Meanwhile one of the pirate vessels was in front the Alexandra and as the pirates were preparing to board the British steamer, Captain Inch decided that the only weapon at his command was the speed and pow of his ship with which it was easy to ram the wooden junk, thus dis: couraging any further boarding attempt on the part of the pirates.
The exact number of those who were drowned when the junk was rammed is not known, although it was presumed that their number was quite considerable, whereas the six men comprising the crew of the lighter which the Alexandra had Jost, are feared to have fallen in the hands of the pirates, who also seized the lighter itself.
The injured who were all passengers aboard the Alexandra were picked up by the Luise which met the British vessel some three hours later. Captain Inch requested the captain of the German vessel to inform the Shanghai Tug & Lighter Ca, of the mishap, as the Alexandra's radio was not working.
Whether the wireless station was out of order prior to the attack or whether it was damaged during the attempted piracy, could not be learned here, although the skipper of the Luise said that no damage was caused to the British vessel.
When the German boat passed the scene of the attack at noon yesterday on her return journey to Shang-hal, she saw the wreck of the pirate junk still afloat, although none of her crew was discernible.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.