By Alva “Bobbie” Cowen

Thomas was a journalist, and correspondent for Army and Navy Illustrated during the Spanish-American War of 1899.

He was born 1869 in Sculcoates, UK. As a journalist, he possibly worked with his brother John in Tientsin, China.

He was employed by The Times during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. He wrote a large and comprehensive book: The Russo-Japanese War: From the Commencement of Hostilities to the Battle of Liaoyang (Edward Arnold: London, 1904).

He was on staff of the Japan Times in 1906.

A picture of Pekin since the Relief

Mr. T. C. Cowen, the war correspondent, writes for the ''Express" a very interesting article on Pekin.

It belongs to no one. It is divided into districts under British, American, Japanese, Russian, and French jurisdiction, and the streets are patrolled and order, more or less, maintained by troops of all complexions. But the Powers are agreed on one point—namely, that anythlng without an evident owner may be appropriated. Occasional patrols sneak into the courtyard and peer around enquiringly for loot. Then the servants at the lodge—the mandarin's servants at the man-   darin's lodge, that is to say, my servants at my lodge—run across the three courtyards   into the mandarin's hall to me, and shout   "Soldiers!" I go to the outer courtyard, and enquire what business the soldiers have here, and they walk slowly to the gate, ex- plaining in whatever language happens to be theirs that they were merely patrolling. I slam the gate sharply after them, and the   servants bar it, giggling. Were the writer's servants alone they would probably be shot. The women would not be shot, but worse. I am not exaggerating, says Mr. Cowen; this thing happens almost daily. He continues—I do not feel free to say   under which of the great civilized Powers of Europe who have partitioned Pekin I am living. I will only say it is not Anglo- Saxon, nor Japanese. For some reason the British troops have been allotted the poorest slums of Pekin as their portion. As I write I look out across my garden, the mandarin's garden. He had good taste. There are trees five times the height of the house, with lovely foliage, rustling in the cool wind. A fishpond lies in the middle, with a rustic bridge just like that on a "willow-pattern" plate, but the water is gone, the fish gone, and long reedy grass grows out of the mud. There is a curious wooden edifice in one corner of the garden; it may be meant for a tea-house or a band- stand—I do not know. Fruit trees, which I cannot name, bearing abundance of fruit which I have never seen or heard of before, are trained under the walls, and rockeries are artistically arranged here and there. In the paddock are about a dozen ponies and mules, and in the stables a few more. Some were found strolling ownerless near the city or in it, and out of charity I appro- priated them, and feed them on the man- darin's fodder. Others have been honestly bought, one pony for a tin of cigarettes, a fine sturdy mule for half a bottle of Scotch
whisky, some were left here by owners   who have gone to see their friends in Man- churia. One affectionate old mule keeps coming into the drawing-room to see me; he can break any rope the stable boys can tie, and he persists in leaving his hay and bran and eating the mandarin's choice chry-   santhemums. As I ride towards the Lega- tion I meet a brother journalist. The last time we met was in Ludgate circus. This meeting causes no surprise; we have got past that. We compare the number of bodies seen by each of us in the river   up to Tung-chow, the state of the stone road from Tung-chow to Pekin, the amount of cigars and sodawater remaining uncon- sumed, and whether the commissariat sup- ply of potatoes still holds out. These are vital questions. Here, on the bare remnant of what was once a lawn, are assembled General Gase- lee, Sir Claude and Lady MacDonald, and civil and military officers, sitting around three sides of a square, the fourth side be- ing occupied by Mr. Herring, Constable of the Legation, holding up a great roll of silk and calling, "Going at five dollars. Going, gone! To you, sir. Name, please?" In front of him, in the middle of the square, lie heaps of valuable fur robes, rich silks, and ornaments of all kinds. It is a sale of loot, and Herring is auctioneer. The bid- ders are officers, pressmen, diplomatic ser- vice men, a few ladies, anybody who has money—terms strictly cash. Market rates are rather eccentric. An ornamental trou- ser button, worth fourpence, may fetch ten dollars, while an embroidered or brocaded dress, which may have taken months of patient labour to construct, is sold for next to nothing. Loot is valuable in proportion as it is portable. A mule or pony can only be kept as far as he can travel; it will not pay to put him aboard ship and convey him home. A big bronze vase would cost its own weight in silver to ship home. But almost anything that can be put in the poc- ket is worth ten times its weight and fre- quently twice its ordinary value. The pro- ceeds of the sale go to a prize fund for the army, and the daily takings average about £400. The sales have been in progress three weeks, and there is enough material in store for three months of such daily auc- tions. How long the buyers' money will last is the question. The days of private confiscation of conquered people's property are, it is to be hoped, almost over. No- thing in the world is more demoralizing.
