CHINESE HORROR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19906, 28 September 1926, Page 9

CHINESE HORROR

THOUSANDS MASSACRED. CITY RAVAGED BY BANDITS. AN ORGY OF SLAUGHTER. FATE OF MISSIONARIES UNCERTAIN. (Fnh Association —By Telegraph—Copyright.) PEKING, September 26. Reports from Honan describe the most terrible massacre in the history of the province. , , . .. Thousands of defenceless people in the dty of Shekichcn were slaughtered by bandits in cold blood. The city was burned and hundreds of people carried into captivity for ransom. Meagre details brought by Chinese Christian runners state that the carnage was terrible, the bandits sparing no one. They looted the city of all portable valuables, and went on with the awful orgy of slaughter, killing right and left. It is not known whether the foreign missionaries in the city escaped death, but it is certain that the China Inland Mission was totally destroyed. . , , At the conclusion of the hellish work of loot, rapine, and murder the bandits set fire to the city, which was reduced to ashes, mercifully covering the corpses of thousands of victims of the greatest catastrophe in any city in Honan since the days of the Tartar massacres. The missionaries stationed in the vicinity were Misses Brook, Poppms, M’Gnire, and the Revs. Conway and Weller and their wives.—Sydney Sun Cable. ■"a" further outrage. chowaitow mission attacked. PEKING, September 27. (Received Sept. 27, at 9 p.m.) The China Inland Mission in Shanghai has received information that the mission at Chowaitow, in Honan, has bpen destroyed. Mr Freeman Davies, the Australian missionary there, was captured. Mrs Freeman Davies and Miss Poppms (the latter being also an Australian) are reported to have escaped. Bandits are responsible for this outrage.—A. and N.Z. Cable. _ . (Received Sept. 27, at 10 p.m.) The correspondent of the Daily Express states that Mr Freeman Davies was carried off by bandits when General Wu Pei-Fn’s army looted the town and the mission station. Mrs Davies is safe. A. and N.Z. Cable. PROGRESS OF CIVIL WAR. REDS CONTROL HANKOW. FURTHER SUCCESSES REPORTED. PEKING," September 26. Advices from Hankow state that the most important part of the interior of the city appears to have become completely Red. The citizens, reacting violently to the invaders’ propaganda, frequently stone British marines and officers without reprisals. They are required to be dispersed by Red troops, who appear to have lost control of the situation. Mass meetings are held daily under the auspices of Labour organisations, and are attended by all grades of society. The streets are denuded even of rickshaws. Revolutionary leaflets are being distributed wholesale. The Reds are in possession of the telegraph offices, and are refusing code messages and censoring others. Reports from the front are in favour of the Reds. General Wu Pei-fu’s headquarters at Sinyangchow (Honan) were captured, following the Red incorporation with the notorious Red Spear bandits, who participated in the capture. General Wu Pei-fu was forced to retreat northwards. . General Sun Chuang-fang, in order to attack the Reds in the rear, ordered five steamers, loaded with 10,000 troops, to run the gauntlet up the river through the Red batteries. The manoeouvre is believed to be succeeding. Many spies are executed daily, and their heads are displayed on lamp posts. In Kiukiang the foreigners are stocking foodstuffs and erecting barricades in expectation of the arrival of the Reds. Firing op foreign ships continues sporadically. There were a few native casualties.—A. and N.Z. Cable. REDS SUFFER REVERSE. DRIVEN OUT OF NANCHANQ, PEKING, September 27. (Received Sept. 27, at 9 p.m.) The tide of battle is reported to have turned in favour of the anti-Reds in the vicinity of KiuMang. The crack troops of General Chiang Kai-Shok were driven out of Nanchang, which was recaptured by General Sun Chuan Fang’s troops, who are reported to have taken prisoner 5000 Reds. —A. and N,Z. Cable. A FINANCIAL CRASH. RUSSO-ASIATIC BANK FAILS, PEKING, September 26. The Russo-Asiatic Bank, one of the oldest banking institutions in China, is going into voluntary liquidation, and will remain closed pending Hie appointment of a receiver. The management announced to-day that no official statement would be made, but notes are being refused in all parts of Shanghai and the Chinese city, causing a panic among the local note holders. The bank was brought into existence by an agreement between the Chinese and the Russian Governments during the Romanoff regime, but its affairs became Involved after the overthrow of the Imperial Russian rulers. It was the official institution of the Chinese Government, which was one of the largest subscribers.—A. andjN.Z. Cable. A REASSURING REPORT. FATE OF MISSIONARIES. MASSACRE IMPROBABLE. (Pub United Pbess Association.) AUCKLAND, September 27. The feev. H. S. Conway, who is mentioned in one of the cable messages, is at mesent in Auckland, having returned from China two years ago to carry on deputation work. Mr Conway stated to-day that he did not think rny European missionaries at Shekichen would have been in the town at the time of the massacre. Mr and Mrs Weller had been absent at Cheefoo. where their children were attending school, and, owing to the troubled state of the country, it was unlikely that thev would have returned to Shekichen. Miss M’Guire was with them, and it was probable that other missionaries would have taken refuge at Cheefoo.. This was a coast town a considerable distance from Shekichen, and there would most likely be gunboats in the harbour, so that it would probably be safe there. There was generally an American fleet present during the summer. Mr Conway added that Miss Popoins had not. been at Shekichen for three years, and the information regarding the personnel of the mission given in the cablegram was robsblf taken from old records.