The Halifax Comet. — 1893-06-24 (Halifax, West Yorkshire, England)

BROWNE.  N this country, where criminals and trifling offenders of the law are punished by having to undergo a term of penal servitude or imprisonment, and where even murderers are granted a quick and merciful death, it is difficult to imagine the atrocities which await the law-breakers in many other places, more especially throughout China. Chinese rioters, members of secret societies, and other dangerous people are seized at the very first opportunity by the officials, who tax their ingenuity to inflict the most suffering on their prisoners without the means of doing so being visible. One of the ordinary punishments is the compulsory kneeling on a coil of chain; this does not appear very dreadful, but the agony it causes is beyond description; and to make the case worse, two guards are stationed by the one who is paying penalty for his faults, to prevent him seeking even a moment's relief by a change of posture. Finger-squeezing is another common torture. Four pieces of bamboo wood are tied together loosely at one end; a string passes through the other ends, so arrangad that by pulling they may be drawn closely *together •' when a man's fingers are placed between these pieces of bamboo and the string is pulled, he stands a good chance of having them rendered useless m the future.  I  --Cie*-24 •4e I gpft„. flr reit...\ 11.4 ti PA  The ankles arc often crushed in a similar  way. • The cage-torture is horrible. An iron cage is constructed, in the top of which is is hole just fitting the prisoner's neck; in this a man is crushed, hanging by the weight of his body from his neck, and unless he can make his tow touch the bottom and so support himeelf, he will surely not be able to live long. The snake-torture is perfectly barbarous. The victim has to kneel down whilst pewter tubes made like snakes are wound round his naked arms and body. They have open mouths, into which quantities of boiling water arc poured, producing the most indescribable agony. Another favourite punishment is to keep.a man from sleeping. Everybody knows what it is to be deprived of even one night's rest, and when a guard keeps a prisoner from closing his eyes for days and nights in succession, it will be readily believed that the poor creature thus tormented gar off hishead, and not infrequently dies a raving lunatic. Again, criminals are made to hang head downwards, or by their hands and feet, the suffering thus caused needing no comment. Sometimes a man is made to sit on a bamboo chair in a very uncomfortable position, and is so firmly secured that he cannot move. Should any of my readers doubt the severity of this treatment, let them try sitting even on itn ordinary chair, with their legs hanging unsupported about four inches from the ground and their arms stretched out horizontally; one minute will suffice to make them pity the poor Chinese. The cTigne is a very common punishment. It is a piece of wood about three feet square, having a hole in the middle through which the victim's head is forced, and round it paper is pasted on which is stated what particular crime the wearer has committed. Whilst wearing this collar—which he often has to do for three months—he cannot feed himself, and may starve to death if he has no friends; the officiabi will not give him any food, for they stand by and rejoice to see him suffer from the pangs of hunger. Beating with bamboo is another method of bringing a criminal to justice, awl, if large pieces of the wood are used, death is almost certain to be the result. Yet some men receive five hundred of these blows and are none the worse: but they are people who can afford to bribe the executioner. Sometimes, too, a man is allowed to find a substitute—if he pays well. These are only a few of the Chinese punishments; decapitation, crucifixion, and many others figuring prominently; but enough has been said to prove that English offenders are dealt with very mercifully compared to the criminals in China.  • • •, I '4ll, •