SHANGHAI: ITS IMPRESSIONS--MURDER!--A RESCUE, AND A HAPPY ENCOUNTER
The steamer had proceeded up the coast, threading the Chinese
Archipelago in the direction of the southern entrance to the
Yang-Tse-Chiang, as English people mis-name it. The Chinese name it
_Kiang_, or _Ta Kiang_, the former being the "river," the latter the
"great river" (Kiang-tsi being the province). The Kiang runs for three
thousand miles through North and Southern China, and is available for
steamers for a long distance inland. The contrast between the blue
ocean and the mud-tinged waters of the river is observable far from
land.
To approach Shanghai we were compelled to proceed carefully in our
little ship, because the Woosung River, on which the settlement is so
well situated, is narrow and shallow in comparison with the Kiang. But
when the last corner is turned and the concession comes into view, with
its wharfs, brewery, cathedral, trees, fine houses, quays and streets,
well supplied with water, gas, electric light, post-offices,
telegraphs, and pillar-boxes; police of sorts, from the British
"blue-bottle" to the Chinese "copper" in knickerbockers and gaiters,
supplemented by the Sikh or Indian guardian of the peace in a blazing
turban, who would more quickly disperse any youthful gathering in
England by his mere appearance at the corner than the "bobby" of
British aspect at home, the visitor is astonished.
The schooner anchored in the stream, and I was greatly surprised by the
evidences of wealth which the beautiful houses and the esplanade, the
wharfs and shipping, denoted. All these are so different from the
ideas which the average and untravelled Britisher has conceived of
China, that if he do not visit Hong Kong on the way out, nor stay in
San Francisco on the way round, he will be fairly astonished at
Shanghai, when he first views the settlements, and its prosperity.
Three concessions line the river, namely, the English, the American,
and the French. The two former are united in their Government, and
separated by creeks and bridges. The English and American settlements
are well kept, clean, and well looked after. The French, which lies by
the Chinese outside-settlement, was rather badly kept, and even a
British "ricksha" was not permitted to cross the French line. A
roadway lined by trees, like a boulevard, runs between the houses and
the river, which is embanked, like the Thames in London. The Chinese
city of Shanghai is walled and separated from the "foreign devils'"
location, it is most truly Chinese, which means a great deal. Woosung
is the port.
I was pondering upon my intended movements, when Eagan came amidships
to where I was gazing at the crowded river, and asked me what I
proposed to do.
"Suppose you'll go ashore and have a spree?" he said.
"Can't I stay where I am?" I asked. "I have not much money, and am
ignorant of the place, though I hear there are boarding-houses for
sailors."
"Hum--yes," he said doubtfully. "We're going into dock, and I think
you'd better go to the hotel. My passengers are landing, and are going
to the Japanese hotel in the American section, now. They won't mind
you anyhow. The place is cheap and good, I hear. If you stay there
to-night you may find the Consulate in the morning, and get a wire
perhaps, or letters, or any news possible."
I thought Mr. Eagan wished me away, and I consented to his suggestion
at once. He seemed relieved by my assent.
"See, now," he proceeded, "here's _cash_ for you, never mind paying.
We're bound to refit, and you'll have twice the fun ashore than you'd
have with me in the 'muss.' You've never been up here? Laws! Then go
ashore with my passengers. Never mind the want of baggage, it's aboard
your ship," he said, winking, "but I'll lend you a change, and a few
things till to-morrow."
Under the circumstances I considered that Eagan's plan was best, and
besides he did not want me any more than the four passengers, and I did
not press the matter further. The skipper gave me some dollars and a
quantity of _cash_, and passed me amid the crowd of chattering coolies
who scented passengers and a job. After a struggle, in which Eagan had
upset several of the most unfortunate of the coolies, the valise he had
filled for me was hoisted by the chosen one of the mob, and borne by
him to the Japanese hotel in Honkiew, the "American" settlement, which,
with the British and French settlements, are entirely separated from
the Chinese city, though the rich Chinese prefer the foreign quarter.
The foreign concession is surrounded by streams and ditch from the
rest, and is virtually an island isolated. The river bounds one side,
and brooks the others; one crossed bridges and ditches, and finds
change _and_ decay! There is an Anglo-Chinese settlement, but all the
foreign side is clean, well lighted by lamps and electricity, with fine
houses, warehouses, and public buildings. Shanghai is no longer China
in the settlements.
