kRE HUMAN FIENDS.
CHINESE PRACTICE DEVJLISH
FORMS OFJTORTURE.
Of All Peoples on Kartb They Are the
Moat Cruel and Delight in .tonic
Drawn Out i'uuiuliiuent home ot
Their byieui.
Uf all races ou the face of Uie earth
tiie umuese are the most cruel, tue
most devoted to tearful torture ot tuose
iu tueir power aud tue most adept in
devising ever new loiuis of luaityruoiu
lor tue objects of their iiatred. iu their
almost simple cruelty they are lower
Uiau the uuimals. It tuey merely ue
ligiited iu torturing, one migut Bay it
vaa a perversion, but they do hot
merely denght iu it. They torture liv
ing creatures, from rats to mau, as a
simple matter of course, aud tiie iiative
victims accept It equally as a matter
of course. There Is something supreme
ly terrible lu the matter-of-tact, stolid
way lu which they subject a prisoner
to demoniac palu with as much readi
ness as a magistrate would sentence a
uiau to speud tea days in jail.
To begm with, there Is the whipping
and scourging with biimboo rods. This
Is so common a method of "preparing"
a victim for trial that it Is hardly con
sidered puuishment, much less torture.
Yet the bamboo Is laid on hard enough
to bring blood at en'h stroke, aud, es-'
pecially when It Is applied to the soles
of the feet, the victim often faints
from tin in nrl !i of Klnnil conibined.
One hardly can enter a Chinese court
of "justice" without witnessing a flog
ging. The mildewt punishment that Is known
to the simple aud kindly official Chi
nese soul Is the cage or cangue. Its
principle is that of all Chinese punish
ments wlow torture. A Chinaman
would take uo artistic pleasure In any
thing that killed quickly or that reach-
IIUNOIIKAK DOWNWARD.
ed Its culmination of pain quickly. Ills
victim miiHt suffer a little more, and a
little more, and then a little more, each
hour. I u that way he makes his de
light last long and can keep a whole
Hiring of wretches to charm him by
their slow dying for months. If he
killed them at once his fun would be
over too soon.
The cangue, then, Is formed to keep
the agony of the peulteut up for
months, till madness or death end his
Bufferings. It Is a delightfully simple
thing so simple that I here Is nothing
nt nil terrifying about It at first sight.
It merely is a large frame of wood,
with a collar In the middle, it weighs
about fifty pounds, and Is so made that
tt can be locked around a man's neck.
r i I
TUIAL OK A CHINESE BOXEK.
When It Is so locked It rests directly ou
the muscle of the neck and on the
bones of the shoulder, aud It Is so con
structed that it cannot be shifted even
a tenth of an Inch, nor can the weight
be relieved with the bands, lu addi
tion, the collar has a sharp rim under
neath. At first the victim does not
suffer much, except from Inconveni
ence. He Is turned loose as soon as the
cangue is locked on him, and for an
hour or two lie waddles around In fair
comfort. But gradually, ns the Bharp
edge of the collar cuts deeply Into the
flesh of his neck, nud nil his muscles
re drawn more nud more tense, pain
begins to conquer hlin, aud iu a week
the torturers have the felicity of see
ing a maddened wretch stumble and
fall around blindly, weeping aud yell
lug with an mi l ati.
HOW THE CHINESE
t
Victim bound to a cross, while the executioner with a sharp sword slices off
parts of his body. The torture sometimes lasts for a day before death ensues.
The bamboo furnishes favorite Im
plements for Chinese legal torturers.
Sharpened slivers of bamboo are used
for countless purposes In countless
ways. Indeed, If the reader will im
agine just what he would hate most
to have done to him with a bamboo
sliver, he will hit something that the
Chinese are sure to do. The most sim
ple and merciful deeds are to stick tiny
slivers all over their victims and to
leave them there to fester. Worse still
Is the cheerful practice of driving
wedge-shaped pieces of bamboo under
the linger or toe nails of accused per
sons. This Is done slowly with a mallet.
How They Crucify.
Crucifixion is a common form of pun
ishment, but usually It Is only a mere
aceompanlmeut of other horrors. Of
air punishments involving crucifixion,
the one that delights the official Chi
nese heart the most is Iiing-Chee.
