In the attempt to justify their brutal action a false report was spread by the police that arms, gunpowder, and even dynamite were found in the Chinese shops and houses; and though this was never confirmed in any way, many persons were only too ready to believe it. As a matter of fact, the possibilities of loot, as well as the repudiation of debts owed to Chinese creditors, played a large part in causing both the massacre and the justifying of it. When the Chinese were arrested the Cossacks and police took their money and ransacked their dwellings; and not only the lower but the higher officials enriched themselves considerably by this means, the booty that this or that police officer or member of the local administration had obtained for his share being discussed quite openly. Many debtors of the Chinese profited by the terrible end of their unfortunate creditors, as it is not customary for Chinese business men to keep written memoranda; their methods are based upon personal trust, and their own honesty is proverbial. If in any instances such memoranda did exist, care was taken that they should disappear, in case any claim should afterwards be made by heirs possibly existing in China; while on the other hand Russian creditors of the Chinese repaid themselves a hundredfold, with the connivance of the police. It would take too long to relate all the examples of the wholesale looting that was carried on by “respectable” merchants and others; but one or two typical instances may be recorded.