In the American settlement my friend Eagan, whom I suspected was an
American bred, had indicated the hotel on the Broadway. To this I
repaired, and was quickly furnished with a room which in itself was not
lavishly supplied in this manner. However, it was clean, and proved
comfortable, and I slept, rocked, in imagination, by the heaving sea.
I awoke late, and was engaged in various "extension motions" ere
preparing to dress, when my calisthenics were suddenly brought to a
conclusion by the sound of a pistol shot. Was this imagination? I
hastily attired myself in pyjamas again, but before I had quite
finished, another, and another shot rang out in the corridor!
I dashed out, but seeing no one, though inhaling the smoke of the
discharges, I ran to the head of the stairs. Three or four others came
on the scene immediately, and a number of persons came rushing up from
below. I pushed on, and stared in horror at the sight. A dead and
bleeding body lay before me!
It was that of Oh Sing, or Kim, the smaller of the two Coreans who had
sailed in the _Harada_.
I started back. Then Lung had been revenged! I began to appreciate
the danger I had escaped on board the schooner. Here was the victim,
shot dead in the "Japanese" hotel! Truly I had had a most marvellous
escape. Lung had evidently intended to assassinate his companion in
the berth which I had unwittingly occupied. What had been the object
of the murderer? These reflections hurried through my mind like
lightning, and the spectators began to compare notes concerning the
incident even while carrying the dead man back to his room. As we thus
retraced our steps, we managed to put the facts together, and when the
doctor arrived he asked me what I had witnessed. My testimony was
brief but important, and the Consul's representative arrived during the
interview.
The unfortunate Oh Sing had been shot by three bullets, so all the
discharges had taken effect. He had been shot through the cheek--the
left--and again through the stomach--wounds which tended to prove that
the man must have been lying down when attacked, and that the assassin
had entered the bedroom. The left cheek being perforated tended to the
assumption that the poor victim had been lying on his right side, away
from the door, when attacked. He must then have turned, half rising
up, and received another bullet in front, and then he had fled. The
third ball had penetrated below the shoulder, and had found its billet
in a vital part, for the man had died at the end of the corridor, by
the stairs down which the man Lung had escaped.
This was a most unfortunate occurrence for the hotel people, and I
fancied I knew then why Eagan had been so anxious to get the
passengers, including myself, ashore; and why he had kept the Coreans
apart when on board. He knew something--and guessed the rest.
Having given my name to the Consul, and been advised to remain in
Shanghai for a while, I had breakfast, for which I had little appetite,
and sauntered out. My first visit was to the docks to acquaint Eagan
with the news, but I ascertained that the _Harada_ had sailed at
daybreak, "leaving no address," so I was compelled to retrace my steps.
I was now in a quandary. If the _Feng Shui_ did not come up soon I
might be arrested as an accomplice in the murder, and all day I
strolled about within the settlements listening to the strong
expressions of disgust for the deed. The murderer must be hanged--that
was only justice. The feeling against the Japanese was in a measure
increasing, and one knows how racial dislikes are fomented in the Far
East. I began to look around me cautiously. I had been already in the
witness-box, and some fanatic might think it proper to whet his knife
upon my ribs. This opportunity I did not desire to afford him.
But for all my care I, of all people, was drawn into a dispute, and
concerning an arrest--or perhaps I should say an attempted arrest. I
was strolling up the road which turns aside from the Bund--a street in
which European wares are displayed--when I perceived two rather
peculiar Chinamen following a third Chinese, and evidently "shadowing"
him. Perhaps I might not have remarked them had not the "shadowed" man
halted beside me as I was looking at photographs displayed in a
well-known shop. I turned sharply to look at the man. He struck me as
different from the ordinary Chinaman, not a coolie, yet not a mandarin
certainly. A "middle-class" I may say; a trader, perhaps, but surely
not a native of South China.
To my astonishment he addressed me in excellent English.
"Can you permit me to accompany you, sir? Please be cautious."
I stared at the fellow; then thinking that trouble might arise, I made
no reply. He spoke again. The men stood watching us.
"Do not turn away. I am in danger in these clothes. Can you assist
me? I am a Japanese officer."
"A Jap!" I exclaimed. "Why this disguise, then? What are you doing
here?"
"I have been travelling in China. The Chinese suspect me in
consequence of the murder here. Can I accompany you a while?"
I paused a moment, and at length consented. We proceeded to the
Consulate, and were seated upon the bench there, when my new
acquaintance replied to my request for information by saying--
"I am a sailor--a Japanese junior officer. Those men intended to kill
me. I am searching for news. They are arming against us."
