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Show An American Girl Held Slave by the Highbinders of Shanghai I jSK"'". . 1 ONE MAN, MR. B. F. MEEHAN, OF CHICAGO, MURDERED IN AN EFFORT TO RESCUE HER FROM ' ' THE HOUSE OF A THOUSAND DOORS" . i JHL R-o- Cflmiipl norrfcon Cornell HER PITIFUL PLEA TO MR. SAMUEL GARRETSON CORNELL, OF NEW YORK, WHO ALSO ATTEMPTED TO SAVE HER (Copyright, 1910, by the New York B" by Samiiei IjarrCtSOIl Cornell FROM HER FRIGHTFUL IMPRISONMENT IN AN UNDERGROUND CITY. Herald Co. All rights reserved.) inot often that a man possessed ic true spirit of adventure main-nvthing main-nvthing like a permanent base. Samuel Garrctson Cornell, the jf the following true and amazing las for years lield a quiet, pcoce-jllf pcoce-jllf offlro In Neu' York City at-tn at-tn the boanl of maglslraics. n of an aristocratic Buffalo fam-stepson fam-stepson of a diplomat, a post-e post-e student In Germany, married to in noblewoman, lie had an excel-dnnlnftr excel-dnnlnftr as a cosmopolitan, h still a young man he has tml and round the world and Into Town quarter of It, speaks all the 1 languages and numerous dia-d dia-d uses many of them po woll that inallty Is often a matter or doubt he outland people, a giant physically, is a crack rscman and swordsman, and since 11 of the love of adventure. It Is see that he would find his share. Hie following narrative Is of an ce Jn a place whoro few decent en ever havo rone and conic out since the establishment of the concessions at Shanghai, when lous powers wore given tracts e Bund and each little tract ho-colony ho-colony of the nation to which ired. there haa been talk of the mnd life of the city. It Is known Cunton and other Chinese cities ;t societies or guilds constructed j subterranean systems, and In hclsco and New York the "Lit-ns" "Lit-ns" have done the same thing eh smaller way. The Arc in San o revealed that tho ground under ra was literally honeycombed, ery uses to which the under-:arts under-:arts of Shanghai arc put keep rets secur and many a white o has spent half his life In the tell you that beyond rumor ho lothlng about Shanghai having jrground Inhabitants. Tho stale-it stale-it there Is such a thing may be at evon among The ignorant. In a position to state positively re is an underground, for I havo re and escaped with my life after peculiar set of clrcumstancos. cnslvo It Is I cannot say, hut I half a mile from where- I went le surface of the ground, and I a thousand persons down there, a well-known fact among the Itans of the concessions that if ;dful to have a man killed, ho , yellow or brown, one need only vn the Bund, stop Into the Chl-: Chl-: and ask the first Chinese ho c is Wai Yung?" articular Chinese may not know, e docs not he will take you to who does know, and that second I take you to a third, who will ilmself as to who you are and you are a fit person to see ig. If you pass the examination I be taken through tortuous nd passageways, into a dark hall walk for perhaps five minutes, urns and twists In absolute dark-mine dark-mine at last to a room where rvlew a personage who is said il Yung. The room is stifling but must be underground. The light hed by a lamp, do you want?" says Wai Yung, it a man killed." a white man?" sitor answers yes or no an the ' bo, and if he says yes tho price llling is sot at 5100. save In the an Englishman. It costs $200 n Englishman killed, because of ts tho English government will get his murdorcrs punished. A will coat 550(1, because of tho retaliation, the Japanese being people able to cope In any de-all de-all with tho subtle methods of binders. I Deliver the Goods. Vhen the price is' paid the goods are vercd within twenty-four hours, uu-i uu-i tho victim of the plot leaves Shang-by Shang-by sea or barricades himself in his ISC. Jot long ago Judge WIfley. a cour-sotjs cour-sotjs American official, cleaned up all Shanghai thai fell within his Juris-tlon Juris-tlon and quite a bit that did not, there were limits to his powers. Tho at secret things he could not touch, I when I was in Shanghai not long J found them just the-same as thev ays have been. Shanghai la still the iring housa for tho renegades and throats of the orient, ine night 1 had just had my dinner the Astor house and was wondering at 1 should do for tho evening, when manager made me acquainted with Intimate friend of his named Phelps. era. bit wc planned a drive out the bbllng Well road to the Alhambra. Ich was at that time a gay drinking ort below stairs with a character t was a cut hot ween 'tho Jl'avmarkct New York and Trocadoro in London, stairs was every sort of popular gam-ig gam-ig game with possibilities for play high as any place In the world. There Is not one of those wheels that straight " said my friend, "except the ; on the end. They let the tourists L outgangcrs play at thoso other eels, and the people who arc in on know play at this one. The croupier, vever, is Ramon, an Indo-Chinese, n in the Philippines: Hn is the clnv-st clnv-st nlcight-of-hand mun In