LIng-Chee is such a brilliant result of
Ingenious thought that the executfon
ers rarely nail the mau who Is to suffer
this form of punishment to the cross.
They fear that the pain from that
might Interfere with his enjoyment of
the real performance, which is noth
ing less tiinn slicing him to death with
diabolical skill. Therefore the ' man
who Is to suffer liug-ehee generally Is
bound to the cross. Then there arrives
the executioner. An executioner skill
ful nt llng-chee Is viewed with high re
spect In the empire, much ns a success
ful bull fighter is viewed in Spain. To
bungle In llng-chee and to slice so much
from the victim early' In the game that
he faints, or, worse still, dies before
he has suffered nil the slicing that has
been decreed, would blacken the execu
tioner's name forever, aud might even
make him the next subject for llng-chee.
The executioner is received with a
little murmur of approbation, for his
record Is ns well kept In mind as Is the
record of an athlete In America or Eng
land. He bows to the high dignitaries
n nd then takes one of his swords from
the swoil-cnrrIer who has followed
him. They are wonderful swords Hint
lire used by the llng-chee1! executioners.
Sometimes they are hundreds of years
old nud have records so long ami bloody
that a person with nerves might well
shudder to touch them. The execu
tioner does not shudder, lie knows
what depends on his delicacy of touch.
Swiftly he swings the great weapon
around his head till it whistles. Satis
fled that It Is ready for business, he ap
proaches the victim slowly. First he
feints at him and withdraws. Then he
makes believe again. Suddenly the
sword shoots In wickedly, nnd one of
the victim's eyebrows is sliced off so
neatly thnt It scarcely draws blood.
Now begins wouderful work wonder
ful and devilish. It tuny be that the
condemned mnn has been the subject
of great luiperlnl mercy. In thnt ense
be may have been blessed beyond com
TORTUkE AND KILlV
pare by having his sentence commuted
so that he is to be killed lu only twenty
sliciugs, whereas hardened offenders
might have been sentenced to die only
after seventy-five cuts or even more, If
the victim Is very lucky, the sword will
beat him so swiftly that the eye scarce
ly can follow it. At each stroke some
part of the poor bound body will fall to
the ground. Now It may be a shoulder,
WKAK1XO THE COI.LAK.
now a piece of the breast, now au ana.
Suddenly the last cut is made. It iJ
straight at the heart, and the weapon
cuts It out nnd ends the sufferings ol
the wretched mau. But the spectacle is
not ended. The executioner now has t
dismember the corpse, nnd this he doei
with passes of the sword, each careful
ly studied nnd doue accordingly to reg
ularly lald-out rules, till there is abso
lutely nothing left on the cross nnd
only a pile of terrible fragments lies at
its base.
Plow Torture.
When liug-chee Is to be a long opera
tion, nnd the victim Is t6 die only after
long torture, the slicing sometimes is
done so slowly that half a day elapses
before the condemned man dies. The
executioner knows Just" what to cut
without killing, and he goes to work as
carefully as would n surgeon. Muscles
nnd tendons and flesh are stripped
from the body with the razor blade of
the sword, until only a dreadful frame
work remains that still has awful life
In It. And at this terrible spectacle the
Chinese gaze stolidly, without nn ex
pression either of pleasure or loathing.
Another ingenious torture thnt Is
much URed Is to suspend the condemn
ed man with his head down In a pit. At
the iKittom are snakes, toads nud all
kinds of loathsome reptiles, which
writhe within a few Inches of the vic
tim's face. Here he Is left until the
torture of the position, hunger, thirst
and reptile bites kill him.
Dressmakers and Bud Fits.
The dressmakers are meeting with
such disaster in their attempts to col
lect through the courts bills for drenses
for which payment Is withheld ou the
ground of a bad tit that there Is talk of
a dressmakers' trust or some sort of a
protective association. The advocates
of this movement say It is Impossible
for au ordinary mau Judge to tell
whether a gown tits or not If the wear
er wants to make It appear otherwise.
Models of Inventions.
B. .C. GUI, superintendent of models
In the patent office nt Washington, mis
charge of about 400,000 models of Uni
ted States Inventions granted during a
period of something over a huudred
years.
The mnn who nlwnys speaks the
truth is sure to have other virtues.