[Illustration: WE PROCEEDED TO THE CONSULATE]
"Yes," I replied; "I hear as much. How can I protect you then,
supposing you are a Japanese officer? How can I tell that?"
"I can produce my authority, sir," he said gently but firmly.
"Will you disclose your identity to the Consul, then?"
"I would prefer not."
"How, then, can I protect you? I have no proof of your mission."
"If you permit me to remain with you until evening, I can then meet
protection."
"Why not address some other Englishman--a merchant or shipper? There
are many officers and sailors better than I."
"The merchant would not credit a 'Chinese.' The natives do not mix
with the foreigners except in business-talk--'pidgin,' you know. If
they betrayed me I might be killed. I intended to leave here sooner,
but have found no vessel in which I can yet sail. The Japanese steamer
will arrive to-night. Let me remain with you. You will be sorry if
you do not, I daresay."
"You speak English very well," I said. "You have been in London?"
"Yes," he answered; "I was attached to the Japanese Embassy a while--at
least, I was a student in London, and met with much kindness. My
brother, who is in our army, was also in England at one time."
"Can you tell me the names of any people in England who knew you?"
"Oh, certainly," he said, smiling at me as if I had asked an awkward
question. Then he mentioned several people well known, and at least
one family with whom my people were acquainted, their residence, and
friends. I was almost convinced.
"Very well," I said after a pause, "I will take you to the hotel; but
you must talk bad English, and attend me to the various places I want
to see."
"Can do," he replied promptly.
"What do you mean?" I asked, in surprise.
"Can do; makee talk chop-chop. Alle same Melican-man."
"Pelican? What _do_ you mean? Are you sensible? What's Pelican?
Food?"
"No," he replied, smiling broadly, "Melican-man is an American in the
pidgin. Melican."
"Oh, I thought you said _pelican_ first, not _pigeon_." He smiled.
"I was chattering coolie-pidgin. 'Can do' means 'can,' simply. I
implied that I would attend you, that's all. Please be careful."
"Of you, or of myself?" I asked, smiling in return. "All right, let us
go to the hotel. You can remain there a while, then we will take a
stroll, and perhaps by the time we have returned we may find your ship
in the stream. I am also expecting a vessel."
"Which vessel? British?"
"Yes, British built,--a steamer, _Feng Shui_. Heard of it?"
"Not a steamer. _Feng Shui_ is Chinese--superstition. The men are
leaving us, see! But they will return. Shall we move?"
We rose, and looked round us. I felt rather nervous. Suddenly my
young Japanese cried--
"There she is! _Kyodo Maya_. My ship for Japan."
"A merchant steamer!" I exclaimed. "Not a warship."
"Yes, 'Union Steam.' I go home. You have saved my life. Let me wait
until the boat comes ashore. I join my ship at Chemulpo."
I was quite puzzled. Was this man true or false? If false, what could
he gain by selling me? He appeared honest, and certainly two men were
watching us still. He had laid himself open to suspicion, at least.
"Come with me, sir," he said. "If you will come on board the steamer
you will understand this. I assure you I am true, and thankful for
your society."
"I am also awaiting my ship. Perhaps your vessel may not wait to put
me ashore again, and"--
"I am an officer," he interrupted. "The captain has instructions for
me."
"But not for me. See, the men are approaching again. A boat is being
launched. Shall we go to the wharf now?"
We hastened down. The sun was setting, and the Japanese had certainly
had an escape. Even then the bandits looked ugly and revengeful. The
"officer" was full of thankfulness and gratitude to me.
"Remember," he said, "if ever we meet I am your debtor. My name is
Tomi Taijiro. My relatives are in the navy and in the mercantile
service. My elder brother is in the army. You will remember you have
saved my life."
"I am pleased to think so," said I. "If so, I am truly glad. I hope
we shall meet again. If so, once more, I shall claim your promise. I
believe you."
He bowed deeply, lowly fashion, and I wondered for the moment. But his
costume warranted the obeisance, and the boat came near. The two men
approached us through the throng, and Tomi whispered--
"On guard! I dare not call assistance. Stand firm!"
Meantime the steamer's boat was approaching, impelled by Japanese. The
Chinamen came closer. We shifted away amongst the people, and I hailed
the boat. The officer made a sign to the coxswain. The men pulled
harder.
At that moment the assassins rushed in. In another moment we might
have been struck, or even killed. But we turned suddenly, and
unexpectedly separated. Each seized a "coolie"--so they appeared to
be--and with real luck avoided a stab. In a second both men were
swimming for life amid the shouts of the spectators, amid alarms and
cries from natives.
