FATE IN DOUBT.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 124, 7 March 1935, Page 5

FATE IN DOUBT.

NEW ZEALAND MISSIONARY. AUSTRALIAN’S DEATH CERTAIN. i (United Pres* Association —Copyright’,. (Received This Day, 12.5 p.m.) SHANGHAI, March 6. A telegraphic message from Sianfu .confirms the report of the death of Mr Frencham, the Australian, missionary, but disclosing nothing of the fate of his wife, though local missionary circles are convinced that she Suffered the same fate as her husband. Messages state that Ningkiang was taken by • complete surprise during the height of the celebrations of the Chinese New Year, wheii disguised Communists were enabled to enter the walled city. , Later, ( overpowering the guards, they opened the gates, allowing the test of the force to enter. The Communists then started an orgy ol killing, looting and indiscriminately butchering all except the poorest in< habitants. Having previously dug a huge pit, the Communists tossed the bodies .of..the dead and dying inside, many being buried alive, i Mr Frencham and his wife were the only two foreigners in the city during the attack. Strangely contradictory reports concerning the fate of Mr A, Hayman, a New Zealander, and Mr R. A. Bosshardt, a Swiss, who were captured in the Kwiehow province last October. The British Legation has received a dispatch from the Consul at Changsha stating that he received a telegi am from a missionary named'Beckner, in Yungchow, West Hunan, reporting that Messrs Hayman and Bosshardt escaped on February 2, but were recaptured three days later. Mr Beckner said that liis messenger saw both men alive on February IG. The fate of Mr and Mrs C. Frencham still remains in doubt, the latest reports stating that both were seen in the hands of Communists. - Oh the other hand reports that have reached Changsha states that a Chinese mission worker saw ten bodies near Tayung on December 30 including those of two foreigners, and Messrs Eoss- , hardt and Hayman are the only foreigners known to have been in that area. Hankow messages deny these - killings, stating that the bodies' of the two foreigners were probably those of two captured Catholic priests whose murder was recently confirmed from other' sources.