Newspaper Page Text
The T In all In the pnln #have sun* of ih glories of ? leopi tra, yet Cleopatr was a critnlna Historians point I < 'atherlne as one ? Russia's grea^ei rulers, yet Cat her ine was a savag* Elizabeth rank high among th monarchs of England, yet Elizabeth wa a ruthleas creature who sent many mer and women to the block, and who signer the death warrant of her cousin. Mary yueen of Scots, without a qualm or a quiver Tn her humble way, Mary Ree? was a Cleopatra, a Catherine and ai KHmaheth She had the romanti<*. adventurous disposition of the daughter of the Xile. the sturd\, ma sen lino, soidieri\ qualities of the terrible Russian and thf careless ways and volatile temper of th? free-living Queen Ross. She was th? greatest woman pirate tha wend ever hat known, and. Ilka tha three great quaans aha was a creature of circumstance to a large degree. If aha had any regret hecausa. Instaad of piracy, a quiet, horn* Ufa and a loving husband had not beer her destiny, she did not give expression to it. In fact, she Beamed to like har railing, and in a naive, philosophic sort of way she would "argue on the justice and injustice of piracy and the beneficial affect hanging had upon keeping the ranks of tha pirates from haing overcrowded. "Ware it not for tha fact that tha rop? dangles before their eyes as a menace," she remarked in a conversation with the judge who sentenced her to death, "all tha cowards would turn pirate and so infest tha seas that man of courage would starve. If I had my way I wouid not make the penalty for piracy anything less than death. It is the fear of the noose that has kept many miserable, dastardlv roauee honest, and it is the fear of the noose, too. that keeps on land many of those who now rob the - widows and the orphans and who oppress the poor who have no money to seek justice. If it were not for the noose the seas would be as crowded with rogues as the land, and there would be so much plundering of ships that merchants after a while would not send vessels out except under the safest of armed escort. "Under such conditions, my dear sir," she said gravely to the judge, "my trade in a little time would not be worth following." a a a It was at Port Royal, Jamaica. November 30. 172n. that Mary Reed was tried. Another woman pirate, Anne Bonney, was on trial with her, as were Capt. John Rackam and eight men of Rackam's crew. The nine men and the two women were sentenced to death, and that same day Rackam and two of the men were taken to Gallows point and hanged. So far as is known this is the only instance not only of woman pirates being sentenced to death, but of woman pirates being brought to trial. It ia recorded that the women showed a higher degree of courage in the presence of the judge than jij th?ir man rnmnanlnna hut that is not U1II ? ? to be marveled at. for the women had displayed far more bravery In the sea fight in whleh they were captured than did Rackam or any of the others. In fact, throughout the years in which the two women sailed with Rackam they were the sturdiest fighters on board. Had Rackam and his men the same spirit as the women that sea fight probably would have had a different ending. Piracy was in Its decadence In the day of Rackam. and Rackam probably would have received little or no notice in history but for Mary Reed and Anne Bonney. China's Ai THE Anti-Opium Edicts? High Officials Dismissed for Smoking?A Warning to Princesses?All Opium Dens Closing and the Drug to be Wiped Out Within Ten Years ? Morphine Versus Opium?Morphine Injectors ?Can the Habit be Cured? ?A Look at the New Hospitals ? Cutting Down the Poppy Farms ? China's Ten Million Opium Smokers, and Hsu. TVi ev fnmnars With * A mm*, j w w ? the Whisky Drinkers of the West. Copyright, 1WW. I>y Frank ?. ("iriifBScr.i PEKING. Ml t*PPOSF> that Pres^1/ ' ident Taft and our I \ H# J \|A national f'ongress I j| should send out an A edict tomorrow that V *nmin 'n ,tip em/ ment must give up missed from office. and that no new appointment should be made to any one who had contracted the liquor habit or who would not sign the pledge. I?et this edict relate not only to Washington, but to every post office and custom houae. and let ita effect be so extended as to include every state official, even to the county clerks, sheriffs, and their subordinate employes. I.et another edict provide that all must show government permits before a glass of whisky, wine or other liquor will be aold to them, and ao that every saloonkeeper be subject to fine and Imprisonment if he breaks this law. Ia?t the adict summarily shut nine-tenth* of the saloons, and provide for the absolute destruction of all within the course of ten years. I^et there be laws forbidding the distilling of liquors