"What is it?" asked some anxiously. "What has happened? Were they
thrown in?"
"An accident," I replied, nodding at Tomi as I turned away. The boat
came up, and he was rowed away, to the surprise of the onlookers on the
wharf, who had not seen the struggle.
Then I returned, and remained indoors next day till afternoon.
As no one molested me, I became more easy in my mind as the day wore
on, and I began to look about me with more interest. From the fine
parade along the river,--the Bund it is called,--with its turfed
slopes, Shanghai is alive, right away to the men-of-war, local
steamers, and launches. The streets are full, even crowded, with
passers-by and rickshas--the original "Pull-man car of Shanghai." On
the Bund the business is performed, and its occupants are indeed busy.
It is a wonderful sight for the stranger from Europe, who expects
things to be Chinese-like. In the Maloo, or chief road, cabs,
broughams, barrows, and horsemen jostle each other daily.
This is not China! It is London, Paris, New York. Fine houses and
broad pavements; banks, hotels, imposing buildings, a cathedral. Great
ships and little boats, sampans. Vessels loading and unloading, noise
and bustle, cranes and steam-whistles. Babel of language, and the
never-ceasing chatter of the Chinaman and his friends. _Cash! cash!
cash!_ Merchants, coolies, rickshas, runners, porters; Chinese dodging
the carts, and avoiding the "foreign devils"; yet, at times, driving in
British landaus driven by a Chinese. Such a confusion, such fun and
variety; yet all over it, for me, hung the shadow of the crime of the
Corean which led to War!
I crossed the bridge, and visited the Chinese-European sections,--not
the city of Shanghai,--and the French Quai des Fosses, and the familiar
notice of the continent of Europe--"defendu!" The Chinese possess in
their section no landaus, they hire wheelbarrows like Mr. Pickwick's.
Here one can examine the shops and the natives at leisure. You may see
the deformed feet, and the really unpleasant supplies of food which the
Chinaman consumes, and the frequent coffin which he will occupy later
when he dies of "carrion dishes."
And all this primitive, conservative, old-world practice in the midst
of modern civilisation--electric light, steam, and even comparatively
broad streets, high houses, and wide roads,--but not China.
I put in the three last items because Chinese natives have no roads, as
we called them, no high houses as in Europe, and no _streets_. The
streets are alleys; the houses deep, not high; the roads, paths! All
is topsy-turvy; even the house-roof is made and put up before the
walls; and politeness consists in depreciating oneself to the visitor.
The lady of the house is a nonentity, and the meaning of "wife" is
merely "_the woman who uses the broom_" or servant! In Shanghai
Anglo-China you may be amused and interested, but in a Chinese town,
such as Amoy, or Shanghai, or Hankow, you will be disgusted, and unless
strong in all ways, come away absolutely sick and ill. The sights, the
smells, the open drains, the filth, the putrid food, and the personal
dirtiness, will, in a quarter of an hour, repel all but the devoted
seeker and the confirmed and robust smoker.[1]
[1] The wealthy Chinese are yearly becoming less conservative in their
habits, and their wives are now in evidence in carriages.
But when within European districts one may see something, and satisfy
legitimate curiosity; perhaps even in the peep-shows, though here again
the taste of the native is for "high" meats; and "blue" incidents, as
in the theatre and such places, are evident.
* * * * *
When I arose next morning I heard that Lung had been arrested, and that
the inquest was to be held at once. Lung did not seem in any way
interested, and declared that he had acted under directions from high
authority in Corea. However that may have been, he was not hanged nor
imprisoned, but handed by the consuls to the Chinese, and departed in a
man-of-war.
Being much interested in the case, I kept watch, and discovered that
the man would be conveyed away by night to Corea. As I was wondering
how I could find out the fact, and conceal myself from the police, I
saw a well-known figure making for the Consulate, near which I was
seated. I rushed up and accosted the new-comer.
"Captain Goldheugh! This _is_ luck!"
"Julius! By thunder! is it yourself entirely? Well now, look at that!
I was going to the Consulate for ye. Look at that!"
This was an apostrophe, a favourite expression with the skipper.
"And ye're not dead at all?" he asked, after a hearty shake, twice
repeated.
"Not at all," I replied, laughing. "Delighted to see you, captain."
"So am I, bedad! Why, the steamer was _crying_ for ye, and wouldn't
steam scarcely, and we declared it was the name did it--_Feng Shui_, no
less. I am thinking of changing it. I am so!"
