November 10, 1900.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
one
vinces--and the missionaries are not to be | The_order_published was from the Chief of blamed, as they acted under orders from their Staff, and I will now read it:- The Lieutenant- superiors-has sent us some very interesting General commanding cannot allow Lient-Col remarks on the situation in the West of China. the Hon. R H. Bertie, and the 2nd Battalion In the course of them he refers to the evacua- Royal Welsh Fusiliers to leave his command tion of Chungking and speaks very highly of without expressing his appreciation of their the French Consul, M. Bons d'Anty, who did soldierly conduct during this campaign. No not take part in the evacuation but remained at thing could have exceeded their dogged endurr his post, as we have heretofore recorded, with ance during the march on Paking, and in Pek- the Japanese Consul, two Englishmen, a mer-ing their discipline, conduct and appearance, chant and a missionary, aud an American Pro- fessor. M. Bons d'Anty, our correspondent says, is a charming man and one of the best Consuls France has in the Far East, which is the more reason why Great Britain should have a strong man at Chungking, for M. Bons d'Anty might be trusted not to lose his very legitimate opportunity to promote French interests, especially during the absence of his British colleague. Our correspondent adds to what we have written hitherto on this subject that the British Consul at Chungking is charged with British interests in the whole of Szechuan and Kweichow, and is also the adviser of Britishers residing in North Yunnan, There are two Consulates in Yunnan, Tengyueh (Momein) and Szemao (Esmok). Mr. Litton, Consul at Tengyueh and formerly Consul at Chungking, has gone home on sick leave, and until the troubles in North China broke out, the Szemao Consulate was also vacant. In this dilemma Lord Salisbury turned to the Customs for assist- anee, and the Acting Commissioner at Szemao being apparently a British subject, he was appointed Acting Consul. Mr. F. W. Carey is the gentleman in question, and the temporary appointment seems to be an eminently satisfac. tory one.
ALLEGED OUTBREAK IN COREA. The Tokyo Asahi publishes news of a rather startling character from Corea. It is to the the effect that an insurrection of Pedlers and Tonghaks has broken out in the vicinity of Wiju, in the north of Corea. The rebels have taken possession of three towns, Kusong, Yongchon, and Cholsan. The movement has spread to the south, namely, Hwanghaido. The rioters are bent on marching to Phyong-yang and Seoul, in order to petition the Central Go- vernment, though what they want to petition for is not known. It is simply an excuse to get into the capital and ferment disturbances. The Tadong river will soon be frozen over and this, it is said, will be the signal for a forward march from the north. There are stationed at Wijn 200 regular troops properly equipped, but they are not strong enough to deal with the rioters. The letter concludes by saying that the object of the rioters is to expel foreigners from Corea. One Christian church has already been destroyed by the rioters. The report, however, requires confirmation.
KETURN OF THE ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS.
GENERAL SIR ARTHUR GASELEE ON THEIR SERVICES.
The four companies of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, together with the detachments of Royal Engineers and R.A.M.C., who left Peking on the 21st ult. and Taku on the 26th ult., arrived in Hongkong on Friday by the Salamis. They disembarked at about half- past three at Murray Pier, and subsequently ned up two deep in front of the Queen's Statue, near to which a large number of the European residents of the city had assembled. Here they received H. E. Major-General Gascoigne, C.M.G., with a general salute, the band playing the regimental march, "Men of Harlach."
In the course of a short speech H. E. the MAJOR-GENERAL said-Colonel Bertie, officers and, men of the 2nd Battalion Royal Welsh Fusiliers and the detachment of the Royal Engineers, I am very glad indeed to welcome you back into my command. We who have had to stay behind your other half battalion, myself and the staff-should have liked to have gone forward, but some must stay behind. But we have nevertheless looked with the most genuine interest on the way you have acquitted your selves. I knew perfectly well when I sent you that you would do well, and I have seen an order that was published which I dare say you have read, which was new to me until the other day.
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armed with revolvers of the newest patterns, and fired back at their pursuers without hurting anybody. The whole booty and the captured pirate were handed over to H.I.M.S. Luchs, 1 Canton. The Commander of the Luchs, Capt. Dähnhardt, will, as far as can be learnt, insist upon the pirate being beheaded; ather- wise he will take him to the scene of piracy and have him shot by his own men.
The Schamien is the former steamlaunch Tung Cheong, and has been bought by the Ger- man Navy for river services, having been taken over on the 20th ult. She is a boat of 37 tons, is 76 fest 8 in. long and 10 feet 4 in. broad, and sists of 2 Maxim guns and 2 3.7 om. Machine has a speed of 12 knots. Her armament con- guns. At the time of the piracy there were on and 8 sailors, but the Schamien is able to carry board one officer, 2 non-commissioned officers
40 men, if
necessary.
