November 27, 1909,7
DEFYING THE LAW.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
field telephone work under the care of their Company Sergeant Major..
It is well known efforts are being made to restrict gambling in the city. Some weeks On Saturday H.E. The Governor, together ago, for a breach of the regulations, a gambling with Lieutenant-General Broadwood and Staff, house was confiscated to the Government, who, visited the Camp, and inspected the men at their however, allowed the owner of the place to re-work, which was made up as follows:-Number deem it on the express condition that it should no 1 and 2 Company fired 45 rounds of live shell, longer be used as a gambling house. The owner but the range being an extremely difficult one almost immediately re-let the house to a man only 19 hits were made. In the forenoon these who at once opened a gambling concern. The Companies cheerfully took off their coats and Kai-fong, becoming displeased at this defiance built a sangar, or breastwork, for the protection of the law, sent in a petition to the Nam Hoi of their guns, under the supervision of Lieut. Magistrate. That officer at once sent men to enant Kennett. All units took part in this seize the house. It was closed and the door brigade practice, Companies 3 and 4 making stamped with the official seal. It is likely that excellent practice with the 2.95 mountain guns, both proprietor and tenant will be severely dealt completely wiping out the target. Lieutenants Wolfe and Scott were battery commanders. The Engineer Company assisted the Artillery with the field telephone, signalling and range taking. The Infantry Company at the same time put their Maxims in position and assisted the howitzer and mountain batteries so far as their range allowed them. Major Macdonald controlled the brigade from a commanding position on a neighbouring hill. The practice was most interesting and beneficial, and showed that, in the event of the Colony being called upon to defend itself, the Hongkong Volunteers would be able to render good service.
with.
VOLUNTEER CAMP AT CUSTOMS PASS.
Our citizen solders paraded at Blake Pier for the annual camp on Saturday, 13th inst., under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Chapman. H.E. The Governor inspected the corps previous to embarking on the Govern- mert launch for the Customs jetty. On Sunday morning church service was conducted by Lt. Col, Chapman, after which the Artillery Com- panies had three hours' drill with the 5-inch howitzer and 2.95 mountain guns, while the Infantry Company had musketry practice at the Kowloon City Range, No. 2 Company firing blank cartridge on the how- itzer battery. Monday saw the various Com- panies hard at work at their respective duties, No. 1 and 2 Companies again practicing on the howitzer "guns, the infantry Company in Maxim gun drill, and the Engineer Company at field telephone laying. Tuesday saw the howitzer Companies again at work on their guns under the instruction of Sergt. Carman, to whom the greatest credit is due for the efficiency shown by the Companies he instructed. The Infantry Company had Maxim gun practice at dummy targets, the result of which was very fair. On Wednesday, the 17th inst., the howitzer Companies had gun practice with live shell; altogether 19 rounds were fired and 11 hits were made. Lieutenant Andrews was range commander and Lieutenant Kennett battery commander. The range was 2,000 yards, and the utmost credit is due to the gun crews for the smart way in which they worked their guns, the 19 shets being fired in 23 minutes. The Engineer Compan" co-operated with the gun detachments on the field telephone. The mountain guu Companies also had gun practice on neighbouring hills, and good prac- tice was made. The Infantry Company had a route march of 17 miles over very rough ground, and did good practice with the rifle at Kowloon City range after their march. Thursday was a hard day for all units, all the Companies com- bining as infantry for a sham fight, co-operating
with three Companies of the Buffs. This army was known as the ked army, while the enemy, known as the White army, were composed of other companies from the Buffs. The scheme was that the Red army invaded the camp of the White army, looted and burned the town from which supplies were available, and this being accom- plished the White army were supposed to drive off the invaders, in which they were unsuccessful, The White army drove the Red army to their
bases. The work cut out for the Volunteers
was to cover the retreat of the Red army's out, posts, in which they were successful. It is satisfactory torecord that not a single man fell out, although the day was very hot and the country over which operations took place was difficult.
The Artillery Companies were again at practice on Friday, the howitzer Com- panies making excellent practice at invisible targets at about 3,000 yards' range, having 14 hits out of a possible 18. Number 3 and 4 Company fired their guns from a posi- tion on Customs Hill at infantry targets on Waterfall Point. Lieutenant Northcote and Lieutenant Scott were battery commanders. Effective shooting was the result. The Infan- try Company carried out Maxim gun drill and had a lecture on outpost duty, and later in the day reconnoitred positions for Maxim guns for the scheme to be carried out on Saturday The Engineers were doing yeoman service with
The Camp was struck yesterday morning at 8 o'clock.
A SUPREME COURT SENSATION.
CONVICTED. PRISONER ATTEMPTS SUICIDE.
Quite a little excitement prevailed at the Supreme Court on Tuesday when a Chinese prisoner, who had been sentenced by his Honour Mr. Justice Gompertz to ten years' imprison- ment with hard labour. for taking part in an armed robbery at Lantao Island, attempted to strangle himself with his queue.
