About 50 armed pirates, travelling as passengers on Saturday at midnight held up the China Merchants' str. Hsinchang, from Canton to Hongkong. Captain New-burgh, who was surprised in his cabin, with tle chief and second officers and the second engineer were ordered into the wheel-house under an armed guard. The chief engineer was taken down to the engine-room. The pirates ransacked the Hsinchang and carried off more than $20,000 in laeti.. They took off the ship's compradore, the tally-man and nine Chinese passengers for ransom. The pirates did not fire a single shot.—Reuter.
The "Shanghai Journal of Commerce" which puts the number of pirates at 40, states that they at-. tacked the Hongkong-Shanghai str. Hsinchang near Penghuashan early on Sunday morning and seized seven Chinese who are now being held for ransom. The Company's local office confirmed the. report but stated that no detailed information had been received, nothing beyond a bare telegram announcing the piracy.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.