The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1911-05-17
TRIAL BY ORDEAL.
The Farce Called Justice That
siam Used to Play.
The Accused and the Accuser Each
Rad TO Face tho. Same Kind Of Music,
and Whichever Way the Case Was
Decided the Judges Were Winners.


civilized Europe do not include trial by
ordeal, but in the east 1t Is still rec
ognIzed means Of proving I'm accused
persons innocence or guilt. In a coun.
try like Siam, now so closely III touch
with western influences, the ortleal by
fire was practieed generation ago
This is the oldest form OF ordeal In
Siam, as In any country. When pre-
pairing for the ceremony two trenches
We're dug side by side. They were
each about ten feet long. two feet wide
and two feet deep. These We're filed
with layers of redhot coal to q depth Of
ten inches. The plaintiff, or accusor,
walked over one fiery path and the de-
PENDANT over the other. In order to
prevent the parties from uuduly hur
rying over their tasks rods were placed
across their shoulders, and certain Of
the officials leaned heavily on these
one at the end of each rod In reality
they partly defeated their own ends
for the great pressure of the horny
soes of feet unused to boots somewhat
quenchcd the fire beneath them. When
the walk was completed the soles Of
the feet were examined in order to de-
tect any burns or blstcrs This exam
nation was repeated every day for IF
teen days, and at the end Of that time
the man who showed no signs of being
hurt in any way was adjudged the
winner. During the course of the trial
the judges sat in specially erected
and gayly decorated pavilion, where
they Toasted royalty, the expense OF
which had TO be betrayed Jointly by
the persons engaged in the lawsuit.
1t happened more than once that the
fire failed to make any impression on
the feet of the competitors In such
cases they were both compelled to I'LL
dergo another trial by means of the
water ordeal. If both parties got
singed, then they were both held to be
guilty of something or other, and SO
they were both punished with heavy
fines.
The water ordeal is kind of diving
competition. The spot chosen wasaei-
ther some part of the nearest river or
else large. deep pond. The law in
sisted that the spot must be one where
the water was clear and cool and free
from leechcs and mud. In the case OF
a river there was to be no strong cur
rent. The preliminary preparations
| were simple and consisted in driving
two tough poles into the bed of the
| pond or river for the competitors to
take hold of on immersion. These
poles were placed about ten feet apart
Before the actual trial took place q
cockfght YVES held, in which the two
birds were supposed to represent the
| two litigants, and the result Of this
preliminary conflict was held to he
ominous of the results that would at
| tend the serious trial. s
This was never omitted, because the
| spectators, who were assembled II
hundreds to watch the event, always
treated 1t as q kind Of holiday and
| gambled largely as to the issue of the
day; hence the cockhght was n sort
| of guide to them In their speculations
| The two persons next addressed them
| selves to the water deities and asked
| for their protection and help, each be
seeching them to help him only and
each promising gifts and offerings
!, should he be successful.
Then they stepped into the water
until 1t reached up to their necks
They were hampcred by heavy collars
| similar to those sometimes worn by
Chinese prisoners. Round their wrists
they wore bracelets of unspun thread
| which had been blessed by the priests
| and which were considered to possess
| a protective charm against all adverse
influences. Finally each one had {
strong rope fastened tightly round th,
waist by means of which he could b.
hauled out OF the water, because whel
/ both men were possessed of grea
breathing capacity 1t sometimes hap
pened that after prolonged immersion
the competitors were too much ex
hausted to get themselves out OF tn
water
| When all was ready horizontal pol
was placed across the shoulders O
i each person, and at a given sigma
from a mGtal gong the two poles wer
simultaneously depressed by the off
Gals, and 30 the two heads wer
thrust under water The divers girl
ped their wooden stakes and griml
held their heads under the surface {
the river until one or both found then
selves in danger of immediate sufft
cation. The man who remained undC
the water the longer Of the two wo
the day. The trial was subject to
time limit.
In certain cases diving by proxy Wa
allowed, and then general search wa
made for able and willing substitute
There Is story extant, says Erne'
Young In the London Taller, of no,
a Persian trader quarreled with
Burmese about some commercial frau
The Burmese engaged as his represel
tative the champion diver of the iii
trict, but the Persian outwitted hi
by employing as his substitute a pr
fessional pearl diver from the Persia