RANSOM RAISED

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19301, 30 September 1932, Page 9

RANSOM RAISED

BANDITS’ EXTRAVAGANT DEMANDS. United Press Association—By Eleetrlo Telegraph—Copyright (Received Sept. 29, 11.5 p.m.) SHANGHAI, Sept. 29. The bandits are making more extravagant demands for the release of Miss Muriel Pawley and Charles Corkran, raising the ransom from 700,000 to 1,000,000 dollars, in addition to fantastic demands in regard to trinkets and munitions. Hopes for rescue are now fading, as the authorities appear helpless to organise an expedition without endangering the lives of the captives. Messengers from the bandits’ lair report seeing the couple, but they were not permitted to hold conversation. They also brought two letters, one from the bandit chief, and the other from Miss Pawley. The contents of the latter Were not divulged. The bandits threaten that unless the money is paid in a few days, the ears of the captives will be sent as a reminder of the intention to kill the victims. (Miss Muriel Pawley, the 18-year-old daughter of a British doctor, and Mr Charles Corkran, son of Maor-General Sir Charles Corkran, together with another male companion, were captured by bandits while taking riding exercises at Newchang, Manchuria, on September Bth. The other man escaped and raised the alarm. The men are employees of the Asiatic Petroleum Co. It was later reported that the bandits were demanding a ransom of about £17,000. The “Daily Mail” editorially offered £IO,OOO toward the cost of securing Miss Pawley’s safety, to be payable as a ransom, or used to defray the cost of rescue, or otherwise applied. The paper stated that there are strong arguments against paying a ransom to brigands, but an Englishwoman must not suffer at the hands of murderous ruffians.)