"Driéd Fruits" Consigned to Flames huge quantity of opium and other drugs, seized by the Customs recently, went up in flames on November 29 when they were thrown into the chuts of the furnaces in the Customs Yard at Pootung and burnt in the presence ofa number of Chinese officials, The seizure of these drugs, especially the heroin and morphine, is believed to constitute a world record and a very conservative "about a million taels" was stated that the sum was prob ably considerably—more. Whi larger quantities of opium' have been bint, this is the first time in istory that 30 much heroin and morphine have been consigned to the' flames in one lot.
Two of the furnaces were kept burning for approximately an hour,' the wax in which the heroin and morphine were contained going up like paraffin and the smoke of opium [spreading out in dense clouds, The burning opium could be smelt for some distance away. There' was no possibility of any of the drug being saved, for the ashes were taken out after the burning and reburned, In all, ten piculs, 51 catties, 14 taels of° opium, 13,646 ounces of heroin,-and 628 1b. of morphine were burnt; the percentages of the latter being 729 piculs of ceresene wax containing 84.44 per cent, of heroin and 9.74 picals of oxokerite wax containing 48 per cent, of morphine, The Customs Yard was very heavily guarded by members of the Greater Shanghai Bureau of Public Safety and every precaution was taken to sce that the drugs were deposited in the furnaces, The drugs burnt were seized by officials of the Chinese Maritime Customs, on November 11 and November 13, on board the Lloyd triestino steamers Col di Lana and Cracovia when they arrived in Shanghai from European snd Near Eastern ports, On board the former steamer, 190 Jb, of opium valued at approximates ly a quarter of a million taels were seized but the consignment on the Cracovia was infinitely larger, being Valued at around Ts, 1,000,000, Believed to have been I ills of lading, were made' out "To Order," soit has proved exceedingly difficult for the Euthorities to trace the owners, Tucked neatly away among dried fruits and other commodities, Me Clding colouring materials, gum sheller, varnish, ceresene wax and oxokerite wax, were small pascals of the best quality heroin, "Into motion having been received by th Jocal Customs authorities that the drug was being brought here, cficials were on the alert and minute examinations of the cargoes the two vessels were made, sulting in the immense haul
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.