Atter arguing for about two hours with the Japanese Coneular police, one of the Koreans offered to pay $20 for the "whole lot of 97 packages, finally increasing it to $60 which offer was turned down. The charge fon the 97 packages was about $100. All this took place in the main book: jing hall of the station where about '20 or 40 Koreans had assembled. They were dressed in foreign clothes, some Jof them in suits resembling 2 golfing ought, with stockings of a brilliant hue. end hobnailed boots, They were a hard looking bunch and alt carried heavy and formidable walking sticks and strutted around he station as if the premises belonged to them. Some of the Koreans appeared excited, but they left the talking to a middle-aged man who locked more respectable that th Fest of his colleagues.
The scene of the conference was then shifted to the station master's office where Mr. Li, the Station Master, was called upon to see what hho could do, with the railway police looking en helplessly. Mr. Li could nothing, the Koreans still refused to pay the proper freight charges Jand a about 6 p.m. the session ended with the smugglers coming out on top.
In spite of the intervention of the Sepanese Consular police, the Koreans were allowed to leave the station without paying one cent of reight. taking the smuggled goods with them. To-day by a strange coincidence not tone package of smuggled goods Teached Tientsin East: station. " The railway authorities seem powerless: to enforce payment of their egal charges, the railway police are afraid to do anything, while the Japanese Consular police officials do net seem particularly keen on arresting the Smugglers" or confiscating the [smuggled goods.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.