Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-12-19
THE PEI-H01 PIRATES
A Trip Up the River on a United
States Junk.
BULLETS. FROM CHINAMEN
Sinks theMost Hated Of All For
eiga, Troops.
P [ l. L A G E AND RUI n
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star.

! Special Correspondence Of The Evening Star.
| TUNG CHAU, China November 7, 1900.
| While the greater matters pertaining to
! the disposition of China are being arranged
by the generals and diplomats of the allied
powers, and order is maintained at Pekin,
! the remainder of China is left to shift as
best it can That the Boxer movement is
crushed beyond any danger of resurrection
Is, of course true. but there are many de-
tails of the new order of things that have
not yet begun to work themselves out
Authentic reports received from the in
terror indicate that matters are bordering
on anarchy In most of the provinces; that
villages and cities have been demolished by
rowing bands, and looting and other crimes
are of common occurrence. STILL will not
credit all these reports, but rather tell of
the petty pirates of the Pei-ho river, among
whom L have been for the past two weeks,
above and below Pekin
The Pei-ho Is one of the main waterways
of the Chinese empire. Along it's banks
have the allied forces trudged and fought
their way from Taku to Tien Tsin, and
from TIen Tsin to the capital city. Ameri-
can blood was shed almost every mile of
the way, and many Yankee lad, on the
fearful march from Tien Tsin to Pekin,
crept to its muddy edges and lay down to
die while the yellow water still upon
his lips
the foreign body in China. The railroad
from Taku reaches but to Tien Tsin in
completed condition, and the river Is the
chief medium between the latter city and
the capital. Thousands of junks. hauled up
stream by coolies, and carried down stream
| by the slow-running current, carry the sup
plies for the armies located in Pekin and
detachments between the two chief cities
! in this part of China.
Trip on a United States Junk.
| Arriving at Tien Tsin some three weeks
ago from a trip in the direction Of the
| Manchurian frontier. and desiring to reach
Pekin, I applied to the chief quartermas-
ter of the United States army at Tien Tsin
| for transportation on one of the junks of
the river fleet" 1t was readily granted
| and / went without direction to the river
| front where hundreds of junks were dashed
! side by side, and thousands of Chinese
| coolies We're making al! sorts of noises to
no evident purpose. After an hours hard
| searching l found the American fleet"
| The fleet consisted of nine junks each
! about thirty feet IN length, and having one
mast. which held the paraphernalia attached
| to a square-rigged sail. On each Of the
| junks was what was a white piece of
! cotton about two feet square and bearing
| In very amateurish letters ~. S." The
| river fleets of other nations We're moored
| nearby our own, each boat flying the flag
| of its sponsor. L learned that American
| flags We're very scarce. and that wherever
| United States authority was displayed the
| ~. s. in a white field was the insignia
On board each of the iunks was an Ameri-
| can soldier. He, / soon found out was
! captain, quartermaster and. in fact, mon
| arch of all he surveyed his own boat.
| The junk was, of course owned by
| Chinaman, and he was usually assisted by
| half a dozen coolies, who showed the boat
| along with poles at certain places of the
/ ri N ThlSa obi f RI
| the junks along by means OF a long rope
| fastened to the top of the mast.
Reportng to the guard on boat mo 50
| U. s. I was told to make myself at home
| and proceeded to think about doing so. The
! doing was quite another matter
Shortly before dusk the order was given
| to weigh anchor" and as the Cinnamon
| dug their poles down into the shallow river
| the fleet moved SLOWLY up stream Each
| boat was loaded with supplies for the
| American troops at Pekin and the various
| attachments that are scattered at points
| along the river. The holds Of the junks
were filled even with the decks. and the
Comforts Of home" We're found upon the
rough flooring that covered them. There
were the little iron stove for cooking pur-
| poses, the pile Of wood to keep the fire
going. and the barrel of water for drink
ing purposes. The crew of NO sc U. S."
consisted Of the owner and five coolies.
the guard. who was Of the 14th Infantry, and
myself.
In the two hours following the start we
made a distance Of more than two miles,
the poles in the hands of the coolies doing
the propeling. But darkness was upon us
and the craft tied up at the river bank for
the night. The distance to Pek'n was about
eighty miles. and 1T was indeed a pleasant
prospect-seven to ten days upon the mser-
able river-with night stops for sleeping
PURPOSES. mo. 20 u. s." was river grey
hound. however. and she made the run to
Tung Chau. fifteen miles from Pekin, in the
remarkably quick time of six days.
Some Cheerful Sights.
1t was not the dull, monotonous trip had
expected. Indeed, each day had little
story of its own, and I arrived at Tung
Chau feeling that strange things were still
happening in the empire of the great drag
on. Even now the yellow river bore along
in it's current the bodies of dead natives
| from it's upper tributaries Where the
| corpes came from one knew All the
| people along the river could tell was that
| the bodies had floated down from further
up stream. The hideous sights excited little
| or no curiosity, and the Cinnamon aboard
our junk spoke lightly of the floating OBJ
| jects actually cast tin cans, emptied of
| their army ration C tents, into the water
| at them. At one place, not more than twen-
| ty miles above Tien Tsin. We're three bodies
| lying together the river bank 1t was
| plain that they had but recently been killed
not more than two days before-but this
| sight occasioned no extraordinary COM
ment and scores of Cinnamon and soldiers
passed them by on the bank without giving
| second glance.
On the third day from Tien Tsin accom-
panied ashore some guards from other
boats of the fleet" and together we start
ed across cour''- intending to look about
village in stance and afterward
| to catch up with our junk before
nightfall. There were five in the party in
Guiding myself, and each carried an army
| rifle and several rounds of cartridges
| Passing through an extensive cornfield, the
splendid crop long ovsfripe in the hot sun,
we reached the government highway which
for long distance parallels the river be-
tween Tien Tsin and'it capital city, and
which would open the eyes Of American
road builders, so massive and substantial
| is it's construction! j
About three miles from the highway, in
slight depression Of land to the south,
| was the village called Pao Ting We were
not long in reaching 1rhe place, which at
first glance, appeared wholly deserted. Not
a soul could be seen IN the narrow streets
and the yards and houses we entered were
lonely in the extreme. An occasional ugly
cur furnished target for our marksmen
A Fusillade of Bullets.
When about to leave the place-which