and their imi>ortation, and. in short, the inauguration of a scheme of government restrictions whlcu would entirely wipe out the manufacture. selling and drinking f,f anything Intoxicating within the apace of ten veare. It would be a good, big contract, would It not? Well, that la just what China is trying to do aa to blotting opium and the opium traffic from the face of her country. m * * We have had cruaadea against liquor, but they have been mostly begun by the women and carried out with the opposition. rather than the aaaiatance. of the government officials. This crusade of China begins at the top. Three years ago the great empress dowager and the chief board* of the empire at Peking sent out edicts utting down the slge ?.f the opium farm*, shutting up the opium den* and requiring all dealers in opium to take out licenses. The government commanded all farmers to reduce their opiuni tleldss by 10 per cent every year, and provided that no opium at all should be cultivated after the end of ten years. It required that the merchants decrease their opium sales per cent every year, and close out their whole business in the space of five years. It ordered that all public opium dens should bt summarily closed. Worn t M i? ia 1. to >f It I ? 0 ; 1 Ca^ -x VVxV v > v 4 > Morgan. prince of pirates. was1 dead. R?< the Brazilian, had paid the penalty of hi crimes; Bartholemv, 1,'Olonnois, Pe Pus aan and the other commanders of th golden days of the buccaneers were merti orlea only; but throughout the West In dies there were enough bands of sea rol bers to make life lively for the Spaniar or any other captain who nailed thos waters. Rackam had bean quartermas ter on the pirate ship commanded b C'apt. Charles Vane, and when Vane, vember 24 171a, was d<*posed for coward ice in refusing to attack a French man of-war, Rackam was chosen captain i his place. * * In the iwo years in which Rackat cruised around Cuba. Bermuda, the Ba hamas. and made occasional raids alon the Caribbean coast. Mary Reed was ser ond in command and Anne Ronney wa one of the crew. The pirates capture several vessels, attacked some sma towns and Rot a fair amount of plunde; and made themselves so much of a mer ace that a pardon was offered to ther and to all other pirates operating In th gulf If they would return to honest wayi But although most of the other pirate were glad of the opportunity to wash th slate clean, not so with Rackam and th women. They refused, and so became th mark for all the English. French an Spanish vessels of war that were in th West Indies. It was early in November. 172b. that small English warship sighted Rackam' .brigantine off Jamaica. The two vessel were pretty well matched and in the earl stages of the fight all the chances favore the pirates, but sea robbers never di have much stomach for fighting again* the English, and when one of the guns o the brigantine burst and it was necessar to close with the enemy if victory was t be achieved, Rackam rushed to his cabi and sought solace in the brandy bottle. I vain did Mary Reed and Anne Bonne nti-Opium and that the retail opium shops ohoul gradually be abolished. At the sam time It inaugurated dispensaries whe'r free medicines might be had to tak away the opium craving, and encourage the establishment of opium hospitals fo those who had contracted the habtt. In the same edicts it was provided tha all users of opium should be registered that they should be examined by th police, and the habitual users should b allowed only a given quantity of th drug, at certain fixed periods. These al lowances were to be gradually heduce so that at the end of five years all per sons under sixty years of age would b free from the habit. All users of opiun were required to wear badges, so tha every one would know an opium fiend a he walked through the streets. AH government officials. includini princes, dukeg. viceroys and genera! under sixty, had six months to give U] the habit or to tender their resignations and all teachers and scholars were re quired to stop opium smoking within th space of one year. As to the officers o the armv and navv thev nero ed to abandon the habit at once. ? * * This it* what f'hina la trying to do Th above proclamations have been followe< by others, and today the prince regen and the grand council are doing all the; an to have these laws put into force The> are prosecuting their infringement and they have inaugurated such a reigi of terror as would create a revolution li the I'nited States and turn our peopl and government upside down. It makes one laugh to think what wouli happen if I'nele Sam should cut off ever; congressman's toddy. should prohibi cold tea in the restaurant of the Senat and not allow the clerks of the govern mei:t to take a friendly tipple togetliei I mk I t 1 1 *- ''' Jjfln IBB ^^K*?2k >:'*c:.