CLASH WITH PIRATES.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 April 1925, Page 7

CLASH WITH PIRATES.

A THRILLING TALE. BLOODTHIRSTY FIGHT AT PAKKAI. HONGKONG, Jan. 29. Pakkai’s small 'foreign Community were startled out of their beds on China New Tear eve (last Triclay njght) by a determined pirate attack on that "port, just below Hongkong. The China Mail’s Kongmooti correspondent is u Pakkai resident. He was in tfie thick of the fight and his experiences provide thrilling reading. Under date of January 24 (China New Year’s Day) he writes: “As a result of this raid a man was taken awav for ransom; a woman from tlje same house was brutally wounded ip the head bv a pistol butt; a live-year-old child was kidnapped ; a young man employed by the Pakkai mission was also forced away, but made a daring escape; a boy was wounded by a shot in the aMoraen; and a pirate wps killed by his -own comrades. “Awakened last night by the noise of lire crackers I heard sounds resembling pistol shots. On going out to my verandah I noticed three or four mpn dressed in black, each flashing a torchlight and scaling a ladder placed against a house close by. “A boy living just opposite to me opened liis door to ask what the men wanted, and was immediately felled by a bullet which lodged in his abdomen. Subsequently, I attempted to render first aid, but lie died in hospital. “The pirates then began to smash, the windows of the houses. My family had taken refuge on the roof, and 1 posted myself with a pistol near a window, taking pot shots at the flitting shadows. One pi rate burst open my garden gate, but lie was shot by his comrades. “Meanwhile the alarm had been sounded. Police and soldiers arrived. but the pirates had gone with cherr captives. The dead pirate was jouiid with his belt full of cartridges and a pistol butt several feet away. He lias been identified fts an ex-non-commis-sioned officer of an army. “The gang were out to capture the son of the owuer of the houses. 1 hey knew he was living in the second house, and accordingly they took a victim from the second house of each block to make sure of getting thenprize. In the thick mist the missionary employee escaped under heavy fire. “Mr. Hilliard, Commissioner of Customs, came to our assistance with his staff. The shots fired from the Customs compound certainly caused the pirates to take panic. Should the Chinese soldiers require assistance in their projected attack on the outlaws stronghold Mr. Hilliard will ask for the co-operation of H.M. gunboats inecessary.”