Almost a Battle at' Han Customs Supplanted now Oce Own Connesroxoere Hankow, Aug. 29.
There was once a happy ti when the only persons who searched steamers for contraband goods were the officers of the Chinese Maritime, Customs, Nowadays a steamer ai ig ab Nankow Is always une certain how many folks will try to search it, and this week the Chinese River Police and the armed guards the 'Anti-Opium Association engaged in a fight to determine which party had' the right to search for opium, The trouble began when the River Police got word that the str, Fuhwo was coming into port from Chungking with at least eight picula of opium on board, They posted their men all along the waterfront, but the smugglers on the steamer put the opium off into a boat befor the steamer berthed. The search fon board revealed nothing, but the sampan was spotted and a few well-aimed shots brought the laodah to his senses and enabled the River Police to capture him andthe opium, Matters did not end there, An official of the Anti-opium Associ-ting the opium and wed when the River police made their haul, ch Monday, So on Tuesday he seit a hundred of his men down to confiscate other cargo from the offending steamer, His men were met by an equal number from the River Police, who were determined to resist any ate tempt of the Anti-Opium Association to usurp their rights, Capt, Feng, the active superintendent of the Police of the S.A.D3, heard. what was Impending and, as the battleground was likely to be the river frontage of S.A.D.3, ho called out his emergency squad and secured assistance from the Garrison Come manger. So the would-be combat? ants found themselves separated by another strong force which called for a plague on them both, After good deal of threatening, both les withdrew and the question who fs to. search for—or perhaps it should be who i to sug thos not yet been decided.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.