WOMAN'S ESCAPE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXI, Issue 21743, 7 March 1934, Page 9

WOMAN'S ESCAPE

adventure in china LAUNCH PARTY UNDER FIRE [from, our own corbesiondent] March 1 An exciting story of an escape from Chinesfi rebels on the River Mm was told by Mrs. K. M. Campbell, who, with her husband and their two children, reached Australia this week. Mr. Campbell has been for two years manager of the Eastern Extension. Telegraph Company's station at Sharp Pes.k, an island in the Min, r about 15 miles from Foochow. There were only throe European , families on the island,_ which is out of the sphere of British influence, as tho gunboats can come only within about 10 mites of it.

One evening in January a message was received at the station from the British Consul at Foochow that pirates were expected to attack the island. A launch, was sent from Foochow to bring the women and children .away. Foochow itself was hardly less dangerous than the island at this time,, as fighting was still going on in the neighbourhood between the troops of' the ' JNanking Government anl the rebel 19th Army, which had tecom© Com- ' munis t. At Foochow, however, they had British protection. "When the launch was about halfway to Foochow," Mrs. Ciimpbell said, "shots rang out from the bank andbullets, began to sputter the water around us. I grabbed the children and we lay fiat on the deck. The Chinese w r ere poor shots, however, and not one bullet hit the boat. We were soon out of range of their fire. . "This time it was not tho pirates who had threatened us, but- some members of the rebel army, who hacl been cut ott between the main body of the .Nanking troops and a squadron oi: aeroplanes. They wanted our boat as a transport out of the danger zone." Mrs Campbell arrived at toochow just as .the rebel army, which had been in occupation of the town, had been driven out with aerial bo.nbingv ( Mr. Campbell, who has iiad 20 years experience in the East, said that conditions in China to-day were vastly different even from the time he went to Sharp Peak seven yearn ago. Ina foreigner was not nowadays respected as he was once. Commun st _ ideas had been widely accepted in 'China.