Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1888-12-07
ADVENTURES IN CHINA.

this country. John" is generally looked
upon as duffer, and is held in more or less
entempt on that account Just one thing
YES Chinaman seem to be a coward
to- living among us. He has a positive !.
OF ts1f the law, and he understands 80 iit+,a
sEnglish language Eat he must ~ he i hsrS
pressed to go into court. Public opinion
nrst and now the law makes him an inter
roper. His employment is always mental.
ne Is an outcast among men. He has no
packers and few friends Therefore it is
poney IN him to put up with Sights, insults
ana ABUSE and seem to be a coward
IL however, you take him on his own ma
1--WE heath you will discover that the aver
age Chlnaman lisa brave as the average man
~ any other nation. He will resent an in
" Just as quickly, and he viii fight with
the ferocity of a tiger The Chinaman
no the russian are especially alike in some
Tngs' You can't move them in their re-
s.en'~ 1ney are as abject as slaves to their
superiors. They are abusive and tvranuical |
among their equals. A Chinese desperado |
VINO VIII defy mob and defend himself to |
the last, viii, when taken out for execution
unuer sentence OF court or official, follow
'"e eAecutoner as quietly as a lamb, and
Will kneel and bare his neck without thought
of resistance
As one OF the agents of an English tea syn-
dlcate, spentsnearly four years in the most
popnious districts of the Celestial empire.
anu mad every opportunity to study them.
lney may make all the treaties they care to.
ana taie emperor may issue new manifesto
every week In the year, but the true China
man VIII continue to hate foreigner. and
10 wish him the worst of luck. All white
men are barbarous in the ewes of a China
man You may be ever so learned and great
and you may place them under ever so many
obligations, but you still continue to be the
scum OF the earth in their eyes Nine out of
Ten would regard it as q religious duty to
STICK knife into your ribs, and the only
reason they don't do it is the fear of creating
trouble for government officials, The masses
know that treaties exist, and that the rnur-
DER OF foreigner would be made a state
matter, and they obey the supposed wishes of
tneir own government rather than the pro-
visions and clauses of treaties.
One thing always struck me as very curl
Gus. No Chinaman ever sets out to despoila
foreigner without calculating to take his life
also. In cases where they could rob and es-
cape with their booty, they refuse to accept
the privilege, but wait to add murder to the
crime. While l say no Chinaman. | mean
Of course, none of the criminal class. Ibaye
slept in hundreds Of Chinese houses and
given the families every opportunity to plum
der and KILL but my safety was not even
plotted against. Several attempts were
however, mace by members of the criminal
class, and some Of them may interest the
reader.
While at Ping-Shan, on the Yanrtse-
kiang river, made shooting and fishing
excursion on the river in company with
French civil engineer and an English tourist
We had boat about thirty feet long. pro-
vided with both sail and oars, and cabin
aft which would hold six or eight people. As
We were to be gone four or five DAYS, we had
hunks rugged up in the cabin and we took
along all our firearms and plentiful supply
OF ammunition We chartered the boat and
Its crew OF six men, together with our keep,
for sixty cents per day. We sailed and
rowed to the east, and were presently in
very wild and unsettled locality. At that
time there was not even a village of 200 in
habitants along the stream to the east for $50
miles, the land being sterile and broken, and
the forests very heavy Such a thing as
danger from the natives never entered our
heads
We had been out three days, and were
lying at anchor in bend Of the stream, and
the hour was o'clock in the afternoon, when
there was a sudden commotion aboard. I
was fishing over the stern Of the boat, while
the Frenchman was forward, and the
Englishman had gone off with one Of the
men in canoe to inspect some rocks. /
heard shouts and yells, and turned Just as
our crew, one after another, plunged over.
board and struck out for the shore We hs1
been boarded by solitary native, who had
come off in his canoe from the other bank
The firearms we're in the cabin, and as
turned to see what the uproar meant the
native cut the Frenchman's head almost cleal
of by blow from a short, heavy sword.
did not know why the fellow had come
nor his intentions, but as the Frenchman fel
l retreated TO the cabin to arm myself Tn
native made a rush and 1 shut and hooke,
the door. He began chopping at it with hi
sword, and from a little side window fire,
upon him with a revolver and wounded hin
in the side He thereupon retreated out O
range but took up his station in such a mar
ner that he could cut me down if | attempte
to come out. The uproar had reached tn
Englishman, and he approached in the canot
He had gone off without weapons and nor
small stern window, and he dropped til
canoe down and called to me and explaine
matters The fellow holding the dec
was a desperate. He had come off singl
handed TO rob us, but must also hav
our lives. He was entirely alone, and prot
ably would not be joined by others Will
he was explaining matters 1 dashed a revo
yer and some ammunition to n board used q
a life preserver and lowered it to the water
As it foated down, the Enghshman secure
it. The robbers canoe was alongside, and
instructed my companion how to secure it.
did not propose to let the fellow get AVA
after his bloody work. l heard him cursin
and growing as he discovered what was g
ing on, but he did not leave his station.
was bent on having my life, and the wound
had inflicted had worked him up to furior
degree.
The craft was a light one, and the cabi
was little better than q thatch. After Il
cRnoe had been taken away TOOK up one
the shotguns loaded with buckshot, dropp
bullet into the barrel, and then ere
around the cabin to discover the villain
outside location. He kept as still as mou
for a few minutes, but by and by hea
him move and mutter Then l brought t
gun to bear so as e pepper his legs a
blazed away. He fell down, shrieking a
cursing, and, grasping one of the revolve
dashed out. The charge had taken him
the right leg at the knee, and it was a fa
wound, but he pulled himself up and cal
at me hopping on one leg, while the bio
literally flooded the deck behind him. l 81
that must finish him and | didn't hesit'
to do it. When our crew of natives return
most of them recog 1iled the man. He wa
robber and had several times been
prisoned, and they chung to it that his s
idea in coming aboard was to despoil US
his idea murder went with robbery. 1t v
necessary adjunct. II he was, as Il
claimed, only second class Desperate,
Of the first class would probably have the
surance to attack a merchant ship sin
handed
My second adventure was at town cal
kwei-Ling l had been there month, {
my business and social relations had been
tremely pleasant. / went one night to
with and spend the night at the house of
mayor, who was also our local agent.
lived out in the suburbs, with a very fine c
den about his house, and the room assig
me was on the ground floor, front. 1t
two windows, and while not over eight
wide, was fully twenty -four feet long. Ly
In my bed, | could see the whole length