The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1900-11-24

vented BY care aeWfTtfV "a
Lt HUNG chr
During the peeenk startling aFea
in China q good aeal has been
Of piracy % the West rgsf arf
ruthless severity with Whiat Ht
Chang dealt with the ffeeheo
when they fell into his hands 2ar
sui Scott Of Canton, thinks that
river thieves ahoeld not Sc dienided
BY the title 81 pirates. ana that 40 ri
necessary to protest against TIE
eatiOnal accounts OF their e41loita
which find their way into print. In
his report On the trade AZ Canton fcE
1899, says the London Telegraph, "a
describes the water robber and the
manner III which ne conducts his
business in the following wordss
Il IAN hardly hope, in Wow of the
asserted dire results Of piracy on Brit
ish trade, to be credited when j ~
serb that during the year not ) sin-
gle bale Of British goods has been lost
In the far too numerous cases ef
armed robbery recorded, but such is
nevertheless the fact. The piraeies
are gang robberies with arms, but
without, for the most part. actUai
violence, the ordinary Cinnamon lend-
ing himself very kindly to the coer.
cion Of q feveled revolver. The usual
modus operandi is as follows. a Chi.
nese passenger boat, capable Of hold.
ing some 200 passengers and their per-
sonal effects, starts on hex trip - Tow
of a steam launch. Either at the point
Of departure or at some calling sta
ton en- route q gang Of men armed
with revolvers go IN board in the
guise of passengers il they suspect
any supervision is kept, or that any
examination for arms Will be made,
they conceal their revolvers in sealed
jars supposed to contain pickles on
preserved fruits, some times addressed
to an official or some prominent per-
son further up or down the river, on
in some other innocent package; and
then, when they arrive at some place
where they have arranged to be met
by confederates, they simply hold mp
all the passengers. The launch tenn
pOrarily clears out and the highway.
men go through the boat, taking ali
money jewelry and valuables, not as
a rule goods, and then take their de-
parture-the launch returns TO the
boat and continues her voyage
"When it is the launch itself which
carries passengers the same course is
pursued, but the gang then takes pos
s~essionof the launch itself, compelling
the engineers to continue to attend to
the engines and either run the launch
up some creek where their. ~confeder.
ates are waiting for them, or use her
20 make other robberies of launches
or passenger. boats or iunks. But they
never hold a launch for more than a
few hours, and never dream Of MAX
ing off with her as a prize. She would
be utterly useless to them, and would
lead to their certain arrest and de-
%capitat.on. Dick Turpin might as.
well have stolen a stage coach. When
the gang have finished with a launch
the men usually take a polite farewell
Of the master and crew, and some
times even. Il they have given no
trouble, give them a few dollars,
"Since his exceIlency III Hung
Changes arrival here as viceroy mat
tiers have assumed a different COM
plexion, Robberies committed on.
launches and passenger boats have at
the present time, temporarily at any
rate, almost ceased in Chinese waters,
and there can be no doubt that IN
time, should his exceIency remain in
Canton, the stringent and energetic
measures employed by him win re-
store order throughout the district.
But the mischief is deep seated, and
the evils caused by years Of malad-
ministration cannot be e~radicated in
a day"