.
bling OF his victim is a Joy, and he
chuckles to himself as he. drops q drip
ping ear or a bloody finger into his
kirdle for the sake Of the Jewels.
His last motive-and here he stands
III a class by himself-he is a murderer
from a sense; Of religious duty. His
victims are q 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 IL
eternally lost.
He loses no time; no idle words are
exchanged. He works like the clock.
His system varies no more than the
pendulum. "Kill and gain heaven; fail
and be damned" is his slogan. But ne
never fails. The nets he lays areSin-
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
for a shelter or a place to vaunt his
treasure. He is a perpetual traveller.
Hi victims are likewise. travellers, for
a lonely road and a forest path alone
suit his purpose. The city and the
palace + not for him. sa
The system, which Jig no m~isnoGper,
for the method that is used in ahe
practice Of thuggee, is as unique as It
is terrible. In the history Of the pa,
tons mo- other Organization has ever
been known to proceed similarly. The
whole crime is committed as though
operated from an electric switchboard.
Ia mere passing Of the current and
the deed is done. The method Of pro
cedure is this: 4
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 sto the akin, wearing only
light leather; gtrdle about the waist
The girdle fs furnished with various
pockets to deposit plumber. Stripped,
the thugs engage for a time in attn
[letic games, such as wrestling and run.
ming, in order to be physically at. a
bath is then taken, and the whole body
from topknot to toe NAH Is creased
with sweet oil. "A small, keen blade Is
dipped into the girdle, a cord wrapped
around heswaist In loose coils. They