WOMEN PIRATES

Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 136, 12 June 1930, Page 11

WOMEN PIRATES

LEADED AN INDUST&I GRUESOME TALES " (Copyright.) There are few professions and oeeu* pations of everyday life which have noij yet been invaded by women of th<!( West, even including that of steeple* jacks and marine engineering bus it has left to the women of the East to] lead the way as pioneers of piracy oaj the high seas. - After a long period of quiet, pirate^ have resumed their activities in the' region of their notorious stronghold at Bias Bay, in. China. A party of twelve led by a young woman who is reported; to be the widow of a dead leader, board* ed a Japanese coasting steamer as pas* sengers at Swatow and later suddenly] shot down three of the four Indian! guards and took possession of the yes* sel. Piracy has always been one of the na» tional industries of China, but until re* cently there has been no direct evidence? that Chinese women were actively em« ployed in this thrilling and adventurous^ calling. Two women pirates, however, were recently captured with a band ofl Cantonese river cut-throats,' forty-onej of whom were- sentenced to be shotj while the two women ■ got off with ai more lenient sentence of ten years' imprisonment. Another raid occurred nearj Canton, in which the leader of the river, gang was a Chinese woman, smartly] dressed and wearing black patent 16a> ther shoes, white silk stockings, a finej serge skirt, and a Japanese fox fur. UNIVERSITY GRADUATE. Described as about 2S years of ag<j and a graduate of an American univer* sity, the woman was reported to hava appeared on deck immediately the pir* atieal attack began, carrying a revolve!; in each hand and wearing a mask made, from, a handkerchief. Having held up the purser in his cabin, ehe threatened to shoot the whole of the crew_unless he handed up the keys. The strange thing is that though the, woman leader was seen before the attack no one saw her; leave the ship when the gang got offi into nativo boats. Like piracy, kidnapping is one of the national industries oi\the country, and, the Chinese bandit has reduced this particular system of extorting ransom to a' fine art. A gang, 800 strong, not long ago reported to be operating in Kiangsi, were stated to be holding up people to. ransom, and resorting to revolting measures of frightfulness when their demands were not met. "When ransom was riot paid they killed their captives by" such methods as cutting flesh from their backs and making the strips into oil for their lamps, or by burning the victim after packing him in cotton. Children were put into a bag and dashed, against a stone. RARE MONSTER. v The details of these atrocities certain* ly emanated from a Chinese source, but there is no question about the fact that the Chinese bandit is a monster of raro exotic culture and in ways that are devious as well- as dark and mysterious leaves little to the imagination. Even, in places like Pekin and Shanghai the. kidnapper plies his nefarious trade. The more subtle members of the kidnapping profession are always at work quietly in the cities 'enticing away sons and heirs, and women and girls if there is a market for them. Some are rescued; some are recovered with horriblei memories of torture seen and experienced; some have been duly murdered; and others have merely languished and died. The following are gruesome instances of how parents and anxious relatives; are apprised of the fate that awaits those who are held as captives. A sorteij employed in the Canton ,Post Offlcej brought his stamp down on a small pal* eel that.seemed to contain a fragment of leather. Curious, he decided to deliver it himself, and watched while tho addressee opened it. It was a humaii ear for the father of a boy who had been abducted, just to remind him that the gang meant business. Sometimes it is a finger that is received. In extreme cases bodies have been delivered to dif* ficult parents in trays. Cannibalism is alleged, as a result of discoveries of portions of children^ bodies in bandit caves, but the proof w not definite. There is a grim touch or humour in the story of the old woman, who was captured, and who pleaded her poverty, her age, and her general worthlessness, but the bandit chief, baing adamant, replied in effect: "A.' skinny old pig, they shall ransom you as pork.". He had her weighed and de? manded for her the market price pj meat.