L
March 11, 1899.]
ignoring the complaints or wishes of his men he may not always find himself able
205
at Quarry Bay, and this avoided loss of
to their requests, but he is bound to accede | are such sticklers for Army Orders and Queen's money and possibly of life.
and in -variably does investigate, all matters brought
before him.
The Army Order which regulates the messing allowance contains these words :---
"The allowance shall be at the rate of 13 vents of a dollar a day in Hongkong as a contribution towards extra messing hitherto charged to the soldier,"
The soldiers who elected to serve under the new Regulations pay nothing for their messing. Those who remained under the old Regulations continue to pay their contribution towards the extra messing, viz., 3d. a day, the equivalent | in Hongkong of which is 13 cents.
This allowance is not part of a soldier's pay for him to spend as he wishes, but is made for the express purpose of providing extras to the Government rations; and commanding officers are responsible that it is so expended. The greatest care and attention are paid in the ex- penditure of this allowance and the soldiers are requested to make their wishes as to choice of extra food known.
I enclose the diet return for this week, and I hope you will show it to any symathiser with "New Messing" in order that he, or she, may judge whether or no the allowance is spent in the best interest of the soldier and in the manner intended.—I am, sir, yours faithfully,
R. B. MAINWARING,
Lt.-Colonel Comdg. 2nd Batt. Royal Welch Fusiliers. Murray Barracks, 6th Maroh, 1899.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS
Sir. With reference to the grievance about "Boldiers Messing" which was published in a former edition of the Hongkong Daily Press I wish to point out two or three facts which were omitted by your former correspondent and which would, I think, materially strengthen the argument in favour of a lower scale of messing. Any intelligent person who read the debates in the House of Commons should know the Act was passed to give the soldier a higher rate of pay. To force the soldier to spend the extra money in food is equivalent to saying he did not get enough to eat under the old regime, When this Aot came into force in India (by a similar order) the soldier throughout India was forced to pay 3d per diem messing, an absolute waste of money. The attention of the War Office was called to this; the result was, the or- der was at once rescinded. Again, the Colonel in command of the Royal Lano. Regiment tried to enforce 13 cents a day messing scale, but General Black said they were already paying
the service,
too much, viz., 6 cents a day. The idea seems very prevalent amongst Officers that Tommy Atkins does not care in the least what he gets to eat as long as he getsdrunk. This may be true as regards a certain class, but that this ap- plies to the majority of soldiers is absurd. There are hundreds of men in my own Regiment who embraced the new Act with the sole idea of saving a few pounds to start life with on leaving Colonel Mainwaring says that men under the new Act get their messing for nothing; but what about a soldier who enlisted before the new Act and 75 per cent. of the Royal Welch Fusiliers did so does he not forfeit 2d per diem deferred pay formerly placed to his credit? He must remember that the soldier's pay was really 1s. 2d. a day before the new Act was passed. Of course the messing return looks all right and proper, but the fact is we don't want the stuff; we would much rather have the
money.
Colonel Mainwaring sneers at the education of the modern soldier. I suppose he does not like us to make our grievances public; but there has never for many years been an Army reform forced on the War Office without the aid of the public Press. It is the Officers themselves who have taught us this.
Can any person tell me why General Black ignored this Army Order, and why it is still ignored by the Artillery and Departmental Corpe in Hongkong, who are much better paid than we? The truth is, if Army Orders and Queen's Regulations were always obeyed literal ly, it would soon be a case of pull the string and the figure will move. We should have
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. model army. If the authorities in Hongkong Regulations let them refer the matter to the War Office. We can wait. In the meantime we are like Mr. Micawber, waiting for some thing to turn up.-I remain, yours faithfully,
REFORM.
Hongkong, 9th March, 1899.
THE SAUKIWAN ROAD.
10 THE EDITOR OF THE " DAILY PRESS. 事 the Saukiwan Road several times a month, SIB, Having occasion to go out and in along generally at night-time, I should very much have been withdrawn. About a year ago I like to know if the police patrols on the road
the way between Bay View and Quarry Bay and never failed to meet at least one policeman on often I met two, at different points: one Euro- pean and one Sikh. For many months past, however, although I have passed several times a 12-30 a.m., I have not met a policeman of any month along this section, between 7 p.m. and
road with two gentlemen, who seldom travel it Several days ago I passed out along the at night, about 10 p.m., and I mentioned the absence of police on this road at other times. We did not meet one policeman on the whole route between the Parade Ground and Quarry Bay.
kind.
Considering that this is the one road in the colony much frequented by bicyclists, who some- times pass along in numbers and at other times in ones and twos, up to a late hour, surely there should be some police on the road. The Sau- kiwan Road has a very evil reputation amongst highway robberies, sometimes attended with the Chinese, it having been the scene of many violence and not a few murders. It is true that it is about fourteen years since a European was robbed and murdered on this road, but not many years have elapsed since more than one of it. Ricksha coolies are not easily induced Chinese was killed on the roadway or alongside to take one out along it at night unless there is more than one going out at once, and sometimes they will refuse point blank to proceed, even after coming all the way from the Clock Tower, preferring to sacrifice the first half of their fare rather than proceed past the kerosine
works.
