Bhrill blasts from a police whistle energetically blown by an excited amah, frantic and loud yells for help by @ mixed male and female chorus, and other noises that sounded like © murder being committed, and all this racket emitting from locked room in a tightly barred and bolted house, were some of the things that accompanied an hour of excitement for the residents in the vicinity of 964 East Yuhang Road between six and seven o'clock on Wednesday evening. Also there was a squad of Chinese policemen hammering on the doors of the house and shouting, "Let us in and rescue you," while an ever-increasing crowd silently stood in the street and looked on.
The first the police of the Harbin Road station knew about the affair was when a telephone message from anu unknown voice came in at about half-past six. The voice said that eight armed men had just entered the house at 964 East Yuhang Road, and that someone within was blowing " police whistle. A squad of men was at once sent to the rescue. ey arrived at the house they found several others of their fellows who had been summoned from their beats by the whistle, which was still being blown. Cries for help came from the house, but the blue-clad rescuers found all entrances barred and bolted. Hammering on the door, and shouting, "We are the police, let us in," was of no avail, and piteous cries of "Help, Help, we are being robbed," could be heard above the noise made by the pounding constables.
Finally a united effort was made, and the officers of the law burst in the door. From room to room they rushed, until at last they found the cries were coming from a locked room. Into this room they burst, and found " terror-stricken family gathered,—and no robbers. It was some time before the excitement subsided and the whole affair was being talked about even yesterday.
It seems that " gang of robbers actually went to the house, overawed the occupants, and proceeded to bar the house so that they should not be disturbed. While this was being done the terror-stricken family went into one room and locked themselves in, but the robbers were not aware of this. Then an amah with more courage than the others, blew lustily on a whistle, whereupon the whole gang bolted, and fled across country. The inmates had no idea of the departure of the men, and behind the locked door, continued to shout and yell, refusing to let the policemen in, a they believed to be rob-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.