DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 4258, 17 July 1895, Page 5

DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR.

Mr Frederick Villiers, the special correspondent ot ' Black and White ' during the recent war between the Chinese and Japanese, relates the following very painful incident, of which he was an eye-witness :—": — " Walking with Mr Creelam, of the ' New York Herald,' early one morning by the old walla of Kinchu we came across a very piteous sight. In a garden just below the southern wall, adjoining a honse evidently belonging to people of considerable means, we saw the dead bodies of seven women and children lying on some mats by the side of a well in a corner of the garden. Around the well were four or five Chinamen, two of whom were dragging its depths with a long pole. A girl and a little boy had just come on to the scene, and were standing a few yards off, the girl sobbing bitterly. Presently we could see the men dragging had discovered another body, and soon it was brought to the surface and laid with the others. Once more the pole probed the depths, and another body, that of a young girl, was brought to the surface. Again the depths were dragged, and another miserable object was brought up and gently placed beside the others. As the sun broke through the lingering mists of the morning, the light fell on the deathly features of the last comer. The young girl, with the little baby at her side, suddenly threw up her arms and gave a loud shriek, and, snatching up her little brother, ran wildly into the house. These poor women, fearing rough usage from, the Japanese, had committed suicide, preferring death to dishonor."