Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1904-04-12
SHOOTING in China

| A number of foreign officers, who
were shooting snipe in the rice fields
| back of the village of Wei-Hai- Eel
China, were responsible for a series o,
peculiar accidents not long ago. The
kind of fowl they brought down wore
pigtails instead of feathers, and were
distinctly game in one sense of the
word.
The first day they set out one of the
officers. German of high rank, sho'
Chinese laborer by mistake. 1t was
d slight flesh wound in the arm, but
the laborer was highly incensed, ano
made a wordy attack in unintelligible
lingo on the officer.
HE says he will be laid off for a
week and is asking you for money
explained an interpreter. The crowd
was not especially flush at the time
but coin to the amount OF SIS was raised
on the spot and given 70 the Chinese.
The latter was fully appeased, and
went off the envied superior of his less
fortunate brethren. Five dollars is q
good round sum to the average Chinese
workman, who draws pittance SO
small that an American would be
ashamed to take the money.
The officer was not molested. or re-
buked for the shooting. 1t was plainly
an accident, but even if it had not been
it is doubtful that any action would
have been taken in the matter. Chi
nese life Is scarcely at premium in
Wei Hai-Wei, which is as poverty
stricken a Chinese village as can be
found on the map.
The natives live from hand to mouth.
They are a stalwart tribe, many Of
them standing six feet in height. and
are much darker skinned than the
southern Mongolians. They are good
to look at, healthy and muscular, but
are absolutely and entirely without
ambition. They are, stolid to a limited
degree; utterly Indifferent to physical
pain and seemingly incapable OF mem
tai anguish. A story Is told of one
man who caught his foot in a trap set
for some animal. and calmly lay down
end slept until his fellows came to res
cue him. Later the foot was ampu-
e.,
cause he was unable to make living
thus crippled, and his relatives were
too poor to support him.
The report that one man had receiv-
ed IS for mere flesh wound in the
arm spread like wildfre thru the VII
lage. A few days later an English
captain. aiming low in order to strike
q bird lowering near a baited trap,
brought another laborer to the ground,
The man sprang into sight just as the
officer pulled the trigger, and seceiv-
ed the shots full in the thigh. The
wound proved serious in this case. The
Englishman had the man carried to
hospital on the island. and later COM
pensated him to the tune of $500.
Most unluck compensation! The
500 proved a veritable godsend to the
wounded Chinese, but the giving OF 1t
put distinct quietus on the season
sport. Five laborers were shot the
next day. and each demanded immed-
late compensation for his wounds! \
sixth was so rash as to offer MS head
for target and was killed outright.
His body was shipped over to the
island in exultation by the relatives.
They demanded $500 and got $15, TOT
the officers were onto their game by
this time. Later. when the hunters
went back to the field, they dared not
shoot at all, except straight up in the
air. for Chinese We're found crouched
behind every stump. ready to thrust
their bodies into sight is soon as trig-
gers were pulled The stun1ps are
close to the ground. and frequently
the traps are placed upon them. Trees
are not allowed to grow to any height
in this vicinity: they are cut down for
firewood before they become good
sized saplings The country is there
fore, almost entirely treeless. The
Chinese lay down close to the stumps
and when the officers took aim they
sprang into the air and tried to re-
ceive the shot.
The officers held meeting and put
the matter to vote.
Fine sport and a good riddancs,"