643
3. It is true that there were
no less than 15 gang robberies in Victoria
11 in 1901,
a considerable number at first sight certainly bearing a formidable aspect. But let us consider how these "Robberies" are worked (as they are in Shanghai City). The almost invariable Modus operandi is as follows.
In the evening when the shops are just closing or rather still open.
4. When they have just closed but the doors are still open, three or four well-dressed apparently respectable Chinese enter. One of them quietly closes the door while the others produce pistols, overawe the inmates, gag them, and take what valuables they can conveniently carry out. They then decamp by the back door.
By the time the victims have freed themselves and come to report, the robbers have obtained such a start as makes it very difficult to trace them. The success of the robbers depends entirely on the timidity of the victims, which the robbers take great care to ensure.