The innermost city, called the "Forbid- den City," comprising only the Imperial Palace and its appurtenances, is closed and guarded, and that is a good thing. There has been a surfeit of vandalism. It does no one any good. Those who got no- thing feel vicious, and those who got some- thing are tormented by a jealous suspicion that their neighbour got more. It is a sad sight, this great city. The Chinese have received such a blow as they have never experienced before in all their two thou- sand years of wars, famines, and insurrec- tions. Riding back home, I notice the Chi- nese stand aside meekly to let me pass; they walk in the mud to give me room, they who six months ago would have crowded round the foreigner and jeered. THE LITTLE BROWN MAN'S METHOD. The quarter of Pekin which has been placed under the jurisdiction of the Japan- ese is further advanced than any other to- wards recovery from the shock. The spe- cial correspondent of the ''Daily News" writes:— "In the Russian quarter not one shop out of a hundred is open. Those that are open are poor and bare, and have no- thing to lose. There are some which, though outwardly closed, with shutters up and entrance barred, carry on trade by the back door. It is difficult to say to what ex- tent this more or less overt trade is carried on. It cannot amount to very much. There are few Chinese in the streets, and those all of the coolie class, and almost all males. The only women to be seen are old and wizened crones. There are a few boys about, always on the alert to hold a horse, though never certain whether they will get a few cash or a kick for their trouble. There are no young women to be seen from morning to night. I need not go into the reason for this, but it is a strong reason and an obvious one. The German quarter is in a similar con- dition, though there are more shops open, and at a good many more business may be done by knocking at the closed and barred door, and explaining in Chinese that one's visit is a friendly one and for no other pur- pose than trade. The deserted condition of the streets is much the same, and the wo- men equally terrified, though I doubt whe- ther with sufficient reason. In both the Russian and German quarters strict order and discipline are maintained with an iron hand, and sometimes a heavy boot. The American and English quarters are more crowded with Chinese, and women of all classes, many with babies on their backs, Chinese fashion, move about freely. A good many shops are open, and there is every sign of confidence in the administration. These are the only two quarters in which beggars are to be found. The French and Italian quarters are not large or varied enough to admit of generalization. The French quarter is a waste of roofless and unoccupied houses or remnants of walls. The Italian is a small quarter on the western side of the Tartar City, carved out of the Japanese quarter. The Japanese regard themselves as having generously made a present of this section to Italy. I paid a visit to Colonel Shiba in order to ascertain by what methods the Japanese had achieved results which are so striking. To any one who knows Pekin I need only say that in the opinion of its permanent residents, both European and Chinese, much of the Japanese quarter is already re- stored to the same condition externally as before the troubles. The Hata-men road, the main artery running north and south through the eastern half of the Tartar City, was formerly about the busiest thorough- fare in Pekin, especially about the spot where the road crosses at right angles (as nearly all roads do cross in Pekin) to the Tse-hwa-men or Tung-chow gate. From Tung-chow, on the Peiho River, comes the merchandise brought up from the coast by junks. It was from this cause partly, if not chiefly, that the Pekinese centred their busiest mart at the crossing of the Tung- chow and Hata-men roads. The broad road- way itself, or, rather, the avenues running on each side of and below the level of the road, may best be described as forty Far-
ringdon-streets-on-Saturday-night rolled in- to one, with the addition of a good deal more noise and activity. This is as it   used to be, and it is so again. But whereas this lively scene was to be witnessed along almost the whole length of the Hata-men road, it now stops short at the very point where formerly the scene was at its height. South of the junction of the Hata-men and   Tung-chow roads is under Russian juris- diction, and to step across this boundary is to go from bustle and vivacity to deadly quiet. The cause of this difference is be- cause the Japanese make it a strict rule to pay the market price for whatever they want. "But there must be something more than that?" said the correspondent to Col. Shiba. —"No doubt our system of legal adminis- tration encourages them." Here is an outline of the system:— The Japanese quarter includes the whole of the northern part of the Tartar City and half of the western. Altogether it embraces two-
fifths of the Tartar City, including five of its nine gates. The quarter is divided into three sections, and in each section is a building, which is at once a town hall, county court, police court, and police sta- tion combined. Col. Shiba, in the central station, near the Drum Tower of Pekin, is the responsible head. In each station is held a daily court. The magistrate is a trustworthy Chinese of high rank, who has held office in a Chinese court, and is fa- miliar with Chinese legal usage. He has Japanese assessors, and there are Japanese   interpreters. The hearing of evidence is conducted in Chinese. Attached to each station also are 100 Chinese police and a sufficient number of Japanese gendarmes. The Japanese gendarmes have to watch not only the populace, but also the Chinese po- lice. When a charge is made against a Chinese he is brought before the court, and if the case is a difficult one the Judge with his assessors reports to headquarters, stat- ing at the same time what would be the Chinese practice, and making a recommen- dation, after the style of the "memorials" of Chinese Governors. If it is found proven that the prisoner has distinguished himself by activity as a Boxer, the capital sentence is pronounced upon him. He is taken to a cross road and exposed to the public gaze for two days, and is then beheaded in pub- lic by a Chinese executioner. Twenty such executions have taken place during the fort- night or more in which the system has been at work. For less serious offences flogging is awarded, 60 or 80 strokes with the bamboo. In still less serious cases, and in cases of the conviction of women, fines are inflicted. There does not appear to be any imprisonment, because there are no available prisons. There are five or six prisoners, at least, every day. The system   throughout is an attempt to govern the Chi- nese according to Chinese methods. It is the reverse of the autocratic methods of the Russian and German police. Under this method the Chinese are happy, submis- sive, orderly, and apparently grateful. Some of the principal shopkeepers of the Japa- nese quarter have united in making public recognition of Japanese goodwill, by pro- ceeding to Colonel Shiba's headquarters and offering him a formal present.