Stories from Deli

The execution of four Chinese, sentenced to death for the murders committed in Maryland, took place early Thursday morning on the square in front of the prison. Despite the early morning hour, many spectators were present, but very few of them were Chinese. Calmly and apparently calmly, the condemned men ascended the scaffold two by two after the verdict was read out. Not the slightest word of regret about their punishment or disapproval of their act was heard from them. Only one, with the cloth already over his face, made a short speech in which he expressed his surprise that some of his finer countrymen who certainly saw his death with pleasure were not present at the time.

A Malay in the service of the native government acted as executioner. Within an hour everything was over and the troops returned to the barracks. According to a trusted person who is completely familiar, the impression that the execution of six murders has made on the Chinese population is stronger than many have thought.

On various enterprises it is a subject of discussion among the coolies and the knowledge that, even if a strict hand rules here slowly, it cannot fail to have a favourable effect on a Chinese population that is all too good at disrupting order and discipline.

Suicide.

A Chinese sentenced to death hanged himself in his cell in the prison here on Wednesday evening. A twisted piece of kain that he had torn from his trousers served as a cord. The condemned man apparently did not want to wait any longer for the execution of his sentence, now that four of his co-accused left prison for good the next day. Whether a similar fate awaited him under the hand of the maître des liautes oeuvres was not yet decided, however, since the case must be examined in revision.

The opening of this trial would have shown again in the meantime what an unfavourable situation is caused by a slow administration of justice in a country like Deli with a very floating population. Had the condemned man not committed suicide, and had the case been reopened, it would have been certain that the majority of witnesses would no longer have been found; however, an execution a year and a half after the crime will encounter such a difficulty everywhere. Since this is now the second suicide that has taken place in prison within a short period of time, it would be advisable to prescribe stricter supervision and to put those sentenced to death in a straitjacket made of a strong material.  

Deli courant 15-08-1885