"BUSINESS AS USUAL" UNDER SHELL FIRE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23245, 14 January 1939, Page 3 (Supplement)

"BUSINESS AS USUAL" UNDER SHELL FIRE

to school at Chefoo, was seized and forced to sail to Bias Hay tlio pirates favourite haunt —but happily recaptured by the British Navy after a truly Barriesque adventure. The outbreak of the Sino-Japanese war 18 months ago brought the coastal and river steamers again into the limelight. Yet so far few people outsido China have appreciated the wonderful work which, without fuss and nonsense, with a zest beyond all praise, those little steamers have been doing. In the early days when the violence of sea, river, land and air hostilities over and around Shanghai made it unhealthy for majestic ocean liners to touch at that great port, commerce would have been brought to a standstill but for the courage and daring of the China skippers. Pilotage Out of Gear Owing to them Shanghai kept touch with Hongkong—aerial communication broke down at once —and it was through them that, for weeks after all ordinary navigation seemed to be impossible, Shanghai was able to receive supplies from the hinterland as well as from neighbouring countries oversea. The hostilities, of course, dislocated the marking of the rivers and coasts. Pilotage was out of gear. The China skippers had to rely on their own knowledge of tides, sandbanks, rocks and currents in the most difficult waters in the world. Neutrals as they were, trading amid a fierce and indiscriminate turmoil more incalculable than the typhoons of those seas, they

took risks which larger craft dare not face.

Banging in size from 3000 tons to a mere 500 tons, they were called upon to carry cargo and passengers far in excess of the normal complement. Tho terrors of war sent to them refugees who wanted to get to some part whore safety might lie. The exigencies of a blockade made Shanghai dependent 011 them for the foodstuffs and other supplies vital to its existence. Eight Days of Trouble When the Chinese destroyed the navigation marks in the Yangtse and blocked the river by booms to delay the advance of the Japanese Navy, it was feared that the China skippers would bo. defeated. Not they. Audaciously using their knowledge of the crocks which act as feeders to the great river and relying on the shallowness of their vessels' draught, v they navigated as it were across country, likg motorists turning from a damaged high road to travel by footpaths, across fields, and down village lanes. For weeks this almost amphibious service kept the Yangtse open long after the main course of tho river had been blocked. More daring still was tho stubbornness with which the sea-coastal traffic was maintained. The broad-painted Union Jack on tho steamers' awnings gave some promise of protection against aircraft but it often availed little. Sometimes coming up tho Whangpoo the neutral vessel found herself in the middle of a dog fight the contestants in which did not pause to bother about the rights or wrongs of third parties. So heavy was the demand for freight space and passenger accommodation and so much delayed was the ship by tho difficulties of her journeys that sho could not have the usual time in port for tidying up and preparing for the next trip. She had to'turn round and put out to sea at once as soon as sho had taken her load aboard. Fear of rjot Let the troubles of one short voyage from Hongkong to Shanghai—normally a three-day journey—be briefly told. Packed with passengers so that many were sleeping 011 deck and first-class berths had to bo expanded to bursting point, she met a typhoon just after weighing anchor. For two days she sheltered in a cove a few miles 'from her starting point. Thou she made for Swatow in a sea still heaving angrily after the typhoon. Swatow merchants wanted to crowd their goods aboard. Trouble broke out between banana exporters and sugar brokers. A riot seemed imminent. The skipper called for help, but before it had arrived —in tho form of a detachment of the Royal Navy—he had asserted himself to give preference to sugar. . , . , The ship sailed at midnight, but ran on a sandbank outside the harbour. When she had got off and the day had dawned it was apparent that the banana merchants had had their way. In the night they had surreptitiously dumped tneir cargo 011 tho snip. Sho went 011 her way looking for all tho world like a market garden afloat.

THE exploits of the China coast and Yangtse steamers have become almost legendary. TJnder the lied Ensign British officers have richly shared in the adventure. Hard-bitten masters with a small complement of fellow-coun-trymen—probably a Welsh or Scottish engineer have sailed in and out of ports on the coast and up the Yangtse with Chinese crews who inherit supreme aptitude for seamanship, writes Edwin Haward in The Times. When things are normal these voyages are seldom monotonous. There is- the difficulty of the coast itself; Then the Yangtse or the harbour bar at Tientsin takes j»ome handling.

