BANDITS’ ATTACK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 17918, 24 October 1932, Page 11

BANDITS’ ATTACK

LOOTED HARBIN EXPRESS MALE PASSENGERS STRIPPED TERRIBLE SCENES IN DARKNESS HARBIN, Sept. 12. Mr. J. M. Penlingitou, the Tokio correspondent of the Daily Telegraph, i London, who. was a passenger in the Harbin-Changchun express when it- was looted by bandits, tells below his own dramatic story of the attack. I have just arrived here after a thrilling adventure with bandits. The express on which I was travelling I left' Changchun for Harbin on Sunday 'afternoon. All the,talk was of the attack on a train on the previous day, when 11 passengers were killed. Before long we had a similar experience. Our train was derailed during the ' night by raiders after a terrific fusillade. They invaded the carriages and stripped us of all our clothing and other belongings. Four soldiers were killed and many persons wounded. The first-class passengers reached liarbin this afternoon, having lost everything. Twenty-four hours had been spent in covering a mere 150 miles. WILD CONFUSION We had set out from Changchun on a heavy Russian train laden with hun- , clrods of people bound for the north, i A number of Japanese soldiers who had . been wounded in Saturday’s engage^ I meat were also on board, j After* crossing the Sungari River I bridge, 50 miles south of Harbin, the , first-class passengers were congratulat--1 ing themselves that the danger-zone had been passed when the train was suddenly brought to a standstill by the derailment of the tender and the foremast coach, accompanied by a terrific fusillade from tlie darkness. The lights were immediately extinguished. The Manchurian guard replied to the attackers, who, however, soon boarded the carriages. A scene of indescribable confusion ensued. Many shots were fired, and the savage shouts' of the marauders mingled with the shrieks of the women in the compartments. BRAVERY OF WOMEN The first-class compartments were the main objective of the raiders, who swarmed into the corridors. The pasQuiotly but effectively they are refraining from work. 'The diplomat saw grain rotting on fields and other signs of extreme neglect. The daily pfficial press confirms his report. From many regions come 'complaints that work is slow, apathetic, and often deliberately harmful. Such stories from widely separated portions of this broad land indicate that they are not local and accidental conditions, but a situation J nation-wide in scope, [

sengers crouched behind the closed doors of the coupes, but these were soon forced. The male inmates were violently handled. They were 'robbed of all their possessions and compelled to remove and hand over their clothing. The foreign women behaved splendidly. They were deprived of all their jewellery, but, unlike the men, were not forced to surrender their clothing. The victims of the outrage comprised people of about a dozen nationalities. They included Mr. Gessek, agent of the Wagons-Lits in the Far East, and also British, Americans, Japanese and Russians. MANY ACTS OF VIOLENCE I observed that some of the raiders wore military uniforms, but the majortiy of them were in mufti. Among them were mere boys, armed with rifles and revolvers. These they flourished in the faces of the helpless passengers, at the same time giving vent to hysterical cries. Many acts of' violence were committed by them. I cannot speak as to what happened in the other carriages. But the interior of ours after a brief half-hour of havoc was completely wrecked. Calm succeeded the pandemonium. The bandits withdrew, laden with their booty. The long train stood dark and silent. The lights were not switched on again, and the passengers spoke only in whispers. At last, when it seemed to be confirmed that the raiders had really gone, the train steamed slowly back to the next wayside station, whore it waited until daylight. A start was then made for'Harbin. The passengers were conveyed _in wagons of the breakdown train which had come to the rescue. It included an armoured car manned by Japanese troops. FOUR SOLDIERS KILLED Four soldiers—two Japanese and two Manchurians —were killed, and several passengers wounded. Among the latter, a pathetic figure, was a Korean woman with a baby at her breast and her clothing soaked; with blood. An examination by daylight of the scene of the attack showed that the raiders hud selected an excellent vantage ground for their operations. They had made use of a solid old Russian defence, outpost. They fired from behind it s entrenchments, having the train at their mercy. It is estimated that they numbered 65. NO MORE NIGHT TRAINS As a result of the epidemic of railway outrages it has been decided to run trains only during the hours of daylight. They will be guarded exclusively by Japanese troops, no Manchurians being employed. 'lt is generally agreed that the activities of the bandits to tile south of the Great Wall are inspired by political motives. In Harbin the inhabitants arc, on the verge of panic. But the fact that all nationalities are not disposed to give way to it is shown by all advertisement in to-night’s Russian papers. This states that the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank will in no circumstances pay a ransom if a member of its staff is tarried off. t