Meanwhile General Chuang Tsz-ping at Amoy heard of these preparations and wired to his Anfu colleagues in Shanghai, asking them to honour his personal order for $100,000 and to use this $100,000 to buy over Chu T'ien-sen and' the Ching An crew.
Tseng Vu-chun, formed Minister of Communications under the Anfu riégime, was commissioned by his colleagues in Shanghai to raise the required funds and buy over the' Ching An. He raised the money and, in ce-operation with Lu Yung-hsiang, the Anfu Governor of Chekiang, and Ho Feng-ling, the Anfu garrison commander at the Shanghai (Kiangnan) Arsenal, arranged to have a torpedo boat go out from Shanghai with the $100,000 to intercept. the Ching An while on her way from Nanking to Fukien. This was done with conspicuous success and, the Ching An, instead of proceeding to the south, ran into the Huangpu and proceeded to Shanghai where the vessel and its consignment of arms were surrendered to Admiral Lin Kien-chang.
This is the substance of the "Chien Pao" report. To-day (August 1) the "Ye Shth Pao" reports a telegram sent out to the nation at large by the officers of the Ching An explaining their action. The proclamation was dated July 27, and is signed by Chu T'ien-sen, in command; Sung Wei-cheng, 2nd in command; and Huang Hui-ju, chief engineer.
In this message it is stated that while the officers are not Fukienese they are. nevertheless opposed to the imposition of hardships upon the Fukienese people. They have faith in the patriotism, etc., of Admiral Lin Kien-chang (in command at Shanghai) and have therefore joined him in his pacifist attitude, turning over the arms and stores, which they were carrying, to him for safe keeping, Their belief is that if all other officers take the same position peace will shortly be restored in the land The "Yi Shih Pao' goes on to say that the officers and crew of the Ching An numbered! about 300 men. They were carrying 80 infantry rifles and 25 cases (each containing 10,000 rounds) of infantry rifle ammunition. They had 200 lots of general military stores, one mountain gun and 700 big gun shells for the gunboats Ch'u T'ung and Ch'u Kuan. The rifles carried were few because a big shipment had gone tio weeks before by transport. These rifles and the ammunition for them were of Russian manufacture.
In separate news items the "Fi Shih Pao" to-day reports the following Fukien news items:
Chuang Tsz-ping retreated to Changchow on July 28. His forces Tost Ch'uangchow on July 29.
On the afternoon of July 30 the gunboats Yingjui and Haiyung. approached Amoy and shelled the outer forts, setting them on fire. In the late afternoon they entered the inner harbour. As Chuang's troops were all withdrawn to Changchow, with the exception of a very small body, which took flight when the gunboats entered the port, there was no resistance, so the. gunboats landed marines and occupied the port.
Wang Yung-chuan has surrounded Hui An and expects to take it on July 30, according to a belated telegram. His forces have occupied P'u Ch'eng and Lin Ch'ing and have advanced to Huang Shih, and Hong T'ang.
Wang Yung-chuan has wired to Sun Chuan-fang to return in all haste to Fukien to reassume control. Sun, who is still in Hankow, pleads that he is ill and cannot leave at this juncture.
The "Yi Shih Pao" further reports here the receipt of a letter from a Fukienese Member of Parliament in Shanghai saying that a Chekiang naval descent upon Nanking is imminent and that Chi Hsieh-yuan.and his Kiangu forces are ready to meet Chekiang. He warns the Members of Parliament that the impending operations will cut the Shanghai-Nanking and the Tientsin-Pukow Railways and, that if they are coming south they had better hurry. The "Yi Shih Pao" expresses that this is a false alarm designed to hasten the departure of Parliamentarians for the south.
The "Hsun Tien Shih Pao" (Japanese edited) gives a story to-day of the receipt in Tientsin of the news of the defection of i vhich runs some-
The present Anfu headquarters in Tientsin is in the house of Wu Kuang-hsin. Several days ago there was a large assembly of Anfu leaders there when the news of the purchase of the Ching An and her cargo of arms and stores came in. This prompted much rejoining and great laughter. In the midst of the merriment Tuan Chi-jui came in and asked what the joke was. When he heard the news he did not look particularly pleased and was solemnly silent for a time. Finally he remarked that he saw nothing in this Ching An affair to laugh about. The time was not ripe for action and until the time was ripe, such enterprises were only trouble making exploits which could do no particular good.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.