The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-15
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their fellows. They have captured sail ing tunks and the smaller trading craft of the Chinese. Their sphere of opera ton has been the Gulf of Pechili and the coasts of Manchuria and northern Corea If they are chased by the men-of-war they sail up into the rivers, where the water is so shallow that the large ves- sels cannot follow. Some years since a Japanese gunboat captured two of these pirate junks and captured more than $500, 900 worth of silver in them. The pi- rates frequently appear near Newchang, lying in wait for the junks as they come out of the river, and making each junk pay toll. They sometimes leave their junks and pillage the village on shore.
 Brlganda of kerln.
 One of the chief seats of brigandage is the province of Kirin, which lies north of here It is a rich territory three times as big as the state of Indiana, hav- ing altogether a population of about 8,000,- 900. Its capital fs Kirin, town of about 100, 600 people. There are many mountains in that region which are infested with Huang Houtzes. They are well mounted and well armed, and they collect heavy toll in the big cart traffic which Is all ways moving between the capital and Kwang- -Cheng- -Tsu, the nearest station on the South Manchurian railroad. Not only here, but in the other provinces insur- ance companies have been established to . protect trade by bribing the brigands Each of these companies has its nag, which is usually of a triangular shape This takes the place of the Huang Houtze flag. and If the Huang Houtzes nave been properly paid it Is respected. Other wise not. The insurance companies send armed guards along with their carts, but 1t is an open secret that 1t Is the money which they pay the brgands and not their guards that affords them protection.
 During visit that made to the peni- tentiary in Mukden I asked the director Tiff he had any Huang Houtzes among his convicts. He replied that he had, and that he would point out one In the next ward we entered. He did so. The man head had a pigtail as black as that of the ordinary Chinese and there was nothing to distinguish him from the others in the shop where he worked. I afterward pho tographed two Huang Houtzes between the guards in the yard of the prison.
 pr. Christie, the madical missionary. in charge of the great hospital at Mukden, tells me that he always has patients un- der treatment who have been wounded in these Huang Toutze raids and that some times they are Huang Houtzes them selves.
 Wiping Out the Brieands.
 
 come now when these brigands must be exterminated. Their raids have attracted the attention of outside nations, and the reform movement which Is going on here demands that trade be freed from their taxes. It is only on account of the duties having been comparatively light that an outcry has not arisen long before this. The administration of Mukden the cap ital of Manchuria is one of the most pro- gresstve of the Chinese empire, and the army connected with 1t is especially well drilled. The country could be polced as far as the main trade routes are con- cerned, and this will probably be done within short time. If the government once puts its foot down and insists that the Huang Houtzes be destroyed, an end will soon be made to these raids and the brigands, with the exception of those in the mountainous districts, will disappear. During my stay in Corea the military officials told me that their chief trouble Is not with the insurgents but with some Corean brigands who are much like the Huang Houtzes. They have their homes in the mountains and sally out to prey upon the villages. These Corean brigands are supposed to number 15,000; and they have one chief who is practically the head of the whole. The Japanese soldiers are policing the mountainous districts, and they are killing these brigands wherever they find them. A similar policy Is bound to be instituted in Manchuria. The Chi nese government Is now sending emil grants into the country north of Mukden, and it expects to open up much of its rich government land to settlement. Mining concessions have been granted to for