THE COMIC SIPE OF THE TERRIBLE.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2149, 17 April 1886, Page 1 (Supplement)

THE COMIC SIPE OF THE TERRIBLE.

Thk Mandalay coriespondeut of the Bombay Gazette relates the following incident as illustrative of the extraordinary disregard «f death evinced by tho Burmese :— Two tonics were sitting down nt what seemed a safe distance— some half-a-mile inland— from oue of the little riverside townlttts, which was beinsj cannoned by on© of our war ves«el« recently. A cannon shot passed through the hend of one <>f them, leaving no tiace of it behind. The other phonngye, and tin people around, thought the unexpected disappearance of the lioor man's head as he was speaking so droll that they roared with laughter; the surviving phoongye laughed still when he was telling a British officer subsequently of the comical incident. The<o people havo a great eye for the comic element in the terrible. A detachment of Naval Brigade having captured a doaen Dacoits, proceeded to execute them one by one, so as to make a deeper impassion on the Burmese mind than the shooting of the whole batch at a %olley might produce. One man was placed standing with his back to & wall; a conical ball btriking him between the eyes carried off the whole top of his head. His comrades, waiting their turns, screamed with laughter at the Right; they went one after the cither to be shot m rotation, treating the whole affair as a big joke. The naval men, who had calculated upon creating a great moral impression _ by the deliberate character of the execution, returned to their station much disappointed, and not a little indignant ; shooting these Dacoits, they said, was of no use, for they did not mind it in the least. I have read of a case where two Burtnami were flogged, the second man objected to be held to the posts as the first had been, and leant against them unbound, not uttering a word till the flogging was completed. Then ho naked if there was any more, and with a laugh, moved away, making a face. Nevertheless, when there is a chance of escape these people ihow the same love of life as other men. Six men taken to be shot and beheaded, with their hands tied behind their backs, broke from their guards, and ran for their lives. They were followed up and put to death, however, resisting as best they could. I have no doubt from what I hear that tho decapitation of the bodies and the exposure of the heads has a bad and not a good effect on Burman opinion. The exposure of corpses on the cross was only resorted to by the native authorities m cases of exceptional atrocity, and was but sparingly used. And in those cases there was no decapitation, which is regarded as a great aggravation of the severity.

The Dukk of Westminster on Allotments.—Writing to a Chester paper, the Duke of Westminster sayB that he has been asked by many prrsons what he intends doing on his Cheshire estate with regard to allotments. His Grace prints two statements shoeing the number of persons holding allotments and keeping cows, and of those occupying cottages, but holding neither allotments nor keeping cows. Out of 350 tenants of small holdings, more than oue-half keep cows, and about two-thirds have either cows or allotments. The Duke adds, "My farm labourers and others employed by me, and holding allotments in Ald ford, had the use of my carts, horses, and implements for ploughing, carting, &c, and, judging from former experience, I do not believe that allotments in the locality would be sought after if acts of husbandry were not, in very many case*, performed at my expense. It must l>e borne in mind that buildings necessary for small holdings entail very considerable outlay. Presuming that the buildings on the farm 3 from which the land for the small holdings is taken are adequate for the requirements of that farm, a portion of these buildings, often erected at heavy expenditure, would be compare tively useless."