CHINESE JUSTICE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12615, 18 November 1911, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHINESE JUSTICE.

A grim ttilo of some Chinese methods of meting out justice, to offenders has been related to the London Standard by Mr W. J. Murray, a chemist who lives in Hong Kong. A few months ago Mr Murray and ten other Europeans undertook* a voyage in a Chinese junk to a village called Yang-Tse, about forty miles from Hongkong. Night fell while they were still some distance from the village, and i during . the night the junk was surrounded by Cliinese pirates and captured. After being robbed of all their valuables tho Europeans were left to make their way to Yang-tse as best as they could. On arrival they reported the robbery to the chief mandarin, who immediately set out a large force of soldiers to secure the pirates. After a hot battle, in which forty of the pirates were killed, twenty-four were captured and taken to Yang-tse. They were tried on the spot by the mandarin, who ordered them to be exeouted. Early next morning a bell was rung to summon all the inhabitants of the neighborhood, and when they had gathered on the seashore the mandarin ' informed them that tha pirates had been sentenced to death Ihe twenty-four prisoners were placed in a. lme before the crowd and handed over to the executioner. "As the executioner approachdthe first man," Mr Murray'* narrative states, "he ordered him to turn round and kneel on the sand, draw., mg a large double-edged sword from hi* belt at the same moment. At a nod JftT-'i , c ° -nj^M-in he seized the man's pigtail firmly m his left hand and pulled S«t • *if° rwa 7 d - After making a small nick in the neck, as a sort of preliminary Si, fawner gave his sword a quiet twirl, and the head was off." The ££. cess was repeated until all the prisoners __-_ Jw /* 6ca P/ fc ated, and Mr Mifcroy "tnC-S**-^ 8 *&& did not flinch, although each shuddered perceptibly .„ h S? n m _ d6 thft fSb&SKkid at%I 6E ? Pl *f 6d ra P°l™E werei_£J_Vf* n d^' - bodiea l-Tn.S^iT* into , a P lt - I* »to b* hned that the awakened China wilT ____ don such horribl» karJtwSSi,