The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1923-10-02
ccIFNTIST HAS BARE
ESCAPE FROM BANDITS
.coD KNOWS WHERE l WILL
EMERGE" is LAST WORD
FROM JOSEPH ROCK.

WASHINGTON, ID. C.-Danger-
,dventures and narrow escapes
o ..on, bandits are Detailing Joseph F.
no[t Washington scientist who en-
Nl oo5T Yunnan Province, China, on a
gn;st search for plants, but now faces
gj.onacrs from which, he writes, God
G vows where | will emerge"
NJ Rock went to the remote Bur
80 T;bet frontiers of China as head
M n" National Geographic Society ex-
osd;tion which hoped to bring back
prmcrous plants for American intro
5"rf;on study the mystery of how
american native corn apparently was
..,nsoI9nted there before 1892, and to
.aot blight-resisting chestnut tree
H. is the man who found the chaul-
l,oogra trees, oil from which is used
TO treat leprosy.
Exciting Trip to Salt Mines.
From Likiangfu, China, he writes
II lust returned from an exciting
rim TO the Lachiming salt mines.
5Noney is dreadfully scarce, paper
= Useless as no one will take it, es-
nsciaIlv up here with all these tribes
~ decided to risk it and make a
dash for Lachiming, in the heart OF
the widest mountain ranges imagin-
able. to get funds to carry on the
work and to see me through to wher-
ever God know | will emerge.
~ had four Chinese drafts on the
Tachining salt mines from the Tall
Salt office.
cd 10 give me an escort and said he
cared for my life and would not let
me- 90, Finally | said | must have
money and [ would risk it. He gave
me- two opium-sodden, disruptable
wretches Of soldiers as escorts. They
were simply a nuisance and an eX-
oense. They were, of course, only to
20 as far as the next magistrate, which
i at Chen Chilean.
There | got four soldiers as far
as Lauping. Lauping is not on any
man as it is an unsurveyed territory.
At Lauping, which is five days west
from Likiang, | got five soldiers and
thence we started out through the
widest country imaginable to Lachl-
ming. Dense forests, deep ravines,
high mountain passes, the lovelest
and weirdest imaginable. | was not
afraid going to Lachiming, but | fear
ed the return trip with about $4,000
in silver IN the trunks.
al took seven of the MoSo men
along and the five soldiers from Lau-
piang besides myself, so we were
thirteen people in all. We reached
I.achiming safely and had no trouble
10 get the money. | had to go at the
end of the month to arrange it so that
would reach the mines the first,
which | did.
Escort for Return.
1T is especially at that time that
the roads are watched by the brigands,
as usually on such dates money is
dispatched. | was told at Talifu to ar
range to be at the mines about the
first of the month. 1t is exceedingly
difficult to keep things secret. We had
no sooner arrived at Lachiming than
everybody knew why we came. | did
not stay longer than | had to to pre-
vent the news travelling faster than we
did, so | left the next morning with
an additional escort from Lachlmlng.
Thanks to the Gods l reached Lihang
without mishap. =.
Il put four scoundrels into the jail
in Yauping, where they got a beating,
as they tried to foul me, but | got
ahead of them and so here | am safe
with the cash with which to carry on.
Entire Town Wiped Out.
On my trip up the Yangize and
the Yundodye river toward Chung
ten. | met the Grand Lama on the
road who informed me that not a
house has been left standing in Chung
ten. The whole place has been burn
ed and the Chinese official flew to
Likiang, where he is at present. Two
thousand Tibetan bandits are at Hslao
Chunten, five days north of Likiang.
What will happen no one knows.
Il had letter from the customs
commissioner. He tells me OF the
Tengyueh magistrate having been
captured by brigands and a ransom is
asked Of $4,000. 1t is certainly a prob
lem how to get out of this country
without losing ones life or all his be-
ongings. However, our collecting
goes on apace as if it were the most
II Naargf,,1 4. ,,,O,-fI -