On the 4th of March, 1899, a Hindu laborer lodged a complaint
at the police office at Hingoli. He said that as he was passing
a cotton-ginning mill some of his countrymen came out and asked
him to enter the compound. When he did so they seized him and
bore him off to the furnace-room and attempted to put him into
the fire. He showed the magistrate some terrible burns he had
suffered, and his story, upon investigation, was found to be
true. The _Indian Antiquary_, telling of the incident,
remarked that the unanimous opinion among all the natives
was that it was the workmen’s idea to offer the poor man as
a sacrifice to the steam-engine, which had not been running
satisfactorily.
(2812)