"Why, sir? Surely _Feng Shui_ is no harm?"
"No harm, is it? Bedad, it may mean anything--in China; and as we're
Chinese now--a Chinese transport I think I'll make it, bedad!--I'm
going to the Consul to _report_ the _Kowshing_. I never did like the
name _Feng Shui_--in China. I was told it was unlucky."
"Why? What does it mean?" I asked, as we continued our way.
"_Feng Shui_? I told ye it means 'wind and weather,'--but also their
influences; things which cannot be exactly understood, but which, like
electricity, are evident. In China _Feng Shui_ generally means a
grave."
"That's cheerful, anyway," I muttered.
"And whether the place is 'good' or 'bad' depends very much upon the
imagination or estimation of the persons interested. There are
'professors' who profess to understand _Feng Shui_, but I needn't say
they are mostly humbugs, and only try to make money out of ye. But I
think China is getting much wiser, and less conservative in many ways.
Ye'll see ladies on bicycles soon--I mean Chinese women; and when ye
_do_, ye may depend the old restrictions are broken away."
"Then the _Feng Shui_ is doomed, you mean?"
"Yes, it will be; and the steamer must change her name. Look here,
Julius, between you and me and the bedpost, the mate and myself have
made up our minds to stand the racket for the Company, and chance it.
The agent holds off, but I see my way to profit by the fuss."
"What fuss? This murder?"
"Bosh!" exclaimed the captain. "The _war_! The Chinese and Japs are
already at loggerheads about Corea. This murder business will cause
the Japs to interfere. China has already sent soldiers to Corea, and
the Japs have the right to do the same. Now ye'll see sparks fly!"
"I'm afraid I do not quite understand it."
"Well, well! Can't ye understand the difference between Conservatives
and Progressives? Yes! Then Japan is progressive, and the Chinese the
other way. The Johnnies objected to Corea being made progressive, as
the Japanese tried to make it, because Japan is advancing to European
perfections. That very fellow who was killed two days ago was an
adherent of Japanese advance, and the old Coreans' style opposed him.
Some years ago (in 1882) the Japanese had to fly out of Corea; they
sent troops to punish the natives, the Chinese did the same, for the
sake of making peace. But the Corean Progressives attacked the Corean
Conservatives, who retaliated, and drove the Progressive party out in
1884.
"Then it was arranged that both China and Japan, the Conservative and
Progressive motive-powers, should each send troops to Corea if the
other did, and the treaty between Li Hung Chang and Count Ito lasted
for nine years, till now--1894. And _now_," concluded the skipper,
"Mr. Oh Sing, or Kim, has again thrown the fat into the fire. He's
been killed,--he was a 'Progressive,' ye understand,--and the consuls,
or one of them, has caused the murderer to be sent by the Chinese to
Corea to the king, free and unpunished! Bedad, my lad, we'll see more
sparks out o' these flints yet!"
"Then the Conservative Corean has killed the Progressive Corean?"
"Just so; and the Chinese, being Conservative, have saved the murderer,
and sent him home in a _man-of-war_! In a Government ship! Sent him
home with honours! Sure the Japs won't stand that."
"I suppose it was a planned thing?"
"Certainly; a plot,--a decoy. You, somehow, came in the vessel, and, I
hear, got into trouble almost. If the King of Corea instructed the man
Lung, or Hung, and if he goes back unpunished, then ye'll see some
'fun,' as people call it."
"And the Chinese expect something?" I asked.
"Yes, they do. They're searching for transports on the quiet; and when
I have changed the _Feng Shui_ to _Kowshing_, and settled the bad luck,
then we'll just go up to the Yellow Sea, and look in at Taku."
"Why at Taku?'
"Because I _hear_, quite by accident (accidentally on purpose, as my
uncle used to say), that the troops for Corea will embark there, if
anywhere at all. My game is ready, and the steamer will be there. If
I can get the job, I makee much cash; if not, then perhaps one catchee
die, and get one piecee coffin, as Johnny Coolie might say. But alle
samee some day. Are ye hungry, Julius? Let's chow-chow, eh?"
"Indeed I am, sir; very hungry."
"So'm I. I'm a'most dying with the _forgortha_--the hunger, ye
know,--myself. Come on then, and have bird's-nest soup and roast rat."
"No thank you," I replied with a shudder,
"Oh, come on, boy! Have lunch with me, and drink good luck to the
_Kowshing_ and peace to the _Feng Shui_. Come!"