If induced to go on they will throw constant furtive glances at the shrubbery along last China New Year, when going out along the side of the road. About three weeks before this way at about 9 p.m. a crowd of men who were loafing in the middle of the roadway, some little distance past the Metropole Hotel, crowded round my ricksha, one or two bending forward
to scrutinize me, although it was a bright moon- light night and they could easily see that I was stick and they drew back, whether from fear or a foreigner. I shouted at them and raised my that I was not the person they wanted I cannot say. I was so impressed with the idea that someone might be murderously attacked, after I had passed on, that I telephoned from Quarry them of this band of suspicious characters on Bay to the Central Police Station to notify the road. The following morning I heard that a fish hawker, who had been collecting small bills, had been nearly killed on the road (his head was out open) and robbed of all he had on him, $16.00. Credible European witnesses who passed along the road early the following moru- ing attested to there being a large quantity of blood still lying on the ground then, at the spot where he was struck down.
The most desperate of Chinese criminals are drawn from the quarrymen and stone-junk-men class. The leader of the Namao pirates when captured was taken out of a stone-junk, at Macao. The fact that when gambling places along the Saukiwan Road are raided the police are met with a vigorous resistance points to the desperate nature of the men who frequent it. Firearms were used against the police in one case last year, as per police report. Some may make light of the murderous assault on and robbery. of the small sum from the fish hawker mentioned above, but the smallness of the sum only points to the desperateness of the highwaymen. It is reported that they were waiting for a shroff who had been collecting rents and who was expected to come along the road with several hundred dollars. He wisely stopped the night
in the colony assures me that for full month A gentleman who has resided over thirty years before China New Year the Saukiwan Road is not safe to travel on at night. He said he had himself had the experience of seeing a couple of Chinamen come out from the side of the road and scrutinize him, as he sat in his ricksha, and observed men crouching down on the ground s little in from the road at the point where the two issued from. Were there a regular police patrol such things could hardly happen, or they characters loitering on the way. I am afraid would at least arrest or order off suspicious a solitary policeman might be himself badly smugglers who frequent this locality were they handled by the quarrymen, stone-junkmen, or
gest that at least four police should patrol the to attempt an arrest at night and 1 would sug- road, going in couples." A bicycle patrol might even be a good plan on these outlying roads, as a dark lantern might be used attached to the A bioycle would have the advantage of speed în bicycle and detachable readily if wanted in hand.
approach so that evil-doërs might be övertaken moving from place to place and silentness of by surprise.
WAYFARER.
Hongkong, 4th March, 1899.
SIR HALLIDAY MACARTNEY'S
NATIONALITY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS,' Sir,-As a mere foot note to local discussion, may I state that in 1882 Sir Halliday (then Dr.) Macartney told me that he had recently bought shire, said property having once been in posses. some property near his native place in Dumfries- sion of his forbears. Further, it is within my knowledge that two of Sir Halliday's children have married two of the children of his school. fellow, a Scottish gentleman hamed Borland. I enclose my card.
EXACTITUDE.
Peking, 20th February, 1899.
TE BARBARITIES PRACTISED ON FATHER VICTORIN.
--་
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS. SIR,-It was with much surprise I noted that & European had gratuit‹usly come forward to Surely "Anti-Prejudice" must be in Chinese justify the ghastly treatment of this poor priest. Government employ; if not they will undoubt edly desire to secure such an advocate and he may aspire at some future time to the Secretary- ship of their Legation in London, where peacock feathers and other honours await him, possibly does not lack in assurance. He must, however, even a baronetoy if he plays his cards well and be prepared to earn the profound contempt of all right thinking people by following the
|
course which leads to such elevation,
•
He says "the case of Father Victorin has been exaggerated, as all these things are." The reverse is the case; certain offensive details have been suppressed, as such are always aup. pressed in other cases, for obvious reasons. He then proceeds to detail a police record of an exceptionally ghastly series of erimes by a homicidal maniac, which he has evidently dilig. ently unearthed from a police gazette or some other paper of that type. What bearing the crimes he records have on the subject of the treatment of Father Victorin and his converts he alone can recognize. The one is the record of crimes which the authorities had traced to their author and meted out suitable punishment for, crimes which are abhorred by the people às well as the authorities of the West; the other is a statement of barbarities practised at the instigation of the gentry and officials and car ried out by a body of the people, barbarities which are accepted by the mass of Chinese as suitable treatment for a foreign priest and his followers.
As to human life being safer in a Chinese city than in an American city, I emphatically dispute that statement, even if advanced on the authority of the gifted author of "Chinese Characteristics." Foreigners travelling in the interior of China constantly require an escort unless they wish to travel at the risk of their lives; Chinese in Americs ean mfely travel the