tho world, elleve. Wo will play at his table, but p your eyes on Ramon." I ve played for a -time and I detected i ning wrong, though when we cashed It seemed to mo that whereas I very irly broke even T should have been a adred dollars ahead- In a. rough sort way I had an fdea of the number of s lost and tho number of times I had de my number or color. Wo went bc-r bc-r and met some other men wo know. : I got to thinking about the clevor-is clevor-is of Ramon, and decided to visit his eel once- again to see if I had been lated. have always had a fondness for hteens and nlnotcens and now I yed them consistently, losing steadily - in regular bets of fifteen chips. At last eighteen came, and, doing as croupiers do the world over. Ramon paid mo by stacking the pay chips even with tho bet chips on the board. A moment before be-fore T had counted my bet stack and now I ran the nail of my index finger down it. II was shy three chips, and so. of eoursK. were all. the other stacks in which ho was paying me my winnings. 'Come on. Ramon, come on. A stark ,,.cll!nf? ,'8.. not a 'ard of flannel that will shrink." I said in a half whisper to him. His dark itioiif.v eye caught mine and he saw I was certain. Without ado he There was something fervent in her manner v?hen she thanked me and begged me to hurry. measured up -tho added three chips on every stack. This seemed to affect my luck and in a little while 1 was a heavy winner: then 1 dropped tho size of my bets and stood watching him in his sleight-of-hand work, literally accumulating accumu-lating hundreds of dollars In a few hours' time by the nimbleness of his hands. The wheel was straight, but the croupier was as crooked as he letter 25. When the night's play was over 1 was leaving the second floor with Phelps when I felt a touch on my arm and Ramon Ra-mon stood beside mo, an Ingratiating smile on his dark face. Ramon Jsb.0 Guide. "If vou arc not otherwise engaged, would "you not like to sec some of the places about tho city to which 1 can take vou?" ho said in Spanish. There was violent opposition to tho suggestion on the other side of mo, to Judge from tho kick in tho shins I received, re-ceived, but I saw an opportunity in the Invitation and accepted it with alacrity. Ramon was bent on one of. two things, closing my mouth by placing mo under obligations to him or closing my mouth In a more permanent way. Wc would sec. Taking a. carriage wc drove down the Bubbling Well road in the after midnight mid-night moonlight and stopped at a tea house for the usual tiresome show in that sort of place, and then proceedpd until we came to the point where we should have gone straight on to enter the concessions, but the driver turned sharp-Iv sharp-Iv to the left and descended Into the Chinese city. After a little we passed under a dark arch and then anothor 1 have a good bump of locality and tried my best to keep my hearings at all times, but verv soon I knew I was lost. Then wc left the carriage and going along some narrow nar-row dark passages came to a heavy door at which Ramon knocked. The typical Oriental wicket was opened and a big coolie's head appeared. He opened the door when he heard Ramon's voice, and 'after wo had gone on in tho dark , a little way Ramon opened a door and ushered ush-ered us into a great subterranean chamber. cham-ber. I do not know how far under ground it is. but wo had been going down, down for fully three minutes. It was thick with smoke, but I saw a draught In the vapor overhead so that there must have been some ventilating device. Tho rqom was floored with teakwood, and seemed to be celled with it as well as I could see, and all about were littlo cubicles cub-icles or compartments with teakwood partitions which did not run up to the ceiling. In the dim light I could not Bee to tho farther end, but I could mako out side passages or bays with more cubicles, cub-icles, and there seemed to bo a throng in the place from the sound of many voices and tho moving masses I could see. It is almost impossible to give a picture of tho crowd in words. A small percentage wore men in European dress. The great number wore native dress or a mixed Malay, Japaneso or Filipino garb, and they were of all colors except that of tho red Indian. Never havo I seen so many different sorts of people in so uniform a state o! drugged and drunken depravity. Ramon was one of tho best of the many. It was plain that he was a groat man among the habitues. I saw several white men whom I recognized as beachcombers, beach-combers, fugitives from Justice, discredited discredit-ed sons of resident family type. etc. The women were an amazing mixture also, though most of them were Chinese and Japanese girls. Taking- seats in one of tho cubicles. Kamon ordered food, wine, cigars and women to keep ua company. Of the nhv-s nhv-s ra I comforts brought to un no exception excep-tion could be taken. Served in Chinese fashion tlu-y were all of the very best and I found myself wondering where tho ffi cooked Jn a place like Tho greatest Interest centered In the women who came to sit with us. One &i ha H'lsortc girl from the Friendly Kolri tf ,d T ronI,er- sIn and bronze golf) hair and her magnificent teoiii arms and shoulders wouldhave made ei' coiispjcuoiis anywhere. The1 TtfcSnT w-" ful bodv ti a"'l a thin, gracc- rlri nr L 7J1 U;i,Yl wus a tall white giri of the type of womanhood one mif. so frequently in Callfon la licr ! flffSre would have been excellent h-.