The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1919-01-18

Ee~- a. AR-A
mysterious Death of the TaotsPs
Deputy at the Wellington Hotel.
Our readers will be sorry to
hear Of the sudden death last eve
ming Of Mr.. 10 Tine Choo. the pop
ular deputy of His ExceIlency
Chang. Tao-tai of Shanghai. He was
attending a dinner given by the
Directors Of the new Mutual Spin
ming Co. at the Wellington Hotel on
the Bund and was taken suddenly
III at the close Of the meal.
He was carried to an adjoining
apartment. and DR.. Hall Clayton,
Surgeon to the British Consulate,
was Immediately summoned, but all
his efforts to resuscitate the unfor-
tunate gentleman proved unavail-
ing and he died shortly before mid
night
Mr.. LN was one of the most
promising OF. the younger genera
ton Of Chinese oficialdom and had
always shown himself most courte-
Gus and obltging in his relations
with European residents. His de-
cease is n great loss to this COM
munity and leaves a vacancy which
His Excellency will find hard to I'LL.
The usual reticence displayed by
the attending physicians in COM
menting upon the case and the
refusal of the health officer to give
any details to the press, have
thrown an air of mystery about
the occurrence which we hppA In
time will be satisfactorily explain
ed. but which we must all very
much re4ret"
A week had passed after the above
notice and the reading public of Shang-
hal had begun to forget the incident
when a little group of men sitting on
the porch of the Municipal Club, were
Joined in the evening by three others.
They were the Chevalier Brouchard,
Consul-General for France: DR.. Hall
Clayton formerly Surgeon of the Ninth
Punjab Artillery. and James Mactav-
ish. Esq. Director General of the new
Mutual Spinning Co. one Of the most
prominent commercial enterprises in all
the Far East. 1t was a hot and moist
July night and every breath of air blow
ing up the river channel was welcome
to make life endurable.
Well" said the Consul as he replac.
ed his glass of aerated water and light
ed his Manila cheroot, have they come
to any final decision as to that case
of the Tao-tars deputy ?" He turned
an inQuiring look toward the surgeon.
Mysterious as ever" was the reply.
Inspector Sharpley and I have been
closeted two hours this afternoon with
Detective Enthusiastically clever
chap. by the way, that Morehead; could
have given Sherlock Holmes any num-
Der of points and beaten him at the
game-but we don't seem to get any
nearer to it"
was he in good health at the time?"
Perfect, as far as we doctors know"
Something must have been wrong,
then. with the food. Chinese cooks are
awfully careless In this sickly season
and one never knows what they may
serve up to you. A little piece of
tanned fish or some over-ripe fruit may
cost the unwary European his very life,
you know"
Yes. true; but this was not in
Chinatown or in a private house; 1t
was IN the Wellington and every parti-
Gle of food served there Ia under oon-
slant and most careful inspection. The
proprietor and chef are both old East
ern hands and know these risks as well
as we do
Then" said the Consul. after a mo-
ment's pause. "the only thing is poison.
You never can tell what these chaps
may do. If one has a deep seated grudge
against another. tell you. they'll stop
at nothing. Couldn't one of the assis-
tant cooks have smugg1ed it into a
special dish or the table boy have
dropped 1t into the wine?"
Not likely" replied the surgeon.
we have gone into all that most care
fully and we are positive that he Meth
Or ate nor drank anything that was
not shared by all alike, and not an
other soul felt any bad effects what
ever. No, I do not place any credence
IN the poison thoery-unless-" and
here he slowly rose and walked to the
railing overlooking the sluggish river
Just below that seemed to conceal
Oriental mysteries from European
minds unless it be some deadly drug
that no modern medical man has ever
heard Of. and. you know. we haven't
been working and studying and prac-
Using in these wretched lands for over
nifty years for nothing"
He touched the bell and the waiting
Celestial instantly responded Boy.
go catchee my ma-foo' and speakee he
my wantchee trap Just now go home
side"
The vision departed and having duly
summoned the waiting horse boy from
the gate-house and his pipe. announce
ed: FLAP all leady nov. Sir" and the
ousy doctor babe the little company
goodnight.
That only shows" said Mr. Mactav-
ish. how little you can know about
them, no matter how many years you