Peking, Aug. 29.
Several accounts, identical in all the essentials, have come in here of a particularly bold assault upon the city of Menghsien in Honan, which is less than a day's journey from Wu Pei-fu's camp a; Loyang. Reuters has today received an outline of this latest bandit enterprise through the Peking Syndicate. The Asiatic News Agency gives a somewhat fuller story, but the first and most detailed report was published this morning in the "Fi Shih Pao."
Menghsien is on the north bank of the Yellow River 25 miles north-east of Loyang (Honanfu) ani about 30 miles south-west of the Peking Syndicate mines. It is the prospective terminus of the western extension of the Ta-Ch'ing Railway and therefore of some interes: to foreigners.
According to the "Fs Shih Pao's" account, three big boats came down the Hsun Ho at noon (August 24) and tied up on the 18th of the 7th Moon at a place called Tawangmiao which is three ly from the city of Meng-hsien. From these boats 200 men in military uniforms disembarked and lined up in military array. They had drums, bugles and about 17 flags and when they marched on the city proceeded with a flourish of trumpets and a rattle of drums, making no effort to take the place by surprise. Their entry into the city was not resisted and, once in, they closed the gates and posted their own guards. They then divided into three parties and made three separate attacks upon the magistrate's yamen, the constabulary headquarters and the police headquarters. The police made some resistance and may were killed. The magistrate escaped through the back gate of his yamen.
The chief of police was in the country scouting for local thieves when the raid commenced and returned in the course of it but could not get into the city. The constabulary chief disappeared during the fighting and his fate is not known. The bandits fired their rifles promiscuously when they began looting the town and more than 20 persons were killed by stray bullets. Several hundred houses were burned and when the tuft had gathered up their loot and were ready to leave in the late afternoon they took about 100 captives and carried them off to hold for ransom. The chief of this band is said to be named Wang. He is a Loyang man and: it is known that his headquarters are near the city of Loyang.
A Mr. Keng Chun-yen, who is a native of Menghsien and a
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.