BRITISHERS CAPTURED

Greymouth Evening Star, 31 March 1933, Page 12

BRITISHERS CAPTURED

BY CHINESE PIRATES

(BY CABLE —PRESS ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.] SHANGHAI, March 30. Four British officers of the steamship Manchang were capture/ 1 » pirates off Newchang, yeste.day, while the vessel was anchored outs i She was awaiting a pilot, and thiee junk-loads of pirates suddenly de» cended on the vessel, maintain nga heavy fire, under which the Soared the steamer. They the Chinese crew, and ransacked They captured Mr A. Blue, second engineer; Mr F. Pears, third engineei , and Messrs C. Johnson and Yk Hai graves, junior officers. fhen 5 sailed away to the north-west. WARSHIPS TO THE RESCUE. • SHANGHAI, March 30 Prompt steps are being ta^® a ° secure the release of the lour officcis now In the hands ot the Chmese pirates. British warships are cn route to the scene. The British Le.,c tion is sending a Military Attache to assist in relief measures. ~ The Japanese Legation’s river poll e have vigorously searched the creeks where the pirates disappeared. The junks dodged into a shal estuary of the Liao River, when the captain of the Manchang pursued them. SHIPPING PRECAUTIONS. WELLINGTONIAN’S LETTER. In view of the recrudescene of Chinese piracy, the following extract from a letter by Mr V. Ingram is of interest. Mr Ingram is a Wellnigtonian, a son of Mr S. Ingiarn, o Oriental Bay, and for a number of years has been in the service ot the shipping company plying bet Y. ee “ Rangoon, Singapore, and Bangkok, the capital of Siam. The company recently acquired the controlling interest in another line trading as tar as Hong Kong, Swatow, and Amoy, and when he wrote on January 2U Mr Ingram was making his first visit to the Chinese Sea as chief engineei of the Hong Peng, a vessel ot jOOO tons. , 4 i-nn “We carry anything 'tip to 1/00 Chinese passengers in three classes —no Europeans,” he writes. “On the China run we are all supplied with guns. Our European staff consists of captain, fou,r engineers, two deck officers, two wireless officers, and a doctor. The Chinese crew- numbers about 100. No Chinese passengers are allowed up on our deck, owing to the danger from pirates. So far we have been lucky. Just as we were leaving Swatow on the last voyage, the British Consul came aboard with a crowd of men to search the ship for arms. A yarn had got around that among our third-class passengers was a mob of pirates making their way down to Hong Kong. The ship was kept back a couple of hours, but nothing happened. Wo are in wireless communication with Hong Kong or other stations every six hours, and are often spoken to by a British warship at night-time.

COMMUNIST DANGER. “Swatow is a flat city, but Amoy is very hilly and picturesque. Much money has been spent in the latter during the last five years on general improvements. The residents are greatly against Communists, and I heard it was no uncommon sight to see them killed in the main streets. On the trip before I joined this ship, several men were deported from Singapore to Amoy. On arrival there the Chinese police recognised them as Communists, and took them ashore. On the way one jumped overboard and was drowned. The other three were shot on the quay in front of crowds of people. The bodies were lashed to pieces of wood towed around the harbour among all the Chinese shipping, and finally burned. There appears to be bitter hatred among the various sects of Chinese. In both these cities there is an International Settlement situated on an island opposite the Chinese city. The population consists of a couple of hundred Europeans of all nationalities, and some Japanese. They are employed in the Customs, consulates, etc.” Speaking of Hong Kong, Mr Ingram says: “Across on the mainland is the suburb of Kowloon. It is nearly as large as Hong Kong, and from all accounts is spreading rapidly, as there is plenty of flat land to be had. All the large ships lie up over there. Of course, Hong Kong is a mass of ships of all descriptions. There are hundreds of sailing junks with all the family living on board. The barges which load and discharge our ships are just like farmyards, the men as a ■rule working the cargo and the women washing, cooking, and doing all sorts of jobs. The elder girls have babies strapped to their backs while at work. Then you will see a large wicker basket or pen hanging on the stern of the barge, with ducks and fowls and often a couple of pigs, cats and dogs nosing about the deck; so you can picture what a commotion there is with half of them shouting and howling at one another, especially the old women.”