St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1888-05-18
CHINA's DEVILIsH TRAFFIC.

govt that way, but not dyspepsia"
Young Girls Bought and Sold for
the Vilest Purposes.
st. Louis Post-Dispatch.
THE particular branch of the slave
traffic that flourishes in Hong Kong,
and which gives the authorities there
| the grea test amount of trouble" said a
| traveller, ''iS the importation of kid
mapped girls from the neighboring ter
ritory, especially from TonQuin."
did you see any slaves elsewhere
than in Hong KOng?"
VERY many in Canton, and also in
the different cities of Tonquin. The
| French, upon their arrival in Tonquin,
found this traffic in full blast, and took
very severe measures to abolish it. /
once saw nine men beheaded in one
! morning, and though not particularly
bloodthirSty or of a cruel disposition, 1
| remember being a perfectly uncOn-
| cerned spectator of this terrible scence.
| The crime of which these men, all we'll
| TODD Chinese merchants of Haiphong,
had been convicted deprived them of
| all human sympathy and their lives
were well sacrificed in purging the
country of such frightful traffic They
| had all been found guilty of kidnapping
young girls and selling them into life
of shame in Hong Kong, Canton, Macao
and adjacent cities.
The manner of effecting the seizures
was by enticing the children aboard Of
| the junkS along the river front under
| the preteXt of purchasing the candies
and fruits which the little ones peddled
| On the quay. Once aboard the vessels
| the poor frightened children - were
| gagged and bound and hidden below
| until so far away from land that their
cries could not be heard on shore. 1t
seemed to me that no punishment
that human hands could intiict would
be adequate for the punishment of these
| inhuman wretches. Three of them
died a comparatively easy death,
with single blow each, but the other
six must have suffered greatly, for they
were hacked from the middle of the
! back to the top of the head, and yet [
| could not bring myself to feel any SYM
| pathy for them.
''This kidnapping would seem to be
| absolutely unnecessary in country
where girls can be purchased from their
parents at so small cost as is possible
IN Tonquin. There, to my personal
| knowledge-for | took great pains to i'll
entail life very earefully-s2O was
considered a high price for girls
from twelve to eighteen wears
of age. Capt. George, a Greek, whom
/ knew in TOnquin as the commander
of body of Chinese troops in the
! French service, and afterwards as a
| pilot on the Red river, told me that he
had TonQuin woman employed as I;
| cook, who, after being with him week
or ten days, went down the river to
bring up her family. When, however,
| she reached her home she was both sur
| priSed and indignant to find that her
husband had the day before her arrival
sold their eldest daughter, girl of
thirteen, to the master of a Chinese
| junk for eight Mexican dollars. "Why,"
she said, that girl ought to have
brought S15 at least"
81 know that there are slaves for sale
in Hong Kong, for | have seen them. l
was powerless to interfere, as the vic
tins cannot in any way be induced to
testify against those who hold them in
bondage, and both claim and seem to be
happy. | have often talked with the
young slaves both in Hong Kong and
Canton, and they have told me that they
have been sold by their parents to this
or that woman, whom they call their
pocket mother in cOntradiStinction to
their real mother. The usual term for
which they are sold is ten years, after
which they are their own mistresses,
though it is doubtful if their condition
| is much improved by that fact.
Zone dealer in slaves whom / knew
in Hong Kong was woman named
Cum eOw, who had herself been
slave in her youth. She had been a
beauty in her younger days and was
still comedy at thirty-fve. Not only
was she unusually intelligent, but quite
linguist, speaking English and French
fiuently. Her numerous Speculations
in human flesh and investments in fan
tan banks, which she conducted in
KOwloon, across the bay, on Chinese
territory, because forbidden in Hong
Kong, had secured for her consider
able amount of money, as the result of
the exercise of keen business sense
united with not too tender conscience.
Her house, fiat in one of the hillside
streets, was beautifully furnished in
Chinese fashion, and herself and house
hold handsomely clothed in fine silk and
furs from Mongolia and Siberia. At
this house | saw several little girls,
ranging in ages from eight to twelve
years. When | asked if they were her
children, she sain: ''No; all belong
Slavee."
81 asked the price of the oldest and
she told me $1,000, at the same time in
forming me that the girl had already
been taught many accomplishments
among them she mentioned singing,
and despite my assurances that was
not in the least fond of music,
and did not care to have display of
the child'S talents, she gave me speci-
men that pierced my ears like knife.
She could also cook opium for smoking
in pipe, and, wonderful to relate, was
equally skillful with either hand. Here
was prize, indeed.
Il understood from Cum-Yeow that
such girls were not for the European
market, but for wealthy and aesthetic
Cinnamon i'll Canton, Foo-Chow and
other big cities, some going even to
Pekin and beyond, where Canton and
Macao girls are held in high esteem.
Cum-YeOw told me that she bought
these children in Macao when they
were very young and brought them up
tenderly until arrived at salable age'
Her Royal Bath.
The princess of England whose COM