Connecticut western news., 1900-12-06
'CHEE -N|NG-SU, MANDARIN
BY M. QUAD.
COPYRIGHT, 1900, BY c. '. LEwIs.

? COPYRIGHT. 1900, (. '. LEws. 2 o~o~o~o~o~o..oo oos.o-~o~o~o~o~o
 Beginning at Shangtung, in the Tel low sea, the coast line of China Is dot ted with islands clear down to Hong kong, a distance of over 2,OOO miles, If the islands could be counted, I be- lieve they would number 10000, great and small. While some are uninhabit- on one of them. The people are wreck CTS and pirates to man, and woe be- tide the ship which meets with disas- ter on any of the island shores. From Yang-tse-Kiang to the entrance of the straits of Formosa the islands are un- der the Jurisdiction of mandarin at the above port. In the year 1868 this mandarin was one Chee- Wing Su, who had held office for years, and his repu- tation was that of devil. There was no question but that he encouraged ders 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 govern or of Shanghai. but whenever he was brought up on the complaint of Euro pean consul he managed to get the best of It. He was fairly we'll educat- ed, a finished liar and hypocrite, and there was no catching him.
 In the year I have mentioned above certain Americans In Hongkong decid- ed to fit out an opium clipper to supply the port of Shanghai. Opium snug gling was against the law. of course, and any person found engaged in the trade was beheaded at once. but you might as well try to keep rice as opium out of China. The profits in smuggling have always been enormous, and 1t has always been part of the business to bribe the custom officials. As Shanghai was to be supplied from Yang-tse Kiang I was sent up to ar range matters with Chee- Wing -Su. There was no beating around the bush. told him what we wanted, and he lost no time In giving me his figures For such a per cent he would guaran- tee us safety. He was smooth and suave. but under the polish I saw the hypocrite and tiger. I accepted his terms for the company. but I also warned them that he would not hesi. tate to play any sort of game for his own benefit. He gave us a flag to pro tect us from piratical junks, but we did not trust to 1t. The clipper was fitted out with four guns and we'll pro- vided with small arms, and the crew of IS was made up entirely of Euro peans. On our very first voyage, de spite the old scoundrel's flag. we were twice attacked by junks which he probably sent out. We sent both of them to the bottom with their crews. and. although Chee- Wing-Su must have heard of the tragedies, he passed them by without 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 is- land about 15 miles farther south. He claimed that the officials at Shanghai had got on to our business and had set watch. and. though the captain did not believe the story, he agreed to
 make the landing on the next voyage. We made the bay at night as we re- turned. but the guns were double shot ted, the muskets and pistols loaded, and every man was at his post. The first thing we knew we were surround ed by five junks, and then a fight be- gan which lasted 40 minutes. We sunk four of the junks and drove the fifth ashore, with the loss of but three men on 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 exterlnInated at
 least 100 of the vermin. but had cap- | tured unhurt and were holding ten
 others. To try to smooth things over with us the willy old scoundrel had the | ten brought before us, read them les son on morality and then had their
 heads struck off by his own execu- tioner.
 Our landing was to be Yang tse- Ki- ang again. and Chee- Wing-Su put up
 another jsb. To restore our confidence in him again he offered to put 2.0O0 into our next venture and draw out only fair per cent. This seemed like
 fair thing. and 1t was accepted. He
 handed over the money with prompt ness, 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 Chee- Wing
 Su would never have put In his money | without some stronger motive than a
 per cent profit. Few Chinese ever
 trust a European shllling's worth,
 and 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 satisfac-
 torily solved. We could only watch
 and walt and be prepared for whatever might happen.
 On our return we always made port
 at night. When we had displayed an
 agreed signal. sampans came off to us
 and unload ded and took away the cargo,
 aud an agent was at hand to pay for
 it. Chee- -Wing-Su's agent was also
 there to collect his blackmail. There
 would be 30 Chinamen aboard of us
 when discharging cargo; but, though they were yillainous lot, we felt no
 fear of them and did not keep the crew | even under arms. We were within &
 days sail of port on our return when
 the captain was struck by an idea. | Chee-Wing-Su knew that our cargo | would be q heavy one. Suppose he
 should have planned to cut the clipper
 out In harbor2 All he had to do was f~ s1.Kk