( Un , ? Snhnn"fthe mitevy ;md siifrerlnR writ: ten on it. was beaut fnl. while- hi- -rAiHc- Plea of the Girl. AWsftg.&s& $ ftsfria,sf Place. TUi tall w It, 'gtl JitlKred 11 come to be here"- IIow (1 vou Briefly I told her. peularyinUteanS?Sbl0r?,, she aed with I told hor verv franklv tho t Plain American !S .ng otheltp,, aching the tlcularly the SamSJeSS girl a ," r Par" fahe seemed to hr m hs ' a r Ramon, an effort of some fol-l ,Jorse,f for hor curiously. Von- ,Ann? 1 ?'alchecl what 'Unit effort was ?h- ""rstoo-j a mental and Ph ?lalS1 In such could dissemble onfy with L ,,lnt he difficulty, and she mi h tho greatesl able to say to mo f w m? a nfn0mbl0 to he her face things hhM, AP.ln,rlri sn,llft or her opportunity , lcK 50 ,saId then fore as she ool od at ? i?-",1' ero-nd ero-nd Hpok. In a very low tin ,f ,,iaiI5,,n,8"-havo ,,iaiI5,,n,8"-havo been the coquet, -7 ctiTJV'' I am now askinir von ,. ! , heaven to gu tn i 1 thc ,ov of mo out of here cot ro'l,lck: Pet foro I lose inv mhiri ? 1 ofMOr'. be-dsco be-dsco girl6 and'my 1 au.ei It is that or lake to d.lnk orf,7A'd keep from thinking, and " wlTf t?(TtP up yet. I will o7, I will no" hut Rih please, please, get mo out of hero'" I am as crtnlu that she avhs telling the truth as I am that I am living, and I answered nuito as if I v!ie tolling some Joke. If cither of tin had seotnod to bn serious we would have boon suspected at once. "I don't .oven know how to get out of hero mynelf. Will Ramon help mo?" "No; he knows the others would find out and kill him. You can get away." ."Do you know the way out?" "I got a plan from a Chinese girl a year ago, but they took It away from mo. There aro twenty doors of which I know, but there are guards at them. Is it daylight day-light or dark outside now?'' "It is dark about four o'clock inlhe morning." "I nm almost blind at times from being away from tho sunlight so long. I think I shall go crazy with Joy if 1 see tt again. How ape you going to get mo out?" She seemed to take It for granted that I meant and had a plan perfectly arranged. ar-ranged. "Of course I have a gun in my pocket," I said. "I'd take n chance In a. minute, but I can't soc that ihere is any chance. Tho most I could do would bo to shoot five times, and, If I was lucky, kill five men: then I would be knifed or shot and you would bo killed." Chicago Man Murdered. "No, I would not. 1 would not be beaten, even. White girls are loo hard to get.. They did not touch m before.'" "Before! Have you tried to got away?" "Yes: tho man 1 ask.d before tried to get me through tho door you Just came in. ills name whs B. F. leehan. and he came from Chicago, he said. They killed him just as you have said they would kill you." I confess that f looked down silent and hesitant. "Oh. I suppose It is a whole lot for a. woman like I am to ask of a man who is a stranger lo hor. but 1 am not a. bad woman. 1 have escaped a lot that tho others go through, When my husband loft mo here I did not know whether ho was dead or alive, or whether wheth-er I was deserted or he had boon taken away and killed. I do not know now only what I havo heard. Un may be alivo and looking for mo everywhere. I was very ill. and Fannin was very good to me and kept mo away from the others till now. He Is dying oh, my heavens, he may be dad even now. You must get m" out of here. If you don't try I will kill myself before your eyes. Oh. no. I wouldn't do. that: . forgive . mo If I talk a little wild." "Sort here," I said, "I will leave I he mutter to you. I will make the effort to fight my wny out of here with you this very mlnnto If you think there Is a chance. Now. what do you say?" "No, It would bo throwing your life away, and since yon put tho matter In so plain a way I will not allow It." "Thank you. Tho only other thing I can think of Is toVusn a little strategy. I give you my word of honor that when I leave here tonight I will mark down every stop I take and I will conic back with enough help lo get you." Ther was something so unguardedly fervent In hor manner when she thanked ma and begged me to hurry thai. Ramon-began Ramon-began to suspect that wc were engaged In no ordinary dallying conversation and leaned over to take his shaio in what we' had to say. It was an hour before we left, ami then we passed through a nunibor of other bays of cubicles and at last through anothor guarded door, that let us Into a passage, along which I followed Ramon Ra-mon by sound only, us tho place was black as tho lnsldo of a stone Ink bottle. bot-tle. Suddenly wo canm to a little door that swung open at tho touch, then