How Military Pirates Held up the Str. 1-Ping A resume of some of the condi. tions "encountered during recent months on the Upper Yangtze by] {foreigners who are trying to engage shipping is to be found in a communication which arrived recently in Shanghai from Chungking. The correspondent describes in detail the bandit outrage perpetrated on the str. I-Ping on October 15, at Yehtes, an incident which cost'the] company operating the "ship the sum of $14,000.
According to the information obtained from our informant, who was an eye-witness, a military] bandit gang was responsible for the outrage. He says:—"Ballets lew] ick and fast for the better part of half-an-hour until we finally stopped. 1, together with, three missionaries, was in the Cépiain's office, which is inside the "bridge jand therefore protected by the bullet screens. However, when the bandits swarmed on board, they crowded all over' the ship and the' bridge, brandishing their Mausers ina most menacing and fearless manner and shooting intermittently. We four foreigners were not molested by the bandits, but during all the time that they were on board, cne wicked-looking devil leaned through the widow across the room from us and kept ws-covered with his Mauser (cocked and his {finger om the trigger). This agony of suspense and danger covered the Detter part of two hours, "Shell Out!"
"As the bandits were ready to leave the whip, the No. 1 in charge operations' swaggered into the fice, brandishing -his pistol, and told as to shell out)! a missionary doing the interpreting. He 400k my silver wrist watch, and the missionaries lost a few litle articles lof jewellery. It finally developed [thai they claimed we had sunk one of their jenks on a. previous trip, and they demanded $8,000 in <com-[penaution. After lengthy argument, this amount was reduced to $3,000, [provided their demands were met Immediately in cold cash. A canvass of the ship was made, Dat Jonly $600 in cash was realized, and fof which the bandits immediately took possession, "Realizing that there was no more cash to be had, the bandits then moved to take the compradore and the captain of the ship on shor, sand hold them for $5,000 ransom. Later, acwever, after learning that it would be impossible for the ship to proceed without the captain, they decided to take the compradore and tone of his staff and then ordered the captain to proceed and to return with the money,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.