Between four and five on Monday morning a desperate and deliberate attempt was made to murder Mr. Peter Sys at his residence in Miller Road, by a China boy formerly in his employment. The first intithation of the outrage which the police at Hongkew Station had, was given by the object of the attack who presented a terrible -appeatance as he reached the Station door. He was but partly dressed and his face, throat, hands and arms were cut and slashed to a terrible degree, while he was literally bathed in blood. He was hardly able to relate his story, from excitement and weakness owing to loss of blood. Mr. Sys, it appears, returned to his residence which is in a terrace off the road named, at about 0.15 am. on Monday, and went to bed almost immediately. He rad been asleep some three hours, when he was atrakened by feeling several stabs with a sharp instrument in his face and throat, and he instantly found that the bed was swimming in blood, the warm clammy feeling of which disclosed its nature but he could not see his assailant, the apart-arrived at the river they saw a sainpati tomment being in almost total darkness. The ing from the Pootung side which turned out assassin was thus somewhat at a disad-ta'be the very one which had taken the boy vantage not being able to see to use his over and was then returning. The police weapon or 'French Peter's," that being went across in the sampan, and on going td a 'Mr. Sys' familiar cognomen, chance of sav-foreigner's house found the man concealed ing himself would have been very small. He there in the servants' quarters. On bein; was too weak from loss of blood to defend searched a quantity of lime was foun himself as he would otherwise have done adhering to one of his inside ts. He—Sys is a man of very powerful physique, admitted that he had bean to Peter's house and isan old soldiertoboot—but he managed the previous night to ask for his money, to seize the miscreant, whom he at once, by and said that his master "licked" him with his clothing, knew to be a Chinaman. In stick. The prisoner was fully identified the brief struggle, the villain continued to by the marks on his hand and by blood inflict several fresh wounds about his victim's stains on his clothing, and he was taken face and neck, but his weapon, as was to the Police Station, where he remains afterwards found, was an awkward one to use. Mr. Sys managed to catch hold of the pending an investigation at the Mixed knife, but in doing so received a deep gash The knife with which the attack was across his hand and another on his thigh, the knife cutting through his heavy woollen made was an old, very much worn table knife, sharp on both edges, and without under-drawers. e would-be murderer handle, which accounts, with the darkness, finally effected his escape from the room for the clumsy work of the assailant. adoer, which was generally locked, but whic] Mr. Sys states that when he put the boy had been prepared by the Chinese for his out on Sunday night, he did not bolt the escape. As the man ran out of the room and door, which was then merely fastened by over the verandah rails he threw a quantity the keylatch. of fine lime into Peter's face, with the obvious intention of blinding him, but fortunately none of the stuff got into his eyes. Sys then found that one of his hands Tad been
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.