To the Editor of the "Norri-Cumma Dany News"
Sin—I am profoundly shocked by the news of the piracy of the s. Shuntien off the Shantung coast. Six foreigners and twenty Chinese were Kidnapped and taken ashore to the pirates lair. I can tell you off-hand just how these unhappy victims feel land what treatment they are going to. receive from the hands of. the unruly: pirates, For I am one of those who had the misfortune to be kidnapped aboard the s. s. Yungshing fof the Ningpo-Shaoshing Steamship Ca. off the Chekiang coast (May 1, 1993). Besides losing all my baggage 1 was dragged through the muddy caves, along the hilly paths, from one forlorn island to another. I was treated like a dog—worst of all, T had to see my wife share all the suffering with me. Altogether we were imprisoned" for one month which meant one thousand years to us, After paying a ransom we were told to getaway as fast as we could. T could write a volume describing our out time won't permit me 1 wish to call your attention to the fact that this is but one of the innumerable occurrences of the same category along the China coast and perhaps will be the beginning of a feries of attacks of this kind in future, It you just look over the shipping record of 1933 alone, you will And that after the piracy' of the steamer Yungshing there followed T don't know how many attacks upon merchant vessels, large and small, with ong list of victims who either were that outright or held for ransom. The amount of property lost is astonish-Ingly large. In short, life and property In China is not by any means In the past we used to say a foreign vessel, be it British or American, was @ safeguard against Pirates. Bul this is not true now. The pirates make no discrimination between Chinese or foreign steam~ ships, Chinese or foreign passengers "im the s. Shuntien case, even British naval oticers were kidnapped. If no_ positive measure is taken to prevent and exterminate piracy, dare tay that before long no ship, Chinese oF foreign, will be safe on the high seas, 'Travel is to be dis-fed, commerce has to be stopped, and' we shall return to the contions that obtained in the Middle Ages. Dear Eaitor, I sincerely urge you to express some opinion as to best means to exterminate piracy. T'also humbly ask you to exert your best efforts to call the attention of thorities ireer action and military au-
punish the pirates, since nothing de-Anite could be obtained by approach-Ing the Chinese Government.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.