After sentence had been passed the prisoner was removed with the other convicted man, and the pair were lodged in a cell at the rear of the Court building. The prisoners had scarcely been locked in the cell, when the would-be suicide made a violent assault upon his com- panion. He was immediately removed to another cell, where he attempted to strangle himself by making his queue into a slip knot and pulling it taut round his neck. The prisoner was promptly rescued by the police, and until his removal from the Supreme Court he was kept handcuffed and under the eye of a lukong.
PUBLIC ORDER AND CRIME AT SWATOW.
robberies in Swatow, and burglaries, are on the Despite the existence of the police force, increase, says the N.C. Daily News corres- pondent. For the protection of river craft and
of the shops which line the shore. a steam. launch and cutters have been provided, but as the launch is too large and the cutters of too great draft effectively to patrol the shallow water, it is difficult to see what end they will serve. Police matters are in the hands of a zealous but untrained superintendent, and suffer from his incompetency.
That infanticide is not a thing of the past in this region is proved by the following incident. A young woman thirty years old had borne troyed everyone of them. seven daughters in succession and had des- She looked forward
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to the advent of the new baby with joy, because a native proverb says that Seven stars accom- pany the moon." But, alas! when the little one appeared it was again a girl! Maddened with disappointment she snatched up the baby and dashed it on the ground. The weight of the story is not so much in the fate of the last little unfortunate, as in the fact that her seven sisters had been destroyed by their mother in the same way. Infanticide seems to be decidedly less usual within the last decade, and in this region. North, but it is by no means non-existent. is probably less frequent than in places further
The Emperor of Japan has given a donation of 5,000 yen to the fund for the erection of a monument at Port Arthur in commemoration of the Japanese soldiers who fell during the siege of that fortress.
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THE TERRIBLE COLLISION IN
RHIO STRAITS.
"LA SEYNE” SUNK.
93 LIVES LOST.
In spite of the intricacies of these Eastern seas, says the Straits Times, it is seldom our duty to have to record anything very serious in the way of a shipping disaster involving great loss of life. But to-day we regret to have to announce that in the early hours of Sunday morning there occurred in the Straits of Rhio, at a spot approximately twenty-eight miles from Singapore, a disastrous collision involving the loss of the Messageries Maritimes steamer La Seyne, which keeps up a regular fortnightly connection between the outward and homeward French mail steamers calling here and Batavia. The La Seyne was run into by, or ran into, the British India Steam Navigation Co.'s steamer Onda and sank almost instantaneously, carrying to their death 93 persons out of a total of about 154 souls aboard.
SCENE OF THE DISASTER.
The Rhio Straits, it should be explained, form the main shipping highway for ships sailing between this port and Java. They are well- lighted, but navigation is difficult owing to the strong sets of the current, and great care has always to be exercised in negotiating the channel, especially when other ships are in the neighbourhood. The Le Seyne was travelling northward to Singapore. The Onda had sailed from this port on Saturday night and was bound for Tegal, in Java. The two vessels approached each other at a spot where the straits. is about two miles wide, near the lighthouse on Palau Sau. What actually caused the disaster is a matter which will be investigated at a court It is natural of enquiry to be held later, that the officers on both sides should be reticent on this point. They will make their statements at the proper time. But the two ships collided, and the French steamer went to the bottom in less than five minutes, and the now rests on the Pulau Sau side of the channel, with some twenty-five feet of her main mast as the only visible sign of where she lies. She went down by the head, and the survivors were left in the water with only the clothes they happened to be wearing at the moment. The commander of the La Seyne, Capt. Conailho, lost his life. So suddenly did the catastrophe happen that there was apparent- ly no time for orders to be given on the French ship, or for boats to be lowered. The vessel went down like a stone, and it is quite evident that the majority of those lost must have been drowned like rats in a trap, a good deck being in little better case, for they must many of the few who managed to scramble on
have been imprisoned under the ship's awnings. And it is also clear, from what follows, that of those who got clear of the ship, a good many were the victims of the sharks in which those picked up by three boats which were promptly waters abound. All of those rescued were put out by the Onda, but it is unhappily clear that if any remained alive who were not picked up at the moment, they must have met their death later from the sharks or from drowning.
moment f writing, there were few passengers on board whose home is in Singapore. Amongst these is Mr. F. Dreyfus, the agent of Pathé pyjamas and managed to keep afloat until one Freres, who was thrown into the water in his
So far as we are able to ascertain at the
of the Onda's boats took him out of the water in
the shock and was unable to come down to a very exhausted state. Dreyfus is still feeling town to-day. The others who were known in Singapore include Mr. Habib, the diamond merchant of Bangkok, who frequently made lost his life. Mr. Rodrigues, of Singapore, and business calls here and who, we regret to say
his two daughters appear to have suffered the same fate.
A SAILOR'S ACCOUNT.
Among the European passengers on the La Seyne bound for this port, were six sailors who had been paid off from their vessel, the Daylight, at Batavia. Of these D. Driscoll and G. Craig have not been heard of, and there is no doubt that they have been drowned. The other four, P. Bolton, H. Muller, C. Glendinning and
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