The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1922-10-16
''OLD JAP DEVIL" IS TERROR OF
 WEST CHINA
Authorities to Dicker With White Wolf" Protege, Make Him Patroit,
BY THOMAS MELOY.
International News Service Staff
 Correspondent

Correspondent.
 1 Picking, Oct. 14.-'"The White Wolf' is again spreading terror
 among the people of west central
 Shlna. The much -feared bandit clan as resumed activities under a new
 leader. Lao Yan Jen, or "Old Jap
 Dey1I; so named for his black scowl
 and his short bowed figure. In the
 I1St month they have run riot in the
 proVlnces of Honan and Shensi For elgnerS have suffered severely for.
 either race nor religion are respect
 ed. Whole cities have been sacked
 WU Pei-fu, his garrisons destroyed.
 his advance guards turned back in
 eff. N''A ieO
 Among these were one French cfti-
 zen and one Creek who continue to | ne held for ransom despite the pro- t7sts of the French Legation. Fortu-
 nately for Americans, the districts pied by the French. The Catholic
 Fathers there were forced to flee. IeaV1ng their churches piIIaged and fthelr homes in ruins.
 i M. Sidot. a French enginear eta tioned at Shanshow. with his wtfe and fhirteen-year- daughter. remaJnsG
 bravely in the city when the bandits captured it. The tri-coIor flying in tcampeI under foot. He himself was severely beaten, while his wife and daughter were roughly f1andled. cioebsss GUebbstn1ng n they had, to their very clothes, was taken away. For a time their house was made headquarters and the courtyard used for execu- tlons which were apparently carried out in accordance with some prepared black list.
 In the meanwhile the city itself was subject to a thorough pillage. All the horses and mules were driven away to a temporary corral which oP ouS accumulated live stock All money except silver Cthere is no goId) Vas spurned.
 A quantity of women's clothing was gathered, some of it being taken off the wearers directly, and in the even ing number of the bandits put it on for a wild and drunken masquer- ade.
 Lao himself has, in addition to his cunning and instinct for plunder, a real genius for military operations and an ability to utilize bodies of men far larger than the usual bandit group. His training under the origin al White Wolf' was excellent and e became one of the latters trusted heutenants, aiding him in his long career of murder and pillage. When
 White Wolff finally was captured by a jealous military Governor, who buried the head some thousand miles from the rest of the body, he "Old Japan DeviI' compromised and ac- cepted a position in the National army
 His promotion was rapid, and he had become colonel at the end of Q few years, when the recent Civil War resulted in the defeat of his com handing general and the disbandment 1f his troops. Thereupon he gathered together the loose ends andam him self the chief of a new robber band many of his followers being from the original White Wolf. Other bandit groups acknowledged his supremacy, recognizing in him a leader of super J,Y-. .aI i Increased, and by many Chinese he is looked upon as a serious opponent to Wu Pei-fu.
 Alarmed by the pressure brought 1y foreign legations, the Chinese gov ernment has asked Wu Pei-ful to take strong action. He has now put over a division in action, but "Old Japan DeViP' seems little moved. Mean dcians unfrtendly to Wu propose to give him the name of patriot rather than bandit. There have also been s Iggestions of a compromise whereby ] e and his forces will be taken back into the Chinese armies. as is usual in such cases. and he himself made 9 legal general on the theory that his will then, at least. be more orderly.
 Negotiations have begun for this. The bandits have submitted their terms, which include the assignment of territory. roughly about the size of New York state, to their jurisdic- tion. They are then to become a. military force, po- licing their district and keeping them selves aIoof from the politics of the Central government and future civil war. It is likely that some arrange ment will be made with them The result will be one more War Lord han many of his colleagues who rose by similar methods