The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-06-15
CUNNING CHINESE THIEVES.
Importers in the East Robbed by In-
 genIous CeIestials.

Much difficulty has lately arisen
 among the importers in China through
 the disappearance of part of their con
 signtnents, says Consular report. The
 losses do not come so much through
 boxes or chests being carried off entire
 as through their contents being ab-
 stracted, the receptacle being left, as
 rule, In apparently the same shape as when leaving the exporters ware house. This Is a comon trick, and
 makes a discovery at the time of the
 theft most difficult and the task of
 tracing the goods even more so, as
 the shortage is seldom noticed until
 the lot arrives at it's destination.
 Ingenious means are often contriyed
 to prevent the loss being noticed One
 of the leading importers of provisions remarked recently that he had found
 empty cans in his preserved fruit box
 es which had been substituted for the | full ones taken out, so that the con tents would not rattle or shift and so disclose the loss. He stated also that shavings and excelsior had been stuff ed into boxes made empty, or partial ly so, through the removal of crackers
 or biscuits Not long ago a heavy loss was sustained by one of the American missionary schools at this place 1 through the loss of linen drawn work,
 the value of which exceeded $1,5OO in gold. The skilful way in which this
 theft, was accomplished made all ef- l forts to recover the goods or appre- bend the thieves futile. The drawn
 work was packed in a box which was strongly secured by iron straping and was also carefully nailed. The box
 was carried to the customs and thence to the steamer, and was scarcely out
 of the sight of some responsible per son for a moment.
 When the box reached the customs collector at Pittsburg, to which it went l in bond from New York, it was found
 to contain nothing but woven straw and paper, scarcely a thread of the linen remaining. The consignor was immediately notified and the most searching efforts were made to effect recovery and discover the thief, but 1 all attempts to accomplish either were of no avail No trace of the goods has ever been found nor any clew discov- cred which might lead to the detection of the thieves, though the variety of the woven straw with whic te box was stuffed suggested Foocow as the place
 of the theft, as this variety Is only to be found there. One of the merchants here who deals in drugs, hospital sup plies and haberdashery, has experience ed similar losses, the goods as rule being taken from the boxes whose out side appearance upon the delivery
 gave no evidence of their having been tempered with.
 Such instances might be multiplied almost indefinitely, but they all go to show that more care must be taken in
 boxing and packing goods so as to rem
 der such theft impossible, CT at least
 Increasingly difficult. Numerous sug- gestions might be afforded, all of which should depend somewhat upon
 the character of the goods and the size and shape of the receptacle containing them. A box lined with tin or sheet
 iron would be suitable fo rsmall quan- titites of valuable articles such as gin seng or medicines. A box covered with some woven material, such as
 basket work or cane or bamboo would quickly betray a loss through an en-
 trance to the interior casing, signs of (which could scarcely be concealed.