After engaging pirates in a fierce battle, some scores of militiamen who live on Hwangsa Island, outside Woosung, have been able to rescue eight junkmen kidnapped by the buck cancers and also saved four junks Which were attacked on Monday morning while sailing to Ningpo from Shanghai carrying $3,000 worth of sundry goods and oil. No casualties are reported but the cargo is a total loss the pirates having decamped with it in their own junks.
'News of the piracy was obtained by Chinese press circles here only yesterday after the rescued junkmen chad arrived in their once commandeered boats. The boats were anchored at Pootung and the rescue' junkmen were quoted by one report as saying that the thought that the pirates were no other than members of the "army" organized with the alleged permission of Japanese garzison forces on Tsungming Island.
The victimized junks sailed from Shanghai in the early hours of Monday morning but when they reached the vicinity of Hwangsa Island they were met by three pirate junks. Several volleys were fired by the pirates ordering the boats to stop. The pirates soon got into the boats and roped up the eight junkmen before taking the goods to their own junks, Towing the victimized boats carrying the kidnapped junkmen, the pirates were sailing towards Tsungming Island when the militiamen' got wind of what had happened. "The latter obtained boats and chased the pirate junks and when they reached the vicinity of Tsungming they found the pirate junks lined up to take up the challenge.
Being armed with modern weapons, the militiamen opened fire and the pirates pave in after a fierce gun battle. They escaped in their own junks leaving "behind the pirated boats and the kidnapped junkmen.
Fortification of Aaland Islands Insisted On Helsinki, June 6.
"Anybody wishing to help us without our request will be regarded as an invader and will be repulsed as such," The Foreign Minister, Mr. E. Erkko, asserted today in the Diet.
He was speaking of negotiations among the great Powers and was apparently referring particularly to Soviet insistence that Britain guarantee Finland's independence whether the latter asked for such a pledge or not.
He dealt at length with the problem of remilitarizing the strategic Aaland Isles, situated in the straits between Finland and Sweden and commanding entrance into both the Gulfs of Bothnia and Finland.
He emphasized that this question affected Finland especially and that Finland had to strengthen her defences.
Russia also agreed on the necessity of defending the Aaland islands and it was therefore not at all understandable why "obstacles are thrown in the way of Finland's fulfillment of her decision," M. Erkko continued.
"Details of the Aaland Isles' remilitarization plan are considered adequate by everyone except Russia "The fact that Finland is negotiate ing with Sweden over realization of the Aaland plan is no evidence that Finland is abandoning her neutrality," he added.
He pointed out that Finland had always carried out all her international engagements.
conclusion, while asserting Finnish determination to maintain strict neutrality, he also declared that Finland would continue friendly cooperation with the Northern Europ-can States.—Havas.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.