The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-07-12
Americans i'm Manila Are Invited to
Engage in Military Work in
China at Good Pay.
STRANGE ORIENTAL METHODS
RECRUIT Is GIVEN no INFORMATICS
A. TIC WHAT Is WANTED.
Intfmaticn that |. Plan Is on Foot TO
R~eyOlUtiOnize Corrupt Con-
ditions.
Correspondence Of the indianapolis Journal.

Correspondence Of the indianapolis Journal.
MANILA. May 30.-There has been devel-
oping here of late a movement calculated to
add to the production of soldiers of fortune.
In the last month upward OF two hundred
men, mainly nOncommissioned officers or
privates, whose terms of military service
have run out or who could obtain di,N
charges by other means. have gone TO
China under engagement for military work.
Their promised pay is $500 gold per month,
a multiplication of income by ten or more
for men of that class in the American
army, with assurance of service so long as
they may prove valuable to their employ
ers. with prospect of increase of pay. No
instance is reported in which this tempt
ing bait has been refused, and. new as is
the movement. the adventurous have all
heard of it. and in every garrison men talk
of the luck of the enrolled as a windfall TO
be coveted.
There is no office to which men may go to
offer themselves as recruits for this service.
An aspirant in position to enter it is in the
dark as to the means by which he may do
so. In other respects also the movement is
engagingly mysterious. Its promoters take
no chances either of being overrun with un-
desirable applicants or of bringing them
selves under the eye of Chinese consular or
other authority. Men who are sought learn
of that fact Through agencies seemingly
primitive, yet so contrived as to make de-
lection exceedingly difficult if not hopeless.
A summons is meaningless and without
value should it be unheeded, and in any
case it can never do more than advance the
man summoned a single step toward the
end in view. How many steps may then
intervene between himself and the source
of employment no American has yet. been
permitted to learn. The movement is
worked on the principle that the beneficiary
should accept what may come and ask no
questions. Thus a successful aspirant may
pass through a dozen hands, advancing to
the verge of actual service. with pay in his
pocket, without gathering a particle of
tangible evidence as to the people behind
him, or those responsible for his selection.
First intimation that a place awaits him is
likely to come to a man when he finds at
his quarters a note suggesting that 1t might
be to his advantage to take a walk at a
designated time and place. The note usual
ly names a busy ~thoroughfare in crowded
hours. Should he not respond he will hear
no more Of the matter. In the course of
the walk he will receive a note in hand
writing different from that in the original
tip, handed to him by some one who is
swallowed by the crowd too quickly to be
observed. advising a walk on the following
day at the same place and hour, in case he
should like to hear from l. Chow.
That is a name with which to ~conjure.
Whether or not it has an owner in the
flesh, 1t is the name behind this movement,
and it means business. Ii Chow's PROPOSE
ton. should the man sought continue to
respond to overtures. neither promises nor
suggests anything beyond 5000 gold, with
chance of better pay later on for military
work in China. 1t does not indicate for
whom the work is to be performed, in what
cause. in what part of China, or how pay
ment in that field is to be made. The
amount of the pay is the chief, if not the
sole, temptation offered at this stage.
HE TAKES NO CHANCES.
Ii Chow operates on prudent lines. The
staff which he maintains enables him to
learn not only the circumstance and con-
ditions which attach tomen whom he wants,
but he is also ready with suggestions as to
means and agencies whereby such men
may become free for the engagement of
fered when they canno easily free them
selves. Hence his overtures seem never mis-
directed; they do not tangle him with men
disposed to NEEDLE or pry, he appears to
risk no time or energy on mishaps. There
is no such thing with him as calling many
and choosing few. His selections seem to
be made with the certainty Of unerring in
tuition, and the direct negotiations which
may strike the party of the other part as
the beginning of the deal usually cap a
procedure that has otherwise been worked
to completeness before the other party has
an inkling of it. He informs himself con-
corning his man and decides whether or not
he wants him and clears the way to get
him before he commits himself to an over
ture. These preliminaries occur Of course
while the curtain is down. When it is raised
the smoothness with which negotiations
move to success works amazingly to his
credit. The reputation of making no mis-
takes SAVIOR of mystery that permeates an
association with him, add zest to adventure
and make capital for Ii Chow among men
nearly all in the flush OF youth. reckless of
risks and without responsibility and whose
temper rather favors than disapproves a
vague hazard under an invented person.
ality.
a letter from Hong-Kong written by an
American who recently took service with
Ii Chow shows that the methods of Sc
crecy employed at the beginning had not
been relaxed at that port. AS soon as he
had signifed his willingness to engage him
self in Manila the writer had received on
one of his walks a ticket for Hong-Kong, a
small sum of money and directions to pro-
coed and await further orders at the Hong
Kong hotel. When his ship dropped anchor
in Hong-Kong harbor he ignored the hotel
launch and went ashore In a sampan taken
at random from among several that came
alongside. AT the wharf he stepped into a
ricsha, also chosen at random. After the
ricsha coolie had deposited his effects for
him at the hotel entrance and had taken
his fare the coolie handed him a package
and straightway disappeared in the crowd
in Queens road. The package contained pay
for. a full month and a ticket for Shang-
hal by a ship TO sail two days later, but
not a word of writing.
1T begin to feel uncanny about this
thing" he says in his letter. 1T did not
seem strange that l should be spotted in
Manila. where people knew me and I could