CO129-321 - Public Offices & Others - 1903 — Page 124

CO129 Colonial Office Hong Kong Records 理藩院香港檔案 All AI Reviewed

The Importation of Arms into China from Hongkong.

120 mann.

As usual, the German firms in Hongkong are engaged in this business, and the chief of them appear to be Meyers, Sienssen, Carlowitz and Lutgens Einst.

The Compradore of the latter firm has just quarrelled and left them, and has supplied me with a lot of information on the subject of smuggling arms—a subject on which he is very well informed as he is partner with another Chinaman by name Yao Fu, who also holds a license, and does a bigger business than anybody.

The Compradore tells me that there are now stored in the godowns of the various firms here about 20,000 Mauser Rifles, and they are smuggled out at rare intervals in batches of four or five thousand, and the business is a very paying one, as the rifles can be bought from the German firms for eight or ten dollars apiece and fetch when landed on Chinese territory twenty-five to thirty dollars.

Under the Act it is permissible to transfer rifles from one go-down to

Edit History

2026-06-01 12:36:13 · NVIDIA / meta/llama-4-maverick-17b-128e-instruct
Live
View comparison
AI Proofread
The Importation of Arms into China from Hongkong. 120 mann. As usual, the German firms in Hongkong are engaged in this business, and the chief of them appear to be Meyers, Sienssen, Carlowitz and Lutgens Einst. The Compradore of the latter firm has just quarrelled and left them, and has supplied me with a lot of information on the subject of smuggling arms—a subject on which he is very well informed as he is partner with another Chinaman by name Yao Fu, who also holds a license, and does a bigger business than anybody. The Compradore tells me that there are now stored in the godowns of the various firms here about 20,000 Mauser Rifles, and they are smuggled out at rare intervals in batches of four or five thousand, and the business is a very paying one, as the rifles can be bought from the German firms for eight or ten dollars apiece and fetch when landed on Chinese territory twenty-five to thirty dollars. Under the Act it is permissible to transfer rifles from one go-down to
Baseline (Original)
The Importation of Arms into China from Hongkong. 120 mann. As usual, the German firms in Hongkong are en- gaged in this business, and the chief of them appear to be Meyers, Sienssen, Carlowitz and Lutgens Einst- The Compradore of the latter firm has just quarrelled and left them, and has supplied me with a lot of information on the subject of smuggling arms a subject on which he is very well informed as he is partner with another Chinaman by nome Yao Fu who also holds a license, and does a bigger business than any- body. The Compradore tells me that there are now stored in the godowns of the various firms here about 20,000 Mauser Rifles, and they are smuggled out at raro intorvals in batches of four or five thousand, and the business is a very paying one, as the rifles can be bought from the German firms for eight or ten dollars apiece and fetch when landed on Chinese terri- tory twenty-five to thirty dollars. Under the Act it is permissible to transfer rifles from one go-down to
2026-06-01 12:36:13 · Baseline
View content

The Importation of Arms into China from

Hongkong.

120

mann.

As usual, the German firms in Hongkong are en-

gaged in this business, and the chief of them appear

to be Meyers, Sienssen, Carlowitz and Lutgens Einst-

The Compradore of the latter firm has just

quarrelled and left them, and has supplied me with a

lot of information on the subject of smuggling arms

a subject on which he is very well informed as he is

partner with another Chinaman by nome Yao Fu who also

holds a license, and does a bigger business than any-

body. The Compradore tells me that there are now

stored in the godowns of the various firms here about

20,000 Mauser Rifles, and they are smuggled out at

raro intorvals in batches of four or five thousand,

and the business is a very paying one, as the rifles

can be bought from the German firms for eight or ten

dollars apiece and fetch when landed on Chinese terri-

tory twenty-five to thirty dollars.

Under the Act

it is permissible to transfer rifles from one go-down

to

Comments

Approved members can add comments, bookmarks, and private notes.

No comments yet.

Private Research Note

Private notes are available after approval.