. All Is not gold that glitters. Some
times it is a dinuioud.
Kf fei WEARING
THE BEST SELLING BO
Not One that Is Mentioned in Monthly
Literary Reports.
"Several of 'the literary magazines
publish lists every month of the most
popular books," Baid the representative
of a large Northern publishing house
who is in the city looking after the
Southern trade. "These lists are com
piled from data furnished by dealers
and public librarians at different cities,
and the volume that usually occupies
first place is, of course, the novel that
happens to be the fad of the day. As
a matter or fact, however, nonetif them
have ever printed the name of the book
that is really most popular and actually
the best seller, not alone for this month
or last month but for every month of
the year. That book is the Bible. It
may surprise you to know," continued
the speaker, "that the Bible is selling
better to-day than at any time since it
was first printed. Last year, from Jan.
1, 1899, to Jan. 1, 1900, the American
Bible Society nloiie issued nearly a mil
lion and a half copies. The exact fig
ures are 1,420,801. Of course the so
ciety is an immense concern, but there
are several others in the United States
and a number in England and Europe,
all turning out nothing but Bibles.
They publish them In every conceiva
ble shape, from the beautiful Oxford
editions In flexible covers at $25 apiece
down to the little cheap volumes iu
fine print that retail for a nickel. Now
adays a very good, serviceable B.ible is
sold for 50 ceuts. It has all the latest
and best notes, several colored maps
that edition has been enormous and has
run into the hundreds of thousands.
The wars on both sides of the water
have had a very marked effect In In
creasing the demand for Bibles. You
can make a calculation of the total
force in the field, both English and
American, and then count on at least
one Bible for each soldier. Some of
the boys who went to the Philippines
got upward of a dozen, aud most of
the soldiers' Bibles were handsome,
substantial copies. I think, seriously,
that the old stories of Bibles that have
stopped bullets have Influenced many
a mother, sister or sweetheart in the
selection of a good, thick volume in
preference to one of the thinner and
lighter editions.' Yes, the Bible is de
cidedly 'the most popular book.' Its
copyright for six months would make
a man rich beyond the dreams of ava
rice." New Orleans Times-Democrat.
Hands AVere in His Pockets.
There was a garden party for a char
itable object out, in the suburbs one
evening recently, and for the space of
one long minute In the latter part of
the evening I though I was about to
witness what they call on the stage a
thrilling situation. I went to stroll In
the grounds with a young girl who
wanted to ask my advice about what
she had already made up her mind, and
we wandered where Japanese lanterns
were few. She was telling me all about
Charley or, perhaps It was Dick
when suddenly in the dim light before
us we saw the young man himself, nis
back was toward us, and he was walk
ing somewhat closer than was entirely
necessary to a girl in a light organdie
frock. The gown looked almost white
in the faint light, but about the waist
of it was a wide band of something
dark. The girl beside me stopped short
aud drew a deep breath.
"Oh!" she gasped.
Just then the couple in front of us
stepped into the bright light of a lan
tern. The wide black band was still
about the girl's waist, but both Dick's
hands were In his pockets. My com
panion drew another long breath.
"Oh!" she said again. Washington
rost.
Olla Peddler of Mexico.
This picture represents a native Mex
ican olla seller peddling his wares. The.
olla is a water cooler. It Is made from
SELLING HIS WAltKS TO TIIE IttlRSTT.
pottery, and the water remains cool a
long time in this earthen vessel, whlcb
Is In universal use In the households ot
Mexico and In mauy sections of the
Southwest.
Matches.
One firm In Austria uses ten tons of
phosphorus a year, and turns out over
25,000,000,000 matches. Another com
pany, an English oue, uses 100,000
pounds of sulphur, 100.000 feet of
choice white pine timber and 150 tons
of straw'ooard for boxes in the same
time.
The most tireless folVvers of fortune
are a man's creditors-
FIGURES FROM PHILIPPINES.