-? : "xS :?? ';: VDWK ? HHBHIHHIBHHHHHHHBIHHBiHHHI CHINA HAS 10,00( Thai is what is coingr on here. I am tolt that no less than il.utiO officials, more 01 less prominent, connected with the gov ernment service In Peking either liavt broken or are endeavoring to break of tlie- use of opium Some of these ari habitual smokers, who have tried so hart to <i"lt that they have died in the at tempt. Take, for Instance. Wen Hal! lit was one of the highest scholars of thi empire, and was connected with the grant secretariat. To hold his Job he signed ? declaration tliat he uu not an opiuit smoker. and then stopped using the drug lie died k few month* ago. Tsai Chant; another noted official, was cashiered foi smoking. He is 111 in consequence. and i' Is said will not recover. Chi Chang, tin acting governor of th? province of Anh wai. died the other day for the sami reason, and there are many other olc smokers who arc said to be ill. According to the new laws, which art plead with and threaten the rest The exr ample of the captain was too much for i- them After firing a few more shots at e the Englishman they. too. sought refuge l- and solace in the cabin, all but one. This i- one remained on deck with the two women i- and fought the ship until the last. In d one desperate efTort to get the men back e on deck Mary Ree,1 went to the cabin i- door and, firing into the crowd, t ireateny ed death to every one of them who eon? tinued to act the coward, tier shot killed I- one man. but the others stuck to the i- cabin and refused to come out. n * * * When the English swarmed on board she. in disgust, surrendered the brigan[ tine, and thereafter, both by the commander of the warship and by the civil authorities she was treated as the real q head of the pirate hand. Her contempt ^ for Rackam and the men was shared by U Anne Bonney. who was the captain's mistress. A short time before he was handed Rackam got permission to see this woman to hid farewell to her. Instead of conn doling: with him. she told him that If he had fought like a man in all probability he would not have gone to the gallows. s She was sorry for him, of course, she e acknowledged, but not sorry enough to e shed tears. She besought him. however, * to go to his death like a man and so '' wipe out as far as possible the memory e of ills craven conduct in the tight. Racttam and the two men sentenced to a die with him that day went to the gal3 lows smilingly. The other men of the 3 hand were hanged In the February foly lowing, hut although neither Mary Reed j nor Anne Bonney sought or expected d clemency the authorities refused to hang it them. There was as mu< b, if not more, of n an abhorreic c to inflicting the death peny alty on wome i in those days as th-re is o in these times, and as the storfe.- the n two woman pirates became known i ugh n their conversations with the Port noya.1 y judge people came to look upon them as Crusade S d more or less evaded, the smoking of opie um means immediate dismissal. CJoverne merit detectives or censors have been ine structed to shadow the officials, and those d who claim to have broken off the habit r are rigidly watched. Just the other day a private secretary of one of the cabinet t ministers was found to have several ; ounces 6f opium on h's person, and a e request for his dismissa* was promptly e sent forth In one of the papers this e morning I see a dispatch stating that - Prince Chung, one of the imperial opium W " * * ? * A j commissioners, nas ,?ibi mbimiuim rU - twenty high officials wlio have lied as e to their use ot" trie drug, and that he den mands their dismissal. Last Or toher two t of the imperial prir.ces were ordered to s resign their posts that they might give their entire time to the eradication of c their eraving for the drug, arid at the ? same time, as an a< t of mercy, three p months of extension were allowed to ceri; tain civil and military officials who had - not obeyed the imperial edicts. p * f m * The crusade is being extended even to tire ladies of the palace. They have been warned that they must stop smok, Ing, and certain of these noble dames, rj who have been secretly selling opium to t their friends, have been told that if v they continue they will be imprisoned. The work of stopping the evil among , the clerks outside Peking has been dele11 gated to the viceroys and governors, n There are twenty-two provinces iri China, e and the work in each of these is going on rapidly, or the reverse, according to I the energy of the governor. In Szeehwan, v a state in the far west bordering on t Tibet, one of the tiew district officials ine vited all of his subordinates to a dln tier, lie feasted them well, hut. as they . were about to leave, he closed the door, I ' I I <1 I I I I Jfekk I >,000 OPIUM USERS. I saying that lie intended to keep all with r him under loi-k and key for the next - three days to learn whether they were b free from the opium habit. He knew f thr*f? who nf>rp not u-nnlii ?hnti notr'nnc. ? * *' ' " " " " 'l?