1937-02-26 — Page 6

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THE HONGKONG TELEGRAPH, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1937.

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Hongkong Telegraph.

of

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1937.

NORTH CHINA

SMUGGLING

any evidence were needed

was

by

BERT

HAVE just come out of Spain, where

I have been flying and bombing for a month for the Government.

I went to Spain from New York because good money was offered to me and I needed it. It was also put up to me as a fight for democracy against dictatorship.

I have come away because it was no use try- ing to keep on with the kind of 'planes 1 WAS able to get.

I boar no grudge against anybody, but as

the extent of smuggling far as the fight activity in North China, in-

stigated by Japanese interests, it is to be found in ample measure in

011 and

REX "- Call and Hear their

Latest Recordings

for democracy concerned,

Was

the survey of well there was

China's trade for the past year, dictator ship just issued by the Inspector everywhere and General of Customs. It is

I am not going estimated that the duty evaded

to try to draw goods brought in by illicit means through East Hopei dur- any distinctions. ing 1936 reached the staggering It was interest- total of fifty million dollars! ing and exciting Despite all that has been done while it lasted.

the Customs, authorities to cope with this evil, and not- withstanding official protests by

by

China

I

HAD no more idea of flying and fighting

A COSTA

-famous pilot and Atlantic. flier, who, after resigning from the Spanish Government Air Force, tried to hold up the arms ship which left New York for Spain on Wednesday, as being the property of the Spanish Air Minister, whom he is suing with a claim for com- pensation for his services.

was

"We decided it a suicide patrol"

and by the British and in Spain than flying to the moon American Ambassadors in when late last October in New Tokyo, the situation remains York I received an offer, and at practically unchanged, with the the same time three of my inward flow of smuggled goods friends with whom I went to Picture shows a Spanish Government Spain and left Spain received pilot beside his plane after being There is some decrease in the the same offer. volume of commodities entering!

S. MOUTRIE & CO., LTD. continuing on a large scale.

York Building

Chater Road

A JOY TO THE CONNOISSEUR AND THE CRITIC

SILVERWARE

OF

DISTINCTION

CONSIDER YOUR TABLE!

IT IS THE MEDIUM THROUGH WHICH YOU EXPRESS YOUR INDIVIDUALITY

SILVERWARE DEPARTMENT

LANE, CRAWFORD'S

to

Japan ignoring the protests against this interference în China's internal affairs.

The

to it. We resigned, and here we are out-well out, but with

08

shot down.

Holland, ahead and to the left of me, had just dropped his load of bombs when a half-dozen Ger- man 'planes rushed up. I saw Holland's 'plane wobble and fall, but meanwhile I had time to let go of my load, knowing that the Russians were right behind.

My plane was not a bomber, but a British Miles Hawk, which looked more like a pursuit 'plane, which probably saved me, as the insurgents evidently thought I was part of the pursuit 'plane escort.

Fred Lord Wae attacked and barely es- caped

as the Russians start- ed diving on the Germans as they fired up Lord's bomber.

into

The Russians told .us later that they must have, boen Ger- man pilots, judging by the fierceness and

tenacity of the

attack. For

novices in Spain

We did fairly

good work,

We burned

up

s

decided to send us right out. ten 'planes in the insurgent air- For that money he evidently port. thought we might as well be One thing struck us immedi- killed off right away.

ately. Even the tenacious. Ger- He ordered Fred Lord to take mans pulled off when the Rus- him up in an out-of-date French siana came up; they are the plane. At 400 feet up the wing most aggressive fighters and struts gave way. Gascon scream- under perfect command. ed to Lord to climb so he could

spluttering; 80 Lord came down

In the name of the Spanish found ourselves compelled to fly parachute to the ground, but So we returned from our first day's bombing the smuggling area, but this is consulate we were offered £300 out-for-a-short flight of twenty Lord, having no faith in the solely due to the palliative mea-

£200 a month and

each for or thirty miles right into the parachutes, decided to land, one missing, but afterwards we sures instituted by the Customs every enemy plane we shot insurgent air force, drop our making the prettiest landing had better luck; partly because

load of bombs, and get back the with a broken wing.

we got to know the terrain, part- authorities in their unequal fight down, and 2100 in insurance, with the armed smugglers, and

Our contracts were renewable best we could by dodging into Before the admiration of all ly because we expérienced a

the fast the accumulation of stocks. monthly. At the end of the clouds

Gorman the fliers and mechanics Gascon period of heavy clouds, and part- Organised efforts to outwit the first month we talked it over 'planes raced down upon us. restrained his rage. When the ly the Russian pursuit pilota Customis still persist, with and decided there was nothing

WHEN we got to Spain 'plane was examined it showed were catching on to our way of we were all struck that it had been machine-gunned flying right in, dropping our load the German pursuit 'planes in position has arisen owing to the a memory of some fine fighters, by the aspect of the country and the struts had not been re- and disappearing while they held

with all of its red revolutionary paired.

