Besieged Deserter in Chapet Dislodged by Firing a Coolie Hut Considerable consternation pre" vailed in Chapei during the Cbristmas holiday when reports wore circulated to the effect that a large number of deserters from the Allied Army were vat large and plundering the outlying districts, The situation eased up when it was earned that only two men had de serted the ranks and were responsible for no little trouble in Chapei.
It appears that the two men, kang Shu-hsien and Chi Hsi-w of the 35th battalion, had deserted the ranks with their arms Christmas Eve whilst on duty, This was not discovered until the roll-call on Christmas morning when they were found to be missing. Warrants were immediately issued for their arrest, and the officer in command of the battalion was warned that he would personally be re~ sponsible for their apprehension.
Acting on information received, this officer, accompanied by a num: ber of men, went to a tea-shop in Kungho Road, his information being to the effect that the two men had travelled to Chapel by the long distance motor bus. AS he was sipping his tea, he noticed the two men approach, They were quarrel Jing with the conductor of the motor bus over their failure to pay the necessary fares. Approaching them the officer called together several subordinates and ordered them to place the pair under arrest, 'A Desperate Character 7
Chi Hsi-wen was easily overpowered and he admitted guilt and that he had taken part in a robbery, but the other man, Chang Shu-hsien, offered a stout resistance and. witha Thompson gun which he was carrying, opened fire and wounded two troopers. Fire was returned and in all several rounds were exchanged and the deserter,, seeing that there was little chanco of escape, made off and hid in a coolie hut He was lost sight of for a little time but the officer in charge soon afterwards heard a rustling noise in one of the huts and opened fire, the man promptly turning the shots and causing, a number of casualties among the at~ tackers and the crowd which had gathered to witness the affair.
The hut was at once placed under siege but the deserter had a plentiful supply of ammunition and he held off this pursuers for some tim Seeing that it was useless to con-tate of affairs, the officer in the vicinity to leave theft homes and announced that it was his intention to burn the hut down. This was accordingly dono and the hut was set fire to, Even though the was trapped, the deserter refused to surrender until ho was foreed by the flames and smoke to leave the place, He then made: a, sudden dash in the hope of escaping. but was overpowered by several troopers who bound him with ropes and removed him to the Allied Military Court at Lunghua, The affair lasted for nearly Walt an hour. Four persona were severely {injured (including three soldi whilst several others were slightly injured. In all, more than half a dozen huts were burnt to the ground.
The men were tried before: a military court on Mon. day and sentence of death wns. passed on the ringleader, the other being sent to gaol for two years and! six months, Ma. Chow Yi-og and Mr, Chw Hsien-wen, chief judge and chief Procuratax, respectively, of th: Higher Provincial Court of Kiang+ ssu, have paid a flying visit to Shanghai from Soochow to confer with Dr. Hsu Wei-ching, the newly: appointed chief judge of the Special Court (the present International Mixed Court), regarding the question of an appeal court after rendition on January 1, 1927? The Chinese Bar Association will entertain Dr. Tsu at a dinner to" be held' in the Yih Ping-shang Restaurant on, Saturday: next, New: Year's Day.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.