Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1908-09-23
EXECUTION IN CHINA
DR.. EDwORDS WITNESSES BEHEADING
OF CHINESE CRIMINAL.
Description Of Methods Of Torture and
Death Of Chinese Offenders Of
the Law

| oHdnSnd, Cilud, Sept. 81, lJOo IL
am now waiting for the vessel to
carry me away to the South Seas. and
glad | shall be to shake the, was
going to say dust. mud of China
from my shoes. am glad / came and
saw China but do not want to come
again. l would advise everybody to
come once. They would see much
that would make them contented with
their own countries and their own lot
in IifeJ But they will not want to
come again unless they are more
| hardened to human misery than 1
am. have told of the filth. of the
starvation, of the ignorance and of
the savagery of the Chinese, and there
remains the worst of all to be told.
have visited the prison and have seen
an execution, and if there remained
in my make-upa q single feeling Of re-
spect for the Chinese it has been most
effectually eradicated, and there is
now nothing left but loathing in the
extreme. Chinese exclusion should be
the Cry of every true American.
Cruelty is, in most varied form, the
predominant feature of Chinese pri-
son. The Chinese who do something
many ways of breaking Chinese law
that it is a wonder that everybody is
not in Jail, is punished by imprison-
ment and by stocks for minor offenses
and by death, either sudden or linger-
ing. if the infraction be serious.
When he is put in prison he is at the
mercy of his friends and relatives, for
If they do not feed and care for him
he will ssarve to death, as the govern
ment does not give food to it's
prisoners.
The common punishment for minor
offenses is the bastinado. The
culprit is tied face down ON a board.
Then he is flogged from head to foot
with heavy whip, and this is fol-
lowed by beating the soles of the feet
with a bamboo rod until they are SO
raw that the offender can not walk
for week or more. The next higher
form of punishment is to put the cul-
prit in frame of wood so that he
hangs by his neck. his toes just
touching the ground. His hands are
fastened so that he canLot ease the
strain on the neck, and he is kept in
this condition for days, and some
times for weeks. his relatives feeding
him and doing what they can to re-
lieve him.
! saw one poor devil standing in
this position, his mouth open and his
face covered with crawling flies, some
of which crawled in and out of his
mouth. all feeling apparently being
gone. as he made no effort to keep the
flies away. If the culprit is a mali
cious offender the stocks are covered
with spikes and sharpened nails to
keep him in constant torment.
/ saw one felon strapped to board
through which small nails had been
driven. These were piercing his flesh
in dozens of places. and his blood had
caked all over his body and on the
board. He was being prepared for
execution and it was thought neces-
sary to torture him first. 1t is be-
lieved that if Chinese die without
his body being mutilated he will 60
to the abode of the blessed, but if his
body be mutilated when he dies he
will have TO remain in the place of
the bad until his wounds heal. conse-
quently in order to make the punish
ment fit the crime the Chinese execut-
ioner will mutilate the body both be-
fore death and after. The high class
Chinese usually are given the privi-
lege of throttling themselves with
silken cord when they have trans
gressed the law in such manner as
to deserve death, but the low class
Chinese suffers both before and after
his life goes.
Quick death was meted ont to the
man whom | saw executed. He was
brought out of his prison and placed
before the eXecutioner, who compelled
him TO kneel down in front of him.
The queue was raised and carried for
ward over his face while the culprit
knelt with bowed head With a sword
one swift blow sent the head rolling
several feet away, while the body
twisted and turned for several min
utes after the head was gone.
Sometimes this sort of death is too
good for the crime that has been CON-
mitted and they have an execution
which brings death slowly. The
victim is hacked with knives until
small pieces are taken from all over
his person. his blood running from
hundreds of little wounds. The loss
of blood gradually brings about the
death. and it sometimes takes hours
for the end to come.
My next letter will be from the is
land of Tahiti. and l will tell of how
the French government has brought
about the civilization OF the savages.
Etarapaa II E1wnrIo