to another, and us il closed behind us I found .UiaJ.'tiJismJ..li!tor.WgJ,' road, ' Now It happens that I havo a habit that. Is by no means unusual among men who travel off the beaten track of carrying car-rying some primary medicines with me. and I had In my coat pocket a littlo ptilal of whlto sodium tablets. Uncorking this covertly I carelessly dropped a number on the ground directly before the door. They wore plainly visible In the moonlight. moon-light. I made a trail of them until we came to a cluster of things by the way which I could use for a landmark. "We got a carriage in a short time and after bidding Ramon good night I drove like mad Into the concessions and began waking up every person of courage and influence whom I knew. Half tho men 1 got out. of bed admitted frankly that while they were suro and always had been sure as long as they had lived in Shanghai that such things existed, they were not prepared to antagonize tho gamhlors, hlghblnderB and others concerned con-cerned In the doings. It was a night that will be remembered In tho foreign concessions for a long time. The story of the girl was one that had a strong appeal in it, and before daybreak I had a volunteer posse of half a dozen men well armed and wo were driving back along the road. Picking up my landmark wo followod the trail of tablets back to tho door, and using a dark lantern wo had brought with us we went Inside. -Very soon we struck tho second door, but beyond It the passage led us Into an old compound built over by tho extension of the upper stories of the surrounding houses, and search a 8 we would wc could not find Its continuance. There were many small exits to the compound, but when we explored ex-plored them they led to nothing. It would have been necessary to tear down twenty houses thereabouts to lay bare the entrance to the descending tunnel, and at last we wero compelled to give up. I was even laughed at for my pains by one or two of the party. At two o'clock that aflnrnoon I "was due to take thc ferryboat down tho river to Wah Chung, where thc big steamboats steam-boats lie, to go on board a steamboat bound for the south. I hurriedly got everything ev-erything in readiness for departure so that I could spend the remainder of my time In continuing the search. Then I went to a very high official and told him thc wholo story. He had already heard It at homo, as it was thc talk of tho concessions. When I had finished giving- him the accurate details he said: "Mr. Cornell, men come to Shanghai n her manner v?hen she thanked me and begged me to hurry. ' seemed to be celled with it as well as I 9pt It felSSIfeSVfeiIri: tKSj'i 'ffi JlliSfV could see, and all about were littlo cub- S 53511 13jSgS8 pvil I i VxMKZ MtftV ( and I founcZnlyseff wondering whcrThn Vtv llliiili food could be' cooked ina placT llEe . ? 11111 The greatest interest centered In th- ' I? W'i SjHV Hji.'fcfj women who came to sit with us. One '.:' X f li.p WmHWmW MS. was a handsome girl from the Friend y O- V' H V ?vS '? W' BiM Kold,dhnVld T VPJier- and bronze ' . WVn'AW' 3$ gold hair and her magnificent tcolh " " I V- if r i i $ k -C V J cXicubns1 x care,wb,iy druppetTa number on tae ground before the door. half Russlnn. WnU e:,.,',l . WJ.J.S : ' : " and are never heard of again. Sometlmos In a Chinese dying room whlto men and. once In a while, while women, .arc found who havo died naturally whose Identity Ik a complete mystery to us. It Is a matter of record that under thc city somewhere tho old secret Rulldo built subterranean labyrinths, but nevor havo I found a man willing to Imperil his life by telling any of the socrcts. I am of IH half a mind to arrest Bamon and a IH dozen other men of his kind, and tho only thing that deters me is the cor- IH tain knowledge that not one of thorn IH could be induced to lend the way tp this IH place, which Is popularly called 'tho House of thc Thousand Doors.' Now you IH will never bo able to re-enter it after all the efforts you have. made. I advise you H to go your way, and 1 will put my heat, men at work to try to trade the glrKout. By bartering favors I may be able to do what you could not do with forty men armed with Winchesters, .1 will cable you If I succeed." H Reluctantly I went down the liver, for tho despairing sadness in the eyes of tho girl haunted me. It won maddening to rlnk that I was compelled to leavo, b4 hind one of my own countrywomen In such misery and helplessness. A weak later, not having heard from tho official, I cabled him from Singapore and, bis re-ply re-ply read: IH "N6 Information secured. Caso abno- IH lutely hopelcBS." Therefore, IT she in alive, a San Fran-Cisco Fran-Cisco girl i still a slave In the power of the blacklegs of underground Shanghai. If any man who reads this can send me a line or two of further Information con-corning con-corning her or her history or knows of any means of finding tho way back Into IH that subterranean labyrinth I will deeply appreciate a letter at the Delta Phi club, Now York City. |