Gascon immediately sent Lord check. Customs being compelled to Spanish and Russian fliers, for Bags and clenched fist salutes

I flew twenty days altogether, comply with demands by the whom we carried away only a every second, which was not in the air again with another usually going up about eight in Japanese' military authorities feeling of great admiration. quite what had been painted to machine, this one with the motor the morning and two in the after- that the former's officers func- They saw us leave with regret us in New York. tioning within the "demilitarised and, I feel I can say without zone" shall not be permitted to immodesty, with mutual ad- carry firearms, and that Customs miration, vessels shall cease to operate

observer as we within three miles of the coast included in the zone. When the

in the smuggling activity was at its except for one Englishman, Syd. pendent of the others, all armed, automatic into Lord's stomach, ment west of Vittoria

hills. peak, in the middle of last year, ney Holland, who flow with us. all arresting and executing. The screaming continuously, "No dis-

There were heavy broken is calculated that some two

If we had had 'planes auch only order and the only organi- obedience here. No back talk. clouds and the Russian pursuit million dollars' worth of goods as the Russians have in Spain sation evident was the Russian. Get off." Lord obeyed, but be 'planes lost us as we came out of were arriving in Tientsin every that might have been another Every time we saw a Russian fore he reached the end of the

a cloud. The enemy saw us and week from the east, on which no matter, but we didn't. We had soldier of a Russian lorry it was runway

masse rushed up, but the Miles Falcon duty whatever had been paid. | nothing but old commercial obviously part of an organised rushed out and blocked the way. which I was flying was

commercial body which was carrying out When Gascon saw this he shut enough to enable me to lose my- Attempts by Customs officers to 'planes fitted out intervene against the Korean racks, and day after day we orders in the midst of local hope- himself in his office to save what self in a cloud as the attacking rouin engaged in the smuggling

less confusion.

was left of his authority. The Germans hovered, fearing the have resulted in a series of seri-

We did not see much of this following day a Russian com- Russians were ambushing in the at firat, however, as we were mander came over and gave loud. flown off at once to Santander. Gascon hell, which he took.

The clouds, deserted us over We were a disappointed lot IT was a nice start for Andrien, and the purauit 'planes all of us, but we said from San Sebastian sighted us

it

ous incidents; and when some of

the channels were partially closed, the smugglers began to operate from Tientsin south- wards towards Shantung by the បទ ∙of motor trucks laden with valuable goods, escorted by Japanese

and numerous Koreans armed with revolvers and other weapons. This move was met by the Customs erecting extra bar- riers at points outside Tientsin, but, in face of armed threats,

these stations have not been able to function effectively. Such, in brief, is the atory of Japan's interference with China's fiscal autonomy, which is not only resulting in serious losses to Nanking, but is affect- ing the indemnity and loan ser: vices secured on the Customs revenue. The issues raised con- cern many nations, and it is little short of scandalous that the present state of affairs should be allowed to persist.

We flew under most Impossi- ble conditions. We didn't kick, and we all escaped with our lives

There may be a Catch in it

One fine night George took his wife to the dirt- track to see her brother who was riding there.

"Look, there he is," said George as they arrived.

"Yes, I see him," she re- plied. "How many are there in the race?" Natur- with ally, after living George so long she, did not expect, a simple answer to a question like that.

Instead, he said, "You'll get the number by adding together two-thirds of the number of riders behind him to half the number in front of him."

..

"And how many's that?" sho asked wearily. The answer's in Column Soven,

That was not our affair, but with Gascon running out scream- noon. Every time I managed to we could not help seeing the ing to him to take off immediate. qutwit the insurgent defence, but they almost got me the next ly for the front for bombing. complete confusion in the

"You got to go up" Gascon to the last day when I was flying country.

screamed at him. When Lord alone with an Eevry organisation was inde- hesitated Gascon shoved his were looking for a gun emplace-

when we saw there with what

mechanica en

fast

we were expected to bomb nothing-we had learned the and rushed up, but just after I Franco's depots.

only chance of safety in Spain had dropped my load, so I was There was one satisfaction. was tight lips.

able to duck back into a stray We were told to bomb only de- The next day we were all cloud and get back to safety.

At least we ordered to bomb an insurgent pots, air-fields.

THE next day we had to were not going to bòmb anybody airport, and though no flying

decide whether or not who was not fighting us.

outfits had been issued to us we to renew our contracts. We had

suicidal

WELL, we flew under went up in civilian clothes, but lost only one in twenty days of conditions toning up our coats against the flying, but it was thanks to luck

and the Russians.

for twenty days but the worst intense cold.

of it was right in the airport. We were a miscellaneous col- The commander to whom we lection of 'planes of all speeds, were assigned was Captain Gas- without a gun among us, with con, an excitable little man only a row of bombs attached screaming at the top of his under the 'planes. voice most of his time and re- The weather was hazy and we primanding pilots publicly.

tried to remain in a group. There At first he told us foreigners were five of us bombers, with we would awalt new 'planes as Russian pursuit 'planes following there were only enough—about us. We were flying at about a dozen remodelled commercial 8,000 fest, and had succeeded in planes for the Spanish pilots, getting over the insurgent air- but in a couple of days when he port before we were observed.

We decided it was a suicide

(Continued on Page 4.)

If you didn't see it

Answer to the problem in Column Three la seven rid- ors. The catch is that on a continuous track there are just as many in front as be hind.