AN ENGLISH FREEBOOTER.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 104, 30 October 1900, Page 6

AN ENGLISH FREEBOOTER.

On 24th August, an Englishman named Oervase Cooke, supposed to ba a. correspondeni of some engineering paper, was (says tho Peking- and Tientsin Times) arrested in Peking by General Gaselee's orders, for entering wealthy Chinese houses and intimidating the inmates with ii gun for the purpose, of extorting large sums of money. In exchange he presented them with a strip of calico marked "Under the Protection of Cooke and Co." to hang up outside their doors. ■ One place he entered happened to be the Fu or palace of the grandson of tho late Viceroy of Chi-li, Yu Lu's predecessor. Wang Wen Shao. The occupant could not hnnd over the required sum at once, so Mr. Cooke very magnanimously said he would be content with the title deeds of tho place. These were duly given into his keeping, and he then proceeded to take up his abode there. While he was feasting in his new residence, and being emtertadned with, all the best wines of- the establishment, the owner slipped over to ihe British Legation and had a little talk with the General about it. The General was keenly interested in the narrative, and expressed a strong, desire to sec Mr. Cooke, who was promptly summoned to hemdqxiartevs. The interview was an extremely interesting if slightly personal, one, as we believe General Gaseleo in c'ouvse of conversation intimated that Gerva.se Ccoke, Esq. was a discredit to the British flag, and would possibly be prevented from continuing so by an official salute the following morning. However, this sentence was not carried out, and Cooke' accompanied the nbxt convoy to Tientsin under instructions not to return. Several foreigners who managed immediately after the, relief of Peitang to get inside the Imperial grounds, and even into the Palace, describe the Dowager's apartments (says the Pekin and Tientsin Times) as suggesting Lowther Arcade,* the best of artistic' China, and gilt-edged Paris in a curious medley. Her flight had been genuinely hasty, if appears, as one observant visitor noted a slipper thrown off near the bed, and various articles of toilet lying about. Everything had to ' be left intact, but trifling mementos such as a fan or a scent Dottle were brought away by the lucky few who got in. The literary examinations in all the provinces, of China have, it 1b said, been postponed this year in consequence of the Pekin trouble, as it in feared that by their anti-foreign proclivities the literati' might raise trouble and incite the populace to riot. Throughout the siege of Pekin and during the arduous work of barricading and entrenching, Sir Robert Hart (says the North China Daily News) was a notable figure! He sank his position as Inspector-General entirely, holding himseif as a plain Englishman and no more. He worked hard and gaHantly with tho rest, drawing the sajme rations, and showing himself at all times a man of strength and fortitude in danger or trouble. • An officer of the Centurion (writes a correspondent in China) told me that he was sorry to stiy that the Japanese were a long way the best of anything in the way of troops on shore during Seymour's march and during the fighting up to the taking of Tientsin. He had t» say that they were bettor than Jack ; and Jack had behaved splendidly. He mentioned casually that at the taking of Tientsin the fight* of the first day ended in a loss exceeding what the British had suffered ■at Magersfontein ; but, while the Highlanders declined to advance again, the Japaneso next morning, against the opinion of the Generals of the other allied ' Powers, went on and fought their way in. Mrs. Scott, wife of the Bishop of North China, died at Nagas-aki on 7th September from dysentery. The Bishop and Mrs. Scott had been through the siege of Tientsin, and were on their way home to Europe via Nagas-aki. % The murder of Baron yon Ketteler on 20th June was the signal for the withdrawal of the foreigners to, their Legations, but before doing so they took the precaution to 100t — with no ProvostMarshal to say them nay — fche contents of the neighbouring rice ,<«hops. This supply stood them in good stead duriiif the long siege. ° It is not only as a soldier, but also as a journalist, that the little Jap is quite up-to-date. Japan was represented by no less than twenty-tliree press correspondents with the Pekin relief expedition, while Great Britain had only eighteen. One English correspondent applied for leave' to go with the Japanese contingent, but General Fukushima' thought he had his hands full enoueh with his own countrymen.