- ? ? V'UiJ s ness; and In thin way hp could learn J how to enforce the new laws. It Is believed that many of the viceroys s are still secretly smoking; and the antl? opium commissioners have asked the I prince regent to call a meeting at the i capital of all the viceroys, governors and t generals of the army who have reported that they have broken off the habit. . When they aprear they will he subjected r to a test to show whether or not they t have lied. Since this o-ie viceroy has i asked for time for some of his officials, - and others have established opium hos? pitals and cures. 1 In nearly every province of China there has l?een a general closing of the opium e dens, lu some cities a back-door business 0 % >IRATE m^rf sinned against than sinning. Mary ? Reed. it was learned, had been born in 1 England and had been bred and reared in ' deception. Her mother, when very young:, 1 bad married a youtb who soon after their ' marriage went to sea and never returned, f The fruit of this marriage was a son. A i year later Mary was born. and. the son dying. Mary's mother derided to substitute her illegitimate child for the legitimate one in order to have the child come in for the wealth of her husband's mother Mary, therefore, was reared as a boy. As she grew up her mother explained to her the secret of her birth and the necessity for concealing her sex. At various times the grandmother wanted to adopt the child, but this the mother, of course, would not consent to. Instead, each time she got the old woman to Increase the allowance made on account of the child. Occasionally the mother and grandmother quarreled and. unfortunately for Mary, the old woman died at such a time and left Mary without a shilling. The child being no longer a source of Income to her, the mot iter had no further use for Mary and so abandoned her. * * ? ? Mary, garbed as a hoy, reared as a hoy , and having had the companionship only , of hoys all her life, now could do nothIng except look for work as a hoy. She j had the good fortune to obtain a position ^ as foot hoy to a Frenchwoman of wealth, , and she remained In this position several t years. As she grew in years and strength she got tired of servile employment and began to look about for something else. ( Having a love for the sea and a touch of ronianrp in n?r nisposmon, bmp enusieu oil a man-of-war. Here she learned enough of seamanship to fit her well for the part she was to play later on in life. After several eruises she sought adventure ashore and went to Flanders, where she enlisted in a regiment of infantry as a cadet. She was a brave, dashing soldier, hut there was little chance for a poor soldier, no matter how hrave or how dashing, to advance in those days, for commissions were bought and sold and the person without money might serve throughout life without promotion. (Jiving up the Infantry In disgust, Mary next enlisted in a cavalry regiment. In tics she distinguished herself so as to win the applause and esteem of all the officers of the regiment. Just then romance entered the life of Mary to bring confuurpasses A is still going on, but the public smoking < lias become unpopular and dangerous, and i the chief opium used Is now behind t closed doors. In Shanghai all the dens In the native town have been shut, and fully 1 half of those In the foreign concessions o wiped out. The foreigners propose to t clean out the evil in their part of the city 1: mmn = ft JSP TTAi by Win. Ill Wuchang the shutting up ?<r li the dens has considerably diminished the o arrests for crime, and one of the police- u men says this is largely because he does e not know where to go to look for crimi- il nals. ti 9 51 * * n In Foot*how there were Sjn dens at the time the edict was issued. Tiiey were all n closed on the first of the fourth month of F the year following and are still shut. v Tlie same is true of Ichang, although the * shops for the sale of opium are still open. R Washing, which for y?ars was one of the tl worst opium-smoking places in the prov- t' ince of t'hekiang, lias abolished its opium ? shops, and the day of the closing the h opium pipes were burnt in public ami the k people rejoiced. The same is true of many ii other cities, in not a few of which tiie^j: opiinn dealers have since secretly resumed a business. tl Outside the officials a mighty crusade .A has bee1: going on over China to stop the t< use