MURDER FEARED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 50, 28 February 1935, Page 7

MURDER FEARED.

Sequel to Communist Raid in Shensi. TROOPS TO COUNTER-ATTACK. (Received 9.30 a.m.) SHANGHAI, February 27. A letter received from Sianfu, the capital of Shensi Province, describes the tragic events following the entry of Communists to Ning-kiang in headlong flight before the Government troops.

Mr. S. C. Frencham, a missing Australian missionary, and his wife were nt the house of (he Chinese commander of the Ning-kiang garrison, where Mrs. Frencham was nursing the commanding officer's wife. Mr. Frencham and the commander left the house to arrange details of their flight. They were last seen surrounded by Communists, who escorted them beyond the city while serious street fighting was progressing and a portion of the city was in flames.

A Chinese later discovered the body of the commander's wife, but there was no trace of Mrs. Frcncliam.

Two missionaries set out on foot from Sianfu in an endeavour to locate Mrs. Frencham. Thcv faccd a journey of 12 days across mountains in the bitterest weather, but with little hope of success. The Government has dispatched four divisions of troops to the scene of the latest Communist outrage, where intensive preparations are being made to surround the Reds.

An earlier message from London said tho Shanghai correspondent of the ''News-Chronicle" had reported that bandits had killed Mrs. Frencham.