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The current interest in worldwide drug traffic has reminded me of an experience I had on the China station more than 55 years ago.
In the late summer of 1921, the USS Palos (PG-16) was at her regular U.S. Navy moorings on the right bank of the Yangtze River opposite Chungking.
We had spent the winter in Changsha and then, when the channel in Tung Ting Lake was sufficiently deep from the spring rains, we had taken the Palos to Kiating, via Ichang, Chungking, Suifu, and the Min River, which, to the best of my knowledge, is the farthest west that an American gunboat has been in China.
Having completed a year of duty as Yangtze River Rats, the skipper, Lieutenant Commander Glenn Howell, and I received orders to take the Palos to Shanghai and then be detached and proceed to the United States for further assignment.
Opium smuggling in China in those days was rampant, and U.S. Navy gunboats were a natural target of opium smugglers because they were the only ships on the river not subject to inspection by the Chinese Customs Service. Inspection of U.S. Navy vessels is prohibited by any but U.S. officials.
Captain Howell was determined that the Palos should not be used as a vehicle for smuggling opium, so, as soon as we got under way from Chungking he detailed my relief, who had reported aboard to learn my job, and me to start, one at the bow and one at the stern of the ship and work toward each other until every compartment had been thoroughly searched.
The Palos and her sister ship, the Monocacy (PG-20), had been built from blueprints of HMS Widgeon and HMS Teal, gunboats which plied the upper Yangtze River protecting British interests. Their 165-foot length, 28-foot beam, and two and a half foot draft displaced about 180 tons. Obviously, a thorough inspection of the Palos was not a difficult task. My assignment was the forward portion of the ship where naval stores were kept, and included the magazines which were locked and under guard of a trusted U.S.
sentry. My relief was assigned to inspect the aftef portion of the ship which was where the Chine# lived. ,
The regular ship’s company of the Palos consist^ of three officers, one doctor, and 48 enlisted men- Two of the enlisted men were Chinese, an office1-5 steward and a cook. We were also allowed three Chinese pilots, one regular and two in training, afl^ four Chinese sampan men who assisted in moorinf and in navigating the rapids in emergencies. W#'1 the exception of the Chinese steward and the cook for whom regular accommodations were provided’ the pilots and the sampan men were assigned living quarters in the aftermost compartment of the ship- Additionally, each of the officers had an unofficial messman whom he paid himself, and the enlisted men also hired unofficial Chinese cooks and messxne(1 to prepare and serve their meals. They were ab° ^ quartered in the after compartment.
A short time after the search began, my relief di$' fl covered large quantities of opium neatly concealed i° big coffee drums between the upper and lower laycfS of coffee beans. The opium was in large cakes of 3 sticky consistency about six inches in diameter. The skipper ordered it placed on the forecastle where lt could be observed from the bridge, and stationed afl armed sentry to guard it. At that time the opium of board the Palos was estimated to be worth $ 100,000 in Chungking, $500,000 in Shanghai, and $1 mil' lion in San Francisco.
There were two courses open to Captain Howell- , He could turn the opium over to the Chinese CuS' toms in Ichang, for which he would have received a handsome fee, or he could throw it overboard in the rapids on the way downriver.
Despite the financial loss he chose the latter course. He knew that someone could be killed had if remained on board.
It was a dramatic scene as each cake of opium was heaved overboard and many of the Chinese wept as they watched their potential fortunes sink into one 0f the swiftest rapids in the Gorges.
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The picture of affability as he posed with two officials, Lieutenant Commander Glenn Howell was also a wily Yangtze River Rat who knew that U.S. Navy gunboats were being used by opium smugglers, and he did what he thought necessary to discourage smugglers from using his Palos for “trips" other than official business.