of opium among the people. Indeed, h there are so many different movements p that I hardly know where to begin. Every h province lias Its antl-oplum societies, it These meet regularly; they print and dis- t< tribute anti-opium literature and send out c men to lecture upon the opium evil. There 11 is one society in Canton whicli lias dis- f. tributed millions of pamphlets showing tl the terrible fate of the opium user. Pic- si tures of the man before and after be lias vv become the slave of the drug are publish- si ed. and the horrors of the practice are tl vividly painted. Many of the societies requlre their members to wear a badge and e; sign the pledge, and many of thein offer a rewards for the detection of opium sm?k- c< ors utid of the illegal selling of opium. In some of the provinces the most rigid 01 laws have been enacted against the users tl of the drug. In KJangsu no habitual ft smoker under fifty can appear in court as tf a plaintiff. He can not institute a suit, ol and can have no protection from the laws rn as long as lie continues |o <lisobe\ them, pi In Canton there is a temple which has pi been given over to the anti-opium crusade, anti-opium pictures being pasted upon its walls. In Yunnan opium lectures arc everywhere given, and a large number a] of refuges linve been created to take in confirmed smokers and cure them. Hun- P' drcds of opium pipes and lamps are nail- ai J jion to her. She was very brave and she ' was very modest. She had the faculty >f most brave persons of winning the affectionate regard of their companions. 1 The tent companion of Mary was a handsome young Flemish trooper, who thought Mary was the bravest young man in the world. No wonder that Mary, her natura' tendencies checked and distorted hroughont her young life, should fall tassinnately in love with him. The vloence of her feelings was such that she neglected all her soldierly duties and irted so peculiarly that she was considered insane. One day when the handsome rooper was expressing his sorrow over Iter condition she astonished him by browing herself into his arms and telling Mm ahe was a woman. But his astonishment was no greater than that of the ?ntire regiment the next day when the wo troopers were married in public. All he officers were present and so were 1 thousands of citizens. 1 * * Married and dressed for the first time in her life In the clothes women wear. Mary left the army and with her husband ripened an inn, and for luck called it the Three Horseshoes. She had a fair measure of luck for a few years and was well nn the road to prosperity and ease when tier husband died, the wars ended, business fell off to little or nothing and she was left once more with a problem of making a living for herself. There was not much opportunity for her in Europe, she thought. Anyhow, the dnnth nf htf?r hnoharH ha/1 nut oil tho tioc I hat held her there, so she engaged passage for America in a French ship. For nn unattached young woman to make the irip across the ocean in those days was unthought of, so for her own protection Bhe resumed the garb of a man. The ship she sailed in was captured by English pirates, and as she was the only English-speaking person on board the , pirates, after plundering the vessel and its passengers of everything of value, took her on board their craft and al- , lowed the French ship to proceed. They had no idea she was other than she seemed to be?a fine, handsome, rosycheeked young Englishman?and she be ame one of the pirate crew. There was J nothing else for her to do. She continued f with the pirates for several months, and hen. the British government having made ' me of its periodical offers to pirates to pardon those who would surrender by a certain day, the crew availed themselves merican T ?d to the walls of the government build- J inngs and the viceroy is rapidly reducing i ihe area of the opium farms. I At the capital of Fukien province there < jave been eight burnings of opium and s tpium fixtures during which 1,236 ounces : vere destroyed and the following items i turned: Pipes, 4,4.'5.t; pipe bowls, 4,4*2; ( TYPICAL REFORMERS. All liich official* must give up the habit. imps, 3,t5!?3; boxes. 