The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-06-17
A SAN FRANCISCO
 RATCHET MAN
nv pu,,.p yERRuL MIGHELs.

BY PHILIP vERRHL MIGHELs. fConyright. 1906, by Joseph B. Bowles.)
 A singular nose Ned Hummers seemed to me. for he held 1t elevated oddly and the nostrils moved with delicate nobility.
 "Oid man." said he, still scenting Tn the air. T smell opium"
 "oh." said I, quite relieved. 'very likely"
 '"That smell. you know" said he. reminds me trifie strongly Of deal I had in California"
 Does it?"
 "Yes. Three years ago I had been Ia reporter on The San francisco Chronicle a little more than half a year. There I met splendid lot or fellows. but the tolliest and Hveliest crowd was composed of the boys or the internal revenue department, who did nothing at all but watch the Chi nese opium thieves. smugglers. ana factories Their duty was to spy on these crafty devils and to raid their dens as often as suspicious required.
 All factories. you must understano' were illicit, for no one could anord 10 pay the exorbitant and purposeiy pro hibitory tax or license which the gov ernment levied on all such concerns.
 Many a night we forced the door of some foul abode that reeked with the overpowering fumes of the cooking 'dope,'-aglow with the light from the ruddy fires.
 "Generaliy the coolies escaped, into mazes of tortuous corridors, for china town is incomplete without score of crooked passages leading frou' every room of the slightest importance.
 "In the midst of this career met a Chinese interpreter, who told me an inside story which he had overheard. and parts of which had escaped even the vigilant officers of the government
 "A Chinese ring, represented by smuRgler and a single Chinese mer- chant, also in shady business, were concerned.
 "A certain steamer from the orient contained a consignment of stuff, way billed to the ring. and when 1t was nearly due at the port, the ring played a winning stroke and double cross, in which, by seeming to play In the hands of the government, they really betrayed their partner, the merchant. An Tong, and brought their opium safely through An Fong was power less to complain to the government. being himself concerned, and besides, he found 1t out too late. But he nursed his grievance.
 "ThA interpreter told me the name of the chief conspirator, or represnta- tiv of the ring. and asked me to keep if A secret Later, when this same in . terpreter succumbed to an overdose Of opium-for he was sadly addicted to nights in the Joint'-I alone possessed A knowledge that extended behind the scenes.
 "on a Sunday morning. months after my last official visit to Chinatown, l strayed along Dupont street, North, fill I found myself in the quaint and many colored quarter of the yellow men.
 "Rounding a corner. looked below to Waverly place. whore I saw crowd of whites and Chinese running into A pinched and filthy alley. Using all my well-learned push l got to the front and saw what accustomed the gathering, . "Jammed in corner at the bottom of a damp. squalid flight of steps. that | led to a flshy and horrible basement, was the corpse of a Chinese man, , douhled up, contorted, covered with blood Not a sign of a struggle was there The man had evidently been butchered by a 'hatchet-man.'
 "Behind me. suddenly. heard the
 voice of Bert Thomas. Here Tommy, I said and pulled him oodlly through the crowd
 For A moment he looked in horror | My God. hc cried An Fong! Nc wonder he didn't come Highbinder' win
 who is he7' I, said
 | "'Why.' said Tommy, that man was in the office yesterday and agreed tC
 lead us 10 the biggest factory he said on inc coast He didn't dare to give
 us the names. for fear the men nigh
 escape and later take their revenge or himself. and he couldn't describe the
 way to get there precisely
 "He said If they found him out in
 forming the highbinders would xii kin, sure-and we knew they would | Well he never came: we thought hin a regular liar. hut this-this explains
 |, all-the htehbinders win the trick IPoor old FongE
 "'Ab FongT l said. An Fong-
 seenos 10 me I have heard that nam'
 before Why, Tommy wasn't h. | njxed up in a smuggling racket once when the stun turned out to belong t | a ring. and all you fellows got takeI in on big consignment of tear