eral of the dramatic and lating rescue from kidnappers of wealthy Chinese merchant early on: Dee. 2 by Municipal Police officers to the accompaniment chorus of whiting and mea ing ballets, "must be obscured for official reasons, inasmuch as the Police are continuing' with preparations, for a second coup and per-hips the release of yet another ye kidnappers snd a group of foreign and. Chinese "detectives, jgmented by French police and members of the French" Russian detachment, shot it out inside and out of a semi-isolated house not many hundred yards west of the French Club. From roof-tops and {the ground, detectives fired at kidnappers; who were attempting to make their escape over adjacent roofs. Two of them were tumbled the ground and are now in a Serious condition in the Settlement Police Hospital "Of the others three were taken into custody after struggle. Prior and. subsequent to the shooting, police raids netted another nine and now a total of 16 fare behind. the. bars.
"The victim, who had been fairly well treated," was found unbound, ina small room, huddled in a corner lo the shooting was in pro To pistols. were confiscated. as well, each of which had been fired. Tu Spite of. the, "apparently sucecesful termination of the affray, more arrests are expected, Te is pointed out, however, by] senior officers, ne sincere feo-operation on the part of rela that little may be done effectively to secure the release of victims. The case in point. is an excellent illustration. The 'S Branch been working on another Kid-'Rapping ease, and stumbled across flue to. this by mere accident. The not even reported the ping to the police. This is} the second time that the Special Branch has rescued: a victim with: out the family's Knowledge, the last being the Pingliang Road' affair year Operations, subsequent to 72 hours of intensive inquiry, were begun on Friday morning and several Yaids made in the Louza district were fruitless. Another lodging! house was raided and, eventually the necessary information leading.
the whereabouts of the kidnap man was obtained.
'At "3 am. officers were called from their beds and the party' organised. With the formal assent, of. the French police, the quipped with © sted shields, torches, and fully lighted from their vans, several {hundreds distant from the alleged rendezvous. The officer in charge deployed his, men round the three-foreign house, after shock squad burst in the Front door. In the meantime others lad clambered on to drying stages lof adjoining houses.
Several shots were fired inside and three of the kidnappers were over powered and shackled before they Could yet. into action, two of them being fait asleep. The other 3 two sipped on to the roof and aged those below. In spite of the Fain, the police marksmen, looking upward, were the better. shots and Yoppled' the criminals from their places of vantage. Ransacking the Premises, the party found the vie-the dark and stormy night] several misadventures were narrowfy avoided. "A. Chinese detective, the had trailed the kidnappers to the roof, was mistaken for one of the gang, but an electric torch revealed hie identity before he came {ogre "on another occasion a for. ign inspector peered over a break: me wall, pros to slumbering over, and found himself facing the muzzle a loaded rife, held by a. mem-
wittly interrogating their cap-ofthe, sian detachment tives and having ascertained other Fendeavous, additional raids were instituted and five additional persons were arrested, in each instance with-but vesaré to' firearms.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.