3.497; vessels for phim looking;. r?'to. About !UHX1 needles r sed for niorpblne Injections were all a iven up and broken. In that province r t is absolutely necessary to have a cer- c iflcate to buy opium, and the same pel- I 011 can only get his supply once a v lonth. the allowance being fixed by the v pium commissioners 1; I find a general belief among the Chi- t esc that the opium habit can be cured, d Everywhere pills to take away the era- n lug are sold. and. in most of the great ities. hospitals and refuges have been a stablished where the slaves of the drug s 0 to break off the habit. In Foochow s here are six such hospitals, and four of c fiese report that they have already t ured persons. Such Institutions H ave been established at Peking. Nan- s insr, Tientsin. Wuchang. Canton and a 1 many other places. Foreign doctors h avc also come in, and profess to be I: ble to cure the opium habit. One of f hose who is well recommended is an d meriran, Mr. C. B. To?vn?. He professes s ? lie able to cure any one of the opium f ablt in three days. He established hositals at Tientsin and Shanghai. He ( as started one at Pao Ting Fit. where p is said thai one hundred patients came d > him during the first month and were b ured. Then the number of applications tj o-cf aiHaiicI v HiJprpfl.kPtl sttiH \f** Tatppo \ >und that this came front a report to to effect that, although the cuit- was u jpcessful, it always killed the patient ii ithln one hundred days thereafter. This a tor.v was false, but it almost broke up c ie hospital. Mr. Town's institution at Tientsin was a itahlished at the expense of the viceroy, p nd officials who were cured received a b rtifleate certifying that fact. t| One of the great dangers in the use r many of the anti-opium remedies is iat they contain the drug in some other irm. The government has had to exnd its laws to morphine, and in one r the recent edicts the imi>ortation of ti orphia and of hypodermic syringes is r< rohibit<nl and tlieir sule is limited to u] racticing physicians. o' a dl * * p< The morphine liabit has long been prev- re lent in many parts of the Chinese em- ni ? ( Ire. and a vast amount of morphine pills e still consumed. In certain citios p si a M ht b qi Is tc 11 S' ? rs a' b : hi ^ 1' ' ''' 4 * r>f the opportunity, went to Jamaica, were officially forgiven. and. having sold fl their plunder to good advantage, pro- . reeded to enjoy the fruits of their ad- ' ventures. h When the'r money was spent they f heard that <"apt. Rodgers was fitting out 4 vessels in the island of New Providence for privateering. This suited them admirably, so a fair number of them, among * the lot being Vane and Rackam. offered \ their services to Rodgers. , m r * * "What else c M I do?" Mary asked the judge when site got to this point in , her narrative. "There was no way for < an honest woman to make a living in Jamaica, as well you know, and even . though I detest the life the pirate leads, and even though I abhor bloodshed and r crime. I have the same love of life that i every human creature has. and. wanting ? to preserve my life and get out of it * everything I ran. I was constrained to become a pirate once more, because , there was nothing else for me to turn to." j The ship fitted out by Rodgers hardly t had sailed when Mary and her eompan- j Ions mutinied and ran up the black flag. < Vane was selected as captain and Rack- l am quartermaster. For several years the \ pirates ranged the gulf, preying on friend f and foe. At times they had plenty, but c more times they were poor. Then f came the time when Vane was unwilling 1 to give battle to a French warship and j Rackam supplanted him as captain. With i the selection of Rackam as captain there < came to the pirate ship Anne Bonney, the woman to whom he was attached. She dressed in a mixted costume, half male, half female. In all the contests in which the brigantine engaged she was as reso- < lute and as good a fighter as any man f aboard. t One of the queer things In connection with this strange pair of women is that it was through Anne Bonney that the sex 1 of Mary Reed was discovered. Mary was 1 no less modest than she was brave and r 110 one on board suspected her as being y other than she seemed. Anne Bonney, coarse and of a far different stripe than 1 Mary, was much impressed by the rosy ' cheeks and dashing appearance of Mary j and aroused the jealousy of Rackam. The f [ aptain became so violent that Mary c thought it prudent to reveal her secret to i Anne. * i * * I But the secret was not to remain long emperance along the Yangtsekiang the hypodermic r injecting of morphine is common. They i: have professional peddlers who go about c with hypodermic syringes up their sleeves r and give injections at the rate of about c f cents apiece. Such men are to be found g n the teahouses, and are ready to giva t ane a jab in the arm upon asking. HUM I 8 a t s P s h 1 t a f 1 a v tl t t o k o n s v P V fi d i w i P P 1< ti e w d In the past ii whs customary fur the 1< nemhers of a party to stand up in a row ind hold out tlieir arms with ilie sleeves oiled up to their shoulders. The most ommoii plate for the injection was about he biceps, but many of the opium fiends " rere tattooed from tlieir necks to their f< rrists, and also on otiier parts of their k todies. The