DREADFUL PUNISHMENTS.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 362, 24 April 1889, Page 5

DREADFUL PUNISHMENTS.

In China dreadful punishments are in flicted upon criminals, bub they do not ex ceod in horror those of medieval times. It is unnecessary to go into further details, such as the employment of boiling oil, the application of the iron boot, the s-trangulation by garotte, the burial alive in dungeons, and a hundred other forms recorded in criminal history. A very peculiar preliminary to a death sentence' that deserves to be pub on record was that in vogue in Franconia in the fifteenth century—that is, in the days of the ordeal, in which Hearen itself was supposed to take a hand in the distribution of justice. In case a woman had been made to suffer in reputation by a man, she was ab liberty to challenge him to combat, which took place in the following way : A regular ring was formed for spectators, and chairs were placed for the judges. In the middle of the ring was a holo about three feet deep, in which the man, armed only with a club, had to defend himself against the woman, who was armed wibh a stone weighing a pound, tied up in a handkerchief and attached to a slender willowy stick. The lady had a space measuring ten feet in diameter in which to evolute and bo attack. The l-ules were as follows : If the man in attempting to strike the woman touched the ground wibh arm or hand he made one error. If he made three such, or if the woman succeeded in disarming him, he was declared defeated, and was then delivered over to the executioner to be put to death, which was by being buried in the same hole in which he had vainly attempted to defend himself. Bub if the man succeeded in thwarting the attacks of the woman, or in disarming her, be was declared the victor, and the woman kerself was then the victim, and was sentenced to death and to be buried alive.