CHINESE PIRATES

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21315, 17 October 1932, Page 9

CHINESE PIRATES

ANOTHER SHIP LOOTED CAPTIVE'S TRAGIC DEATH HONGKONG, Oct. *l4 A Chinese-owned steamer, the Helikon, flying the British flag, and commanded by Captain Lefevre, has returned to Hongkong after having been in the hands of pirates for two days. While the vessel was on a voyage to Saigon the pirates, who travelled on her as passengers, seized control of the ship. They forced the officers into their cabins at the points of revolvers and then proceeded leisurely to loot the vessel and rob the passengers. These comprised 300 Chinese and two women missionaries. Eventually the. pirates went ashore at Bias Bay taking five Chinese passengers. There was a poignant scene when a Chinese passenger whom the pirates intended to take ashore, took a touching farewell of his daughter, jumped overboard and was drowned rather than submit to the hardships of captivity.. Mr. J. R. McKenzie, of Wellington, who returned from the' East last week, has given some particulars of the depredations of the pirate gangs in Chinese waters. He says: — " I crossed from Hongkong to Canton to have a look at that congested city. On the fine ferry boats—which leave Hongkong at 10 p.m. and arrive at 7 a.m.—the quarters of the officers and engineers are 6hut out from the rest of the vessel by steel bars. I ascertained that the captain of the boat we were travelling on was formerly in tho service of the Union Steam Ship Company and a New Zealander, but when we attempted to approach his quarters I was accosted by an armed guard outside the steel grid, and had to produce my card to him, and he had to pass it on to the guard within before X could see ilie captain. Tbis pr©caution was against the pirate gangs who operate freely even in congested waters. " The pr.ates' usual plan is to ship a number of the gang as passengers, then at a preconcerted signal to shoot and slay the officers, take charge of the vessel, and run her into one of their retreats, and there loot passengers and ship. The Canton River is no mere stream. It is five miles wide not far from Canton, and carries most of the trade of southern China, with its teeming millions.".