Yesterday about 40 steam launches, were ordered to tow junks and Vighters full of these coolies up river. The Chinese craft were packed to the limit of their capacity and to prevent possible deserters the men were tied together in Datehes during the embarkation and had not been untied when the Journey commenced.
The Han River has been in'spate for the past few days and the current in the Yangtze is. swift One of the launches was towing several lighters full of men up stream witan the tow-rope snapped. The lighters were. caught in the swirl of water, and upset and sank.
Chinese estimate that 800 coolies were drowned, as well as all the boatmen. Being tied together, the wretched coolies had of course no chance to swim; and the bodies will doubt be carried a long way down river before they are east ashore.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.