Charged with murder and repeated extortion, Chu Cheng-kwei, alias Chu Kang-sen, was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment yesterday by the First Special District Court, while five other extortioners, believed to have been closely affiliated with Chu's gang, were each sentenced to serve one year in jail.
Chu, it was revealed in court, is one of the chief lieutenants of the late Hsieh Kwei-sen, leader of a strong murder and robber gang who may be considered to be the No. 1 public enemy in Shanghai since the hostilities. He recently committed suicide by hanging during his detention, but he has left a confession on the basis of which the police have been able to prosecute Chu.
Apart from numerous robberies, Hsieh, Chu and their accomplices at large are responsible for many murders in the western district during the early part of this year when the police took special precautions in the area against criminals. The gang is responsible for the murder of Li Encouraging; Fears of "Yankee Imperialism"
Washington, May 31.
The United States has temporarily abandoned the project to obtain Ecuadorean permission to establish a naval air and submarine base at Galapagos Islands, strategic islands south-west of the Panama informed military and naval officials said today.
The proposal to establish such a base in order to strengthen the defences of the Panama Canal never reached a formal stage, they pointed out, Ecuador, it was understood, was not entirely favourably toward the proposal, although not openly opposed to the United States suggestion to purchase or lease the islands and transform them into a powerful naval base.
One of the chief reasons why the project was temporarily discarded was the fear that the purchase or lease of the islands might be interpreted by certain foreign Powers as "pressure polities or the rebirth of Yankee Imperialism," the military and naval officials told the United Press, The United States will now concentrate on Colombia and Ecuador and possibly other S&west coast South American countries to improve their existing military and naval establishments, particularly in connection with the air arms, authoritative sources said.
The development of such facilities on the west coast of South America from which the United States might operate in the event of an attack in the Pacific is vital not only to the countries directly involved but also to the defence of the strategic Panama Canal—United Press, Tue Imperial Airways flying boat "Champion" which left Southampton on April 17, carried sixty-five live caterpillars from the Imperial Institute of Entomology at: Farnham Royal. The caterpillars are being sent to Sydney as an experiment to try to control the St. John's Wort Tokyo, June 1.
Four leading insurance companies have decided to underwrite Y10,000,- 000 insurance for the newly-built Argentina Maru, of the Osaka Shosen Kaisha line.
Much significance is attached by Japanese circles to the fact that this sum has been underwritten solely by Japanese insurance firms, namely, ihe Osaka Marine Insurance, the Tokyo Marine Insurance, the Taisho Marine Insurance, and the Fuse Merino Insurance Companies, Usually, it is pointed put, such large amounts of insurance are undertaken only with the co-opera tion of foreign firms, The four underwriters, however in accordance with past procedure, will reinsure part of the Y10,000000 insurance of the Argentina Maru with Lloyd's.—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.