The Washington weekly post., 1900-10-02
CHEE.WlNG.SU, MANDARIN.
BY NJ. QUAD

number f00oo. great and small. While
some are uninhahited. there Is not an hon.
est community on one Of them. The peo-
| pie are wrtckers and pirates 10 man,
| and woe betide the ship which meets with
| disaster on any OF the island shores
From Yang-tse-Kiang to the entrance Of
| the straits cf Formosa the Islands are ur-
DER the jurisdiction Of a mandarin at the
above port In she year lSss this man.
DARN was one Chee-Wing-Su, who had
| held Office for years. and his reputation
was that of a devil There vas no ques-
ton but that he encouraged piracy and
got his divide and his orders all along
the coast line were TO kill every white
person who might fall into the hands Of
his subjects. The fellow was subordinate
to The governor of Shanghai. but when
ever ne was brought up on the complaint
OF a European consul he managed to get
the best OF II. He was fairly well edu-
Gated, finished liar and hypoerite, and
there vas no catching him.
In the year have mentioned above
| certain Americans In Hongkong decided
TO Mt out an opium clipper 10 supply the
port of Shanghai Opium smuggling was
! against the law. OF course. and any per-
son found engaged in the trade was be-
I
! TO keep rice as opium out of China. The
profits in smuggling have always been
! enormous. and II has always been part
/ of the business TO bribe the customs off,
oials. As Shanghai was 10 be supplied
! from Iang-tse-Kiang Iswas sent up to az
range matters with Chee-Wing-Su. There
was no beating around the bush. / told
I him what We wanted, and he lost no time
4 in giving me his figures. For such a per
cent. he would guarantee us safety. He
/ was smooth and suave, but under the
polish ! saw the hypocrite and tiger
accepted his terms for the company, but /
| also warned them that he would not hesi-
| tate to play any sort OF game for his own
benefit. He gave US flag to protect us
| from piratical junks, but we did not trust
| TO Il, The clipper was fitted out with Iour
| guns and we'll provided with small arms,
and the crew of eighteen was made up en-
! tirely OF Europeans On our very first
voyage, despite the old scoundreps flag,
we were twice attacked by junks which
| he probably sent out. We sent both of
| them to the bottom with their crews. aud
although Chee-Wing-Su must have heard
| of the tragedies, he passed them by with
out word.
| We had run three cargoes when the old
| fellow prepared surprise party for us.
| He sent for our captain and changed the
place OF landing to an island about fifteen
| miles farther south. He claimed that the
officials at Shanghai had got on to our
| business and had set a watch. and. though
| the captain did not believe the story. he
agreed TO make the landing on the next
voyage. We made TIE bay at night as We
| returned, but the guns were double
| shotted. the muskets and pistols loaded
and every man was at his post, The first
thing we knew we were surrounded by
five junks, and then fight began which
! lasted forty minutes. We sunk four of
| the junks and drove the fifth ashore, with
| the loss of but three men ea our side.
Next day Chee-Wing-Su appeared on
| board and pretended to be very excited
| and indignant that We had been molested
against his orders. In the fight we had
| exterminated at least 100 of the vermin.
/ but had captured unhurt and were hold
ing ten others. To try to smooth things
over with US the willy old scoundrel had
the ten brought before US. read them a
lesson on morality and then had their
heads struck off by his own exeeutioner.
| our landing was to be Yang-tse- Kiang
again, and Chee-Wing-Su put up another
| JoD. TO restore our confidence I'm him
again he offered to put 1900 into our next
venture and draw out only a fair Fer
cent. This seemed like fair thing. and
1t was accepted. He handed over the
| money with promptness. and we sailed
away, but when our captain had had time
TO turn the matter over In his mind, he
| began to wonder and theorize. Old Chez
Wing-Su would never have put i'm his
money without some stronger motive than
a per cent. profit Few Chinese ever trust
a European a shilling's worth. and n
man of his class must have handed over
| his little fortune TO throw dust in our
| eyes. A good deal OF time was given to
| the puzzle. but just what his scheme was
could not be satisfactorily solved. We
| could only watch and wait and be pre-
pared for whatever might happen.
/ On our return We always made port at
night. When we had displayed an agreed
| signal, sampans came of to us and un-
loaded and took away the cargo. and an
agent was at hand to pay for II. Chez
| Wing-Sus agent was also there TO collect
his blackmail There would be thirty
| Cinnamon aboard Of US when discharging
cargo; but. though they were a villainous
lot, We felt no fear Of them, and did not
| keep the crew even under arms. We
4 NFTt WilHtl u udJ Suit VI pDIl OH our
return wheL the captain was struck by
an idea. Chez Wing-Su knew that our
| cargo would be heavy one. Suppose he
should have planned to cut the clipper
cut in harbor2 All he had to do was 20
| rut men enough aboard, and when he
| had exterminated the crew and taken
possession, vino was to betray him? he
| had men who could sail tine craft, and
| by giving her a new coat OF paint, a new
| name. and making some changes In her
rig, she could not be recognized. Even
| IL she were. what would her owners dare
| 70 do about IL? To have set up claim
would have been to convict themselves OF
smuggling AS for wipinX out a score OF
! Europeans, ne would consider that as a
sort of duty under any circumstances.
Before we made harbor everything was
prepared and every man instructed. In
response TO our signal a dozen sampans
| appeared, and the first man on our decks
was the rascally old chee-Wing-Su. He
was effusive, good natured. and slick as
grease. He said there was cause for haste
| in unloading, as the custom officials had
| suddenly become active. and he was per-
mitted 20 order about fifty men on board
| TO break out cargo. AS soon as our anchor
v as down all but two or three Of our
| crew disappeared, and the captain abd
agents sat down 10 a luncheon In the
/ cabin. Not box had yet gone over the
/ rail when the Chinese on deck broke
| loose. In thirty seconds every man but
/ the captain was sailing into them. They
were armed with knives only. while We
I had eutIasses. No firearms were used.
The fellows made good stand for about
] FIVE minutes, and then we began driving
| them. No quarter was given. When the
| last living yellow devil went overheard.
there were thirty dead ones on our decks.
| OF course, the row was heard In the
cabin. At the first sound Capt. Walters
/ laid his revolver on the table before him
and said 10 Chee-Wing-su:
There seems 20 be some skyiarking
/ going on above, but we viii not interfere
/ with H."
IF my men are creating any trouble.
Z 40 M uf0n FGulipf the nlt