Using the company's wrapping} paper he made several neat parcels and then turned his attention to the office in the rear which contained.the firm's safe, He had little difficulty, in persuading the proprietor to produce the keys—the method of persuasion being several pistols held by the gang—and then first of all removed the company's "chops" and again entered the main store. Here he carefully chopped the delivery order and receipt and returning to the office replaced the "chops" in the safe, Ransacking the safe, about $300) im silver and notes were procured. and the gang returned to the store. Tt was then about 8 p.m. and calling six rieshas, the gang loaded them with the rolls of silk and made off— some on foot whilst the others entered the ricshas with the loot. The man in the first riesha was armed with the delivery order and receipt that had he been held up by the police and questioned regarding the Toad of silk, all he had to do was to produce the duly chopped documents which, no doubt, would have allayed jarly suspicions which might have: been raised by a possible searcher.
As it happened, none of the rieshas were accosted and the gang got clear away with something over} $3,000 in silk and coin. Five-of the gang were armed with pistols and all spoke the Shanghai dialect. shots were fired and the leader was most courteous to the employees and told them that he would not keep them locked up any longer than was absolutely necessary. He did, however, warn them that any attempt raise an alarm would be dealt ith in a decisive manner. tion ground near Paoshan City, re-[ The, first intimation which the pottt.thé- Chinese' press. had of the affair was a call
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.