The Examiner. Published MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MAY 25.

Woodville Examiner, Volume XXII, Issue 3878, 25 May 1906, Page 2

The Examiner. Published MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, AND FRIDAY. FRIDAY, MAY 25.

The execution of the twelve natives who murdered SubA Inspector H ivn t, dramatic whose death marked scene. the commencement of the native rising, took place on a plot of ground a mile from Richmond on the morning, of April 2. Stirring scenes were witnessed at the execution, which was carried out in as impressive a manner as possible in order that it might have a salutary effect on ths hundreds of natives who were bidden to witness it. The men were shot in two batches of six each. Early in the morning the officials visited them in the prison at Richmond and told them that they were to be publicly executed at noon. They received the news with absolute indifference. Later in the day an armed guard of soldiers went to the prison. The condemned men were marched into the court-yard, the soldiers surrounded themf and, beaded by Government officials, the procession moved off to the execution ground—a secluded spot in the valley outside the town. When they arrived the firing party, consisting of 150 man of the Natal police and 20 native policemen, were already drawn up in a line. Near by were two deep graves fifty feet apart. As the condemned men caugb sight of the firing party their apparent bravado disappeared. They shook with fear. The officials lost no time in carrying onttbe sentence. The first six men were hurried along to the appointed spot twenty fe.ef; immediately in front of the firing party. Then they were ordered to kneel and face the muzzles of the rifles The Rev. Mr Myer addressed a few words of exhortation, and at the conclusion the officer in charge of the firing party gave the command “ Fire !” The rifles cracked sharply in response, and all six men fell dead in a heap. The Dative spectators were evidently deeply impressed with the ceremony, "but in order that its true significance should be fully appreciated Colonel Royston addressed words of warning to them while the second batch was being marched to the place' of execution. The last six were commanded to kneel, again the order to fire was given, and the six dead bodies lay on the ground. • Formal certificates of death were signed, and the bodies were then placed in the graves. In the course of the Rev. Mr Myer’s ministrations .the prisoners confessed their guilt, regretted their crime, and expressed their readiness to die. . Before their execution the men were taken to the court-house, for the purpose of hearing the confirmation of the death sentence. The men greeted the court respectfully with a loud cry of “Bayete!” in salutation to the supreme chief, this being the Zulu equivalent to th,e “Hail. Caasajx! Those about to die salute thee!" of ancient Rome.

In ten years, probably much less, the world will be able to messages send messages to to Mars directly and uumars. hesitatingly, without a bituh or a stop or a word lost in space. Such ie the opinion of Marconi. “That jt is possible to transmit signals to Mars I know as surely as if I had a gun big enough or powder strong enough to shoot there—more surely, in, fact, for a gun might miss the mark, w bile my wireless message will strike the entire solar system without aiming. Mars and our earth lie in the same great unbroken bed of ether. We know this because all night long the beams of the sun reflected from Mar’s red surface stream down the astronomer’s telescope. If we ace able to send signals through space over such intervening obstacles as mountains, forests, cities, liberating vast quantities of electricity, and yet safely delivering them at the point ( of reception undistuibed and unopnfused, it follows as a na'ucal deduction that it is merely a question of commanding sufficient power to set up the necessary disturbance in the ether where there are no obstructions inter veiling to send signals to even so distant a point as Mars. Only very recently Professor Lowtll succeeded in photographing the so-called Martian canals. From their straightness he is .certain, they are not natural, Out the result of intelligent beings. Their stupen dons size, he asserts, prdves that the diggers are not only creatures of great size and strength, but indefinitely further advanced in the use of mechanical devices. Such being* could most easily and quickly communicate their answers to our planet. Mars must be all eyes and nerves.”

The re-awakening of China is a potential fact.stated the the Daily Chronike«awakenino cle's correspondent OF china. at. Hong Kong on a recent date. Inspired by the achievements of her island neighbour, she has embraced militarism; arms her legions with

modern weapons, enrols her cavalry, founds well-equipped arsenals, and clamours for naval bases (such as Weibaiwei) for (he ships that her progressive leaders contend are vital for the protection of her interests. The soldiers she had enrolled under her banners are smart and queueless, they stand in formation or at ease with tire bearing thoroughly trained to arms. Tuan Shi Hai’s army in the North is a legion of Anaks, for not one man was enlisted unless he was 6ft high. In the schools —even here in a British colony—drills are rigorously carried out day by day. TJie youths are trained to the word of command, to evolutions, and to the carrying of arms.'w To such - an extent is this -observed?. gentleman (who is an English scholar and boasts of an University degree) confessed the other day that be views with alarm the vast strides feverishly made in military matters by bis countrymen.,,- It. bodes ill for the peace of the J'ar East—that limit* •lewfreW fqr ,commercial enterprise. The'define of ■“ Ohina'ffott the Chinese ” is being persistently instilled into the'tninda bf their nationals* , Qotjcessions are no longer to be ’ from them-; their?ljmd and its resources are no longer to be exploited -by the “.foreign devil.’’ The Reform Party has'nub laboured in vain : “ China for the Chinese.” The Chinese. hate the foreigners now as deeply as ever they did, but it is the collision,of the Mancbus and the Chinese that we have to fear. Itr will laefa mighty -upheaval, -and the action of the United States in dispatching., troops to Manila may tend to spostpone the day when ah outbreak shall be seen in the .land of’i'he Celestials beside which the Boxer rebellion will pale into insignificance. When the Manchus arq dethroned, enthusiasm of the Chinese’ may know ho bounds — neither may. their ambition. Then mast the 1 foreigners be; prepared to defend their own.