The hectic days of the Wild West, when bad men rode their steeds to rob hapless travellers, were reenacted in the "Wild East" of the International Settlement yesterday afternoon when two highwaymen rode their bicycles (not horses) to commit an armed robbery in full view of scores of Chinese on Paoting (Road, near Wayside Road, at 2 o'clock, To an ordinary pedestrian, the approach of two cyclists may mot herald any sinister aims of the riders and the victim of yesterda: robbery was taken completely b; surprise when one of the riders calmly produced a pistol and ordered the pedestrian to hand over four rolls of artificial silk that he had been carrying, (Not content with thi: the robbers, still with the pistol to take all the fight out of the victim and with witnesses appearing to see nothing wrong in the procedure, forced the man to disrobe, The highwaymen then took his gown, mounted their bicycles and disappeared before the victim had a chance to shout for help, The total loss was estimated by the complainant at the Wayside station at about $600, In the hands of the enemy it would bar us out of the Aegean and secure the enemy's position in the Islands of the Greek Archipela, ould help to complete Gi encirclement of Turke: It we! ful advance has hind which the sh Germany as à ihe Balkan campaign could circulate in comparative safety. The fall of Crete would not seal the fate of Egypt but it would be a fresh handicap in our defence of our position in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.