morphine injectors make n her own solutions, and. as they use lirty water, the danger of their com- p nunicatinK diseases is great. The government is doing ail it can to a Polish these morphine practices. It has It tringent laws against them, but they are a till secretly carried on in most of the d ities. In the meantime, I understand rr hat the English and Germans have been o looding China with cheap hypodermic * cringes since the present crusade began, a nd that the Chinese Imperial customs i^ oard has now issued regulations proloiting .their importation, except by the cv oreign medical practitioners an<l foreign tl ruggists. Hereafter all morphia and c< yringes landed without a special permit is rotn the customs will ice confiscated. ?' The greater part of the opium used in a: liina is raised at home. That Im- Ki orted from India amounts to millions of hi ollars a year, but a far greater quantity pi - grown upon Chinese soil. Poppy plan- # ations are cultivated as far north as di lanchuria, and there are provinces in C anthem and western China where opium ol ? one of the principal crops. The redue- ai lg of the areas of cultivation is causing in considerable loss to the farmers. The L overnment realizes this, hut, neverthe- sr ?ss, it insists that the laws be enforced, pi .ccording to tliem. no ground can he cl ianted to poppies, and the old fields must pe e cut down one-tenth of their original re ize every year. * * Tn some provinces the viceroys have orpred the Immediate stoppage of all culvation of opium, and In others they have mitted tlie taxes for five or ten years fjon opium lands which have been turned ver to other crops. in 1unnan me soi- u?j lets have been directed to dig up the ' ippyflelds. and the viceroy of Nanking w, oently Issued an order that tils fanners lust destroy their opium seeds, and that ich as had planted thepi should dig their 8C elds over and put in something else. hu All the opiuga-raising lands have been wl UCA secret Soon lifter the arrival of Anna tonney aboard. the brlganthie captured a hip and intont the prisoners taken was young artist of engaging manners, [ary Reed straiuhtwav fell In love with im. Her love was put to a severe test _ M . A M '1 A m A # W A k 1*1 I ?l A > 1 % A "i iTf linn} uaj ?, ivi i ?ir- mum, iiarreled with on* of the pirates, olialnged him to a duel, which they agreed fight ashore. Mary had doubts about le courage, of the man she loved, or visibly she loved him so much that ah* rould not le.t him risk his life At any ite, she sought a <juarrel with the pirate nd insisted on fighting hini before the our set for the duel with the artist Mary and the pirate fought with pistol nd sword and after a short engagement lie left him for dead on the field. It was fter that duel that Mary confessed her >ve to the artist. Thev pledged their aith, whicli they deemed as binding as ' the ceremony had been performed by rlergvmarf. From the notes of those who attended ie trial of this woman there is furnished (lis description of her: " She is handsome. r>bust and showy or distinguished In ap carance. That she is capable of great xertlon and of sustaining great fatigue o one need doubt after surveying her lis frame. She is rather \ain in some espects. and particularly of her success n deceiving the world as to her sex She * susceptible of the tenderest emotions nd the most genuine affections Although he was inadvertently drawn into piracy, his horrible mode of life has not stained ier character, and she possesses a reettude of principle and of conduct far suirrlor to many who have not been excised to such temptations " a * Although the woman appeared robust to ill who saw her in court, she waa far rem well. Her condition was such that ier execution was postponed several times 'he grew worse rapidly and then she lied. It Is unlikely that she would hsf e been tanged even if she had not been stricken vith illness, but, at any rate. h*r death laved Anne Bonney. for whom there was tot so much sympathy expressed as for dary Reed. The Bonney woman was Irish, having ?een horn in Cork. Her father was a awyer of prominence, who deserted his vlfe and eloped to America with one of lis servants, taking Anne with him. He ettled in South Carolina and became one ?f the rich planters of that part of Amerca. When his servant-wife died Anne uperintetuled the household. The gin vas looked upon as one of the great heir sses of the ('arnltnas. and her father tlanned a brilliant match for her. but she vas of his own blood and ran away with l common sailor. The young people fled o New Providence, where the sailor exacted to tlnd employment They tired of 'ach other quickly, and one day she left lim and Joined Capt. Rackam. She vent to sea in men's clothes