APPENDIX  E

430
“  It  has  always  been  a  part  of  the  Regulation  of  the  International ­
  Mixed  Court  for  female  criminals  to  be  confined  hi
the  Mixed  Court  prison.  Mr.  Twyman,  the  British  Vice-Consul,
has,  however,  repeatedly  wanted  to  send  these  females  to  the
foreign  gaol,  and  on  this  account  it  has  been  a  subject  of  repeated
opposition  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Kuan,  the  Magistrate  of  the  Mixed
Court.  The  latter  has  also  petitioned  the  Shanghai  Taotai  to
back  up  this  opposition.  This  is  on  record.
“  On  the  morning  of  the  8th  instant,  Mr.  Kuan,  Magistrate,
Mr.  Ching,  Assistant  Magistrate,  and  Mr.  Twyman,  the  British
Assessor,  were  trying  cases  brought  by  the  police,  among  which
was  one  in  which  a  certain  Mrs.  Li  Wang-shih  was  charged  with
kidnapping  children.  According  to  the  evidence,  this  woman
claimed  to  be  the  wife  of  an  official,  and  that  she,  accompanied
by  four  others,  had  arrived  in  Shanghai  from  Szechwan  ;  that
she  had  with  her  five  little  girls  which  she  had  purchased  h 1
Szechwan  as  personal  attendants,  but  which  the  police  had
wrongly  charged  her  with  having  kidnapped.  In  view  of  the
wrongful  accusation  Mrs.  Li  Wang-shih  asked  that  her  accusers
be  punished.  It  was  found,  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  that  the
defendant  had  arrived  in  Shanghai  in  the  steamer  Poyang,  efl
route  to  her  home  in  Kwangtung,  and  that  the  luggage  brought
by  her  amounted  to  over  one  hundred  pieces.  As  for  the  children,
the  defendant  declared  that  she  had  documents  proving  bond
fide  sales  to  her  of  them,  etc.  As  this  evidence  appeared  to
refute  the  charge  of  the  children  having  been  kidnapped,  the
Magistrate  consulted  with  the  Assessor  as  to  the  advisability  of
remanding  the  case,  sending  the  children  to  the  “  Door  of  Hope,’
and  keeping  the  defendants  under  the  custody  of  the  Mixed
Court  ad  interim.  The  British  Assessor,  however,  determined
to  have  the  defendants  confined  under  remand  in  the  foreign
(municipal)  gaol.  The  Magistrate  replied  that  as  he  had
not  received  any  instructions  from  the  Taotai  to  change  the
regulations,  he  could  not  consent  to  this.  An  argument  ensued,
and,  neither  side  being  willing  to  give  way,  the  Magistrate
accordingly  ordered  his  runners  to  follow  the  regulations  and
hand  the  female  defendants  to  the  charge  of  the  Court  female
gaoler.  Upon  this  the  Vice  Consul  ordered  the  police  inspectors
and  all  the  constables  present  to  use  force  in  getting  away  the
defendants.  In  the  mêlée  that  ensued  two  runners  of  the  Court,
Chang  Ta'i  and  Chou  Yu-ch'ing,  and  several  onlookers  were
hurt,  and  when  the  Magistrate  called  out  to  the  police  to  stop
striking,  one  of  the  inspectors  went  so  far  as  even  to  threaten
him  with  a  club.
“  About  this  time  there  was  a  large  crowd  of  people  outside
the  gates,  who,  hearing  of  the  disturbance,  tried  to  rush  in-