The China seas still give scope for pirates —not the brazen members of the fraternity who fly the Jolly Roger in their own vessel and attack the guileless trader but the sort who ingeniously manage to enter the ship as passengers and then at a convenient moment throw off the mask, seize tlio bridge, and so take command. Along the Yangtse the river steamers are protected by armour-plating against casual attacks from the bank by bandits who have all the Malisud's passion for "shooting up." Resolute action In recent years has reduced the danger of this piracy. Perhaps the last most startling example of the daring of the tribe was in January, 1935, when the Tungchow, carrying a large party of British children

Intrepid British Merchant Carry on in

"THEY ARE EXPERTS AT CROSS-COUNTRY NAVIGATION"

On the eighth clay after leaving Hongkong she made the Whangpoo bar unpiloted and slipped lip the river in the pouring rain—mercifully tho deluge deterred the aerial duellists for the moment. Waddling up to her wharf she was baulked when within a few yards from the bank. A junk, submerged to make a boom, had got looso and the ship ran 011 to her. Another hour's delay and the mooring was accomplished. This carriage of refugees of all nationalities made the agents' hair turn grey. A ship from Tsingtao with hundreds of Russian women entertainers returning to Shanghai was for live hours drifting about 111 the Whangpoo in tho midst of a land and air bombardment, within a stone's throw of the shore. The China skipper knows how to keep his passengers in good fettle no less than how to manage his ship. No panic broke out. When the passengers landed they displayed a calmness which would have done credit to a veteran army. Coals of Fire Sometimes the China .skippers heaped coals of fire on the heads of the disturbers of their peace. A Japaneso aeroplane crashed in the sea near a coastal steamer. In spite of tho reluctance of tho Chinese crew tho skipper gave orders to rescue the airmen. They were hauled 011 board, given warm clothes, and fed and carried to Shanghai. As they camo up the river the Idzumo, Japaneso flagship, dressed ship and her whole company saluted the little craft jauntily making for her moorings. She returned the salute with punctilious pride. When she had reached tho wharf, there wore the Japanese military staff in full rig to show their appreciation of the service —with three huge barrels of beer for the rescuers. Th<\ ships' services have been woll supported by the hardworking and resourceful stftff ashore. Problems of accommodation were often hair-raising; as for example at Chefoo when an influx of refugees desiring to sail prompted the bright suggestion that first-class cabins should bo divided into two to cope with the rush. "This," reported tho harassed agent, "will give excellent accommodation for missionaries, cabaret girls and the like." What of tho China skippers themselves? They have a strong sense of discipline, a marvellous loyalty to their owners, and a humour which even long residence in the Far East cannot damp. They manage to entertain passengers with comments 011 politics, ethics, sport, or even religion at a pinch. Tiresome Interruptions Thc.v have decided views. If pressed they will aver that skippering a coastal steamer is preferable to command of the Queen Mary. They have an abundant admiration for their Chinese seamen—but they do not let it be too unguardedly shown. They zealously serve tho commercial communities of tho ports on their list, but probably they cannot understand where lies the attraction in making money ashore. Give them the river or tho sea and they have tho world they desire. Tho dilly-dallying in ports is a necessary but tiresome interruption of a life devoted to philosophy and stern thinking. As for tho perils of keeping the channels of commerce open under shell fire or aerial bombing, that, they would

say, should they bo persuaded to speak of it, is all in the day's work. Misconceptions have arisen owing to messages emanating from Hongkong abo\it the hostilities in South China, but, in spite of the nearness of the fighting, the colony is as yet only affected by the influx of refugees and the suspension of the railway to Canton, with a detrimental effect on trade. Reports as to congestion due to the large number of refugees may bo confusing unless it is realised that the colony, including the island of Hongkong, territories on the mainland and a number of small islands, has a total area of 300 square miles. Merchant Refugees City districts are naturally somewhat overcrowded as a result of the influx, and housing conditions present a problem of'some difficulty. Steps have been taken by tho Government, however, to deal with the situation and special accommodation has been -provided for refugees who are entirely destitute. Every nation under the sun trades there, and buyers from all parts of China regularly visit tho colony to negotiate business. Further, Hongkong has the advantage of being a free port, and as such carries stocks of every conceivable commodity or article for which there is a demand in the vast hinterland now linked to tho colony by water, rail, road and air services. Normally tho population is in the neighbourhood of 1,000,000, but of recent months this has increased by probably 50 per cent. Many of tho refugees are merchants from the affected areas, who will return to their own districts in duo course, taking with them agencies or buying facilities for tho development of trade in China. That Britain has spent millions of pounds sterling in the development of Hongkong, ana is to-day spending more millions in its defence, is sufficient assurance of the importance and stability of this small but prosperous British colony. Over the greater part of its history, dating back to 18*41, Hongkong has held pride of place as the greatest shipping port of the Far East. It ranks among the first half-dozen deep-sea

ports of the world, and in the last few years lias become the.greatest airport of the Orient. Tho huge expanse of water over 17 square miles in extent enclosed by Hongkong Island on the south and by the mainland of China on the north is one of the great natural harbours of the world. Seaward it is protected by the long range of lofty hills, the eastern entrance is narrow, though deep; the western entrance, though some miles broad, is protected to a large extent by a number of big outlying islands. To the north-west a channel alfords

convenient access to the Canton Delta. It is the terminal port for many steamship linos operating across the Pacific, it is also in direct communication with Europe, South Africa. Australia, and tho two Americas, via the Pacific seaboard, the Panama Canal, and the Suez and Atlantic route. Innumerable vessels ply between Hongkong and the countries immediately north and south; and the river steamer trade is extensive both by steamer and towed junks. In 1937, 73.277 vessels aggregating 37,830,760 tons entered and cleared the port.