at flrst. ind then compromised on a combination ostume that was both picturesque and suitable to her business. It was by no Tieans cumbersome, and she took to dracy with & relish, apparently rejoicing n Its freedom, and having no moral jualms about robbing or killing. v * * She was known to many of the planters >f Jamaica, who had been guests at her ather's plantation in the Carolines, and :hese men interceded at her trial, but the had become so gross and sodden hrough her life with the pirates that this ntercession amounted to little. She whs eprieved from time to time, however, and vhen Mary Reed died all pretense of arrying out the sentence in Anne Bontey's case was dropped. She never was >ardoned. and she never was officially set ree. but one day the prison doors we-e >pened and she was permitted to walk >ut. And when she disappeared the last toman pirate of which there is record >assed from view. Copyright. 190?. R. SpllUne) Movement egistered and the government at Peking s keeping a close watch over the amount ultivated. The prince regent has offer# I nedals and rewards to those who have hanged their crops from the poppy to Tains, and they are to be freed from naional taxes for a fixed period. In short, there is no doubt about the arnest and active efforts of the officials jid of a large part of the people to do way with the opiuin habit. Many are esolved that it must be cut out of China t any cost, and the government is willing u Euuiiui iu inr enormous loss 01 rpvenui irhich It entails, for the good of the peole. On the other hand, it Is a question whether the opium evil is anything like o great as is generally supposed. It has >een stated that more than lOO.fiflft.wi o' he Chinese are opium users. Some wi'l ell you that the whole rave is drugged nd that all the men. women and. children se opium daily. This is untrue on it* ace. I doubt whether the opium habit 1* s prevalent among the t'hln^se as t .e rhisky and beer drinking iiabit is atnon? lie Engish, Germans or Americans. In he first place, it is costly, and the bulk of he Chinese are poor. Again, the amount f opium raised In China is pretty well mown, and we have accurate statistics f all that is imported. Foreigners estimate the total annual consumption at omething like 4Mih<*.0tM> pounds. If this re re divided equally among the people, it would euuai only one ounce per ear per head. Now the average conrmed smoker takes about three mace a ay. or ninety mace in one month. Ten mace make an ounce, and this ould equal nine ounces a month, or nir.e ounds a year. Dvidtng the *>.<**>,?*? ounds by nine gives a quotient of >ss than four and one-half millions, the atal number of confirmed smokers reuired to consume all the opium raised in hina. In other words, if one-tenth of IP nnniilatinn n-aro hnl.ltnai ? 1 rs they would consume all the opium thich China now lias. If the estimate i* ouhled the number would be less than it.OOu.OUO. * 4* Dr. George Morrison of the Lonon Times, who Is one of our most careliI writers on things Chinese and who nows the country better than any Chiese I am acquainted with, estimates the nseible consumers at less than 8.00u,000. In fact, opium is consumed here about s much as spirituous liquors are in Engtnd and the Crlted States. Both habits re a mighty evil, and both cause a vast eal of misery; but to say that every lan. woman and child in China Is an plum flend is as false on Its face as it ould be to allege that every man. womn and child in England and America i addicted to drunkenness. In closing this letter I would say that It ill be a long ttme before the hopes of le Chinese statesmen and patriots can me to fruition. The work of repression i going on rapidly, but opium is still poked largely In secret and an enormous mount of underhand selling and smugling is done. These people are just as uman as we are and the same conditions revall as would obtain in the United tates were we to try to abolish the rink habit within as short a time as the hlnese have allotted to the wiping out ' this terrible drug. Some of the officials -e hvDoerltes. others are onenlv dlsohev g the law, while other?, bound In the aocoon grip of the opium, are secretly nuking the drug or are injecting mmilne into their persons behind their osed doors. The movement for the most irt is earnest and honest, and it has alady accomplished a vast deal of good. FRANK G CARPENTER. The Critics. "HARLE8 FROHMAN tells with gustt of a dialogue between two women that as heard in the pit at one of his lx>nm performances of "King !a?ar." 'It's good, ain't it, dear?" said the first >ma?. Well," said the second, critically, "tha enery's good, and the acting's good, t the dialogue simply can't compare th Hall Calne's 'Pete' at the Lyceum."