'A gang of Chinese made a daring attempt to rob the Chinese Imperial Post Office at about 1 a.m. yesterday morning, but owing to the prompt action of Mr. Theodor Konig they were interrupted and did not succeed in securing any plunder. It is thought probable that the men entered the building by a door that the delivery of mail, unt night, and secreted themselves until all was quiet. A watchman is on duty during the night on the ground floor, but he neither saw nor heard anything of the intruders. Mr. Kinig is the only foreigner who resides upon the premises. That night he retarned home at midnight and after looking over the Premises retired to bed in his apartment on the second floor. About half an hour Inter he heard a door being shut and knowing that the Indian ought not to be moving about upstairs, he got up and proceeded to ascertain the cause. When nearing the sccountant's department he heard whispering voices, bat could see nothing as the whole interior of the building was in darkness. As the passages are carpeted it was easy to move about noiselessly and Mr. Kiénig concluded that the visitors were burglars; 0 he at once rau back to his order to obtain his rifle and in, for he is " member of the Customs Company, S.V.C. With the loaded rifle he returned to investigate and on entering the passage adjoining the one in which he heard the voices Ko switched on the electric light. Four fairly-well-dressed men were then seen in the chief accountant's office the gathered around a safe which they had evidently been trying' to open. Angry words followed the appearance of light and Mr. Kénig shouted to the gang to put up their hands or he would fire. A rush was made towards him by the robbers and selecting the nearest one as his objective Mr. Kéniy took careful ain and was in the act of firing be] when he was struck on the arm with an iron implement from behind. The barra! of the rifle was knocked aside and the bullet imbedded itself in" brick wall after passing through several other. partitions. The gang then made general attack on the foreigner. At close quarters the rifle was useless and Kénig grappled with two men who had made the attack from the Commissioner's office in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.