It is unfortunate, our informant remarks, that the Schamien could not fire any shots into the pirates, but the latter were clever enough to shelter themselves behind the passenger-boats. It is said that the pirates are inhabitants of the village of Chung Chow Kong, which is well known among the natives as a nest of pirates.
has, with few exceptions, been most satisfac- tory. The Lieutenant-General feels sure from what he has seen of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers that the British Infantry is as good now as it ever has been.' Nothing could be more com- plimentary than that. I need not tell you how pleased I am to read it. It certainly is a magnificent thing for a regiment that battalion should have been serving for twelve months, doing hard work in South Africa. and another battalion of the regiment should be doing equally good work in the north of China. It is a very proud thing indeed for a regiment to have such a record as that. I am not going to detain you any longer, only I wished to welcome you here. I know there are other welcomes that will be given, but it was my pride and my privilege to be able to be the first one to welcome you back into the command. One last word. I am certainly not against the THE CASE OF LANCE-CORPORAL men enjoying themselves thoroughly, but I can. not help remembering that there are a good few of your comrades left behind, who have found graves in the north of China. All honour to them. They died, some on the field of battle, some from wounds received in battle, and many from sickness, the result of the hard work and privations they endured. For the mercy that Almighty God has shown everyone of you who are listening to mo, I ask you to show your gratitude for the blossings vonchsafed to you by taking your pleasures discreetly. Now, men, we have been standing in the shadow of the statue of the Empress Queen, whose servants we are proud to think we are. Take your helmets off and join with me in giving three cheers for Hered "Disgusted," Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.
This invitation was lustily responded to, after which a verse of the National Anthem was played by the band.
H. E. the Major-General then intimated to the officers in command that it was his particu lar wish to march to barracks at the head of the troops. This he did, accompanied by Colonel O'Gorman and Captain the Hon. H. W Trefusis.
On Friday night the Fusiliers were entertain- ed by their comrades to a cold collation, and on Saturday night to a dinner and smoking concert. The Royal Engineers and R. A. M. C. were welcomed at a smoking concert which took place in the Engineers' Theatre on Friday night.
PIRACY CASE NEAR SHEKMOON,
GOOD WORK BY A GERMAN RIVER STEAM-PINNACE.
We have received from a trustworthy source the following details of a piracy case near Shek- moon (not far from autou), and of the fortunate appearance on the scene of a steam-launch just taken over by the German Government for river work,
GILES, R.W.F.
K
The other day one of our evening contem- poraries published a letter" headed Corporal Punishment in the Army " in which the case of Lance-Corporal Giles, of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, was mentioned. The writer of the letter, who signed himself "Disgusted," alleged that while Giles was undergoing six months infringement in Victoria Goal for a military crime he was punished with " darks cell" for soms infringement of prison rules, and "this not having a beneficial effect he was flogged; flogged so brutally that he will bear marks to his dying day. As a result of this," addt Giles is now raving in the hospital padded ward and likely to remain so for the remainder of his life." 'Disguted ' further observed :-" Giles must have been flogged very shortly before his discharge from prison, because the stripes on his back were till raw. I believe it is the law that a prisoner should be medically examined before the dia- bolical operation commences, and a doctor pre- sent to see it carried out. The only conclusion
either Giles was insane before he was flogged, that any intelligent person can arrive at is-
and not responsible for his actions, and consa- quently should not have been flogged, or he was fogged into insanity."
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We have made enquiries of the authorities as to the above allegations, and have been supplied with the following version of the facts of the
Case:----
The man in question was originally tried by court martial for striking a superior officer on the 12th of April, and was sentenced to six months' imprisonment with hard labour. He was admitted to the gaol on the 17th April. During his confinement in goal he was punish- ed discipline, but not at any time was he placed on two occasions for breaches of prison
in a dark cell On the 8th of October, after being six weeks clear of a report, he assaulted cipal warder, for which offence he received 12 a warder and attempted to assault the prin-
strokes with the “cat o' nine tails,"
the corporal punishment is inflicted. The medi- cal officer and the superintendent or assistant any prisoner receives corporal punishment superintendent of the gaol are present when in accordance with the gaol rules. Prisoners and once each day by the assistant superin- are also seen once daily by the medical officer
tendent of the gaol.
The German armed steam-pinnaca Schamien, under command of Lieutenant Reymann, went out for a cruise in a forenoou of the 2nd inst., and was lucky enough to surprise a party of pirates, seven in number, actually engaged in
A prisoner must be certified by the medical robbing the passengers of a passenger paddle-tered, and he is examined a second time before
officer to be fit before whipping can be adminis boat of their clothes and small valuables. The pirates had already succeeded in robbing another paddle-boat, and had also tried to get hold of a Chinese steam-launch, but the latter made her escape, after being shot at and hit twice only. The place of the piracy was near Shekmoon. As soon as the pirates saw the Schamien approaching, they absconded into the rice- fields, but were pursued at once by Lieutenant Reymann and five of the bluejackets. The pursuit was a rather difficult one, owing to enant Reymann and his men succeeded in the narrow and slippery pathways, but Lient- catching one pirate and the whole booty. The other pirates disappeared behind the hills, but before their escape, the blue-jackets fired and wounded one of them, who was, however, carried away by his companions. The pirates were
perfectly sane during his imprisonment and The prison authorities assert that Giles was
also when he was released. Everything was Giles assaulted a warder and attempted to carried out in accordance with gaol discipline assault the principal warder; hence his punish-
ment.
before being tried for his offence against gaol Giles appeared before the medical officer discipline, and after examining him care.
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