Interesting Facts Relative to Our New
Possessions in the Far East
Manila, with Its $40,000,000 trade, its
110,000 population and its position as
the metropolis of Luzon, will require a
larger force of officials. In this island
alone there are 123 cities having a pop
ulation of from 9,000 to 40,010 each, in
addition to 185 cities having a popula
tion of less than 9,000 and more than
4,000 each. To administer the govern
mental affairs of this single Island,
with Its 3,500,000 inhabitants, will re
quire on a conservative estimate the
services of 3.500 officials, at an annual
cost of $3,500,000. This assigns only
one official to each 1,000 of population,
which official must be a sort of com
posite postmaster, revenue collector,
Judge and clerk of all work, and he
must be satisfied with an average sat
ary of $1,000 a year. In Mindanao, with
Its 010,000 population, there are only
eight large and eighty-four small cities,
but lu Cebu there are twenty-four cities
over 9,000 and sixty cities under that
figure, with a total population in the
Island of 504,000. The Island called
Panay has 071,000 souls, with thirty
four cities over the 9,000 mark and
sixty-one under that figure. These are
not savage shacks', but centers of in
dustry, of agriculture and of commerce,
imauy of them with cathedrals, schools,
palaces, telegraph and post offices. Be
tween 9,000,000 and 10,000,000 people
occupy the Philippines.
The market reports of Manila are in
teresting as showing the cost of sus
taining life Iu iuv iu.vuiiuut tropics.
The prices are quoted in Mexican sil
ver, which Is about half the value of
America )i ?old. Potatoes cost 5 cents a
ponnd i . onions 10 cents. Cabbages
sell for 25 cents a head and pumpkins
are worth 30 cents apiece. Fish is
cheap, but, strange to say, fruit is high.
Bananas sell for 25 centa a dozen and
oranges for 35 cents a dozen, while one
large Chinese orange costs 22 cents,
and cocoanuts are worth 8 cents each.
Some of the fish are unknown to our
markets. There are the dorado, the
dapa, the bocadulce and asasa, which
will be news to Aerlcans. The boca
dulce Is the most expensive fish on the
list and sells for 40 cents each. It ought
to be good, for Its name translated
means "mouthsweet." A first grade
hen- In the Manila market sells for
$1.10. The regulation of the markets
in Manila seems to have been the ob
ject of several experiments since the
American troops have occupied the
city.
TOLD BY FOOTPRINTS.
Tell-Tale Shoes Worn by a Man in a
Searching Party.
"The part played by footprints in
the frightful tragedy near Blloxl re
minds me," said a New Orleans rail
road man, "of a most remarkable affair
which happened a good many years
ago In South Georgia. The keeper of a
little store near the Florida line was
murdered one night and the place set
on fire. Several negroes were suspect
ed and the whole countryside turned
out to search for evidence. In the rear
of the burned. store was a marshy
place, In which the footprints of the
murderer were plainly discernible,
showing that he had worn a pair of
heavy brogans, the right heel of which
seemed to have been split in a very
peculiar manner directly across the
middle.
"Among the searchers was a well-to-ao
young farmer, and ns soon as he
saw the footprints he was horrified to
recognize the marks of his own shoes
which he had on at that very moment.
The split heel was the result of a
chance, blow with an ax while cutting
wood, and the . impression in the
marshy soil was absolutely unmistak
able. The crowd was worked up to a
pitch bordering on frenzy, and, realiz
ing his extremely critical position, the
young man had presence enough of
mind to make some excuse and Blip
away. He went straight home, put on
another pair of shoes, hid the old ones
and rejoined the party.
"Two or three days later the crime
was traced by certain circumstantial
evidence to a negro who worked on his
farm. . The follow broke down and
confessed and Incidentally cleared up
the mystery. On the night of the mur
der, according to his story, he had no
ticed the brogans on the porch of the
farm house, and appropriated them, In
tending at the time to merely rob the
store and ily the country. After kill
ing the storekeeper he changed bis
plans and came home, thinking to di
vert suspicion by remaining quietly at
work. Consequently he returned the
shoes where he found them.
"After he had made tb.ls confession
the farmer told his own story and pro
duced the tell-tale footgear. Heaven
only knows what might have happened
had he been caught with them on bis
feet the first day of the search." New
Orleans Times-Democrat
Trying to Restrict the Franchise.
A proposed franchise act in Manitoba
prohibits voting by persons who are
unable to read and write the English
language. This provision is aimed at
the newly arrived Galaclans and Douk
hobars, who are disposed to retain
their former language and customs,
tfnd who are said to be undesirable clt
sens In other particulars.