TIMES
12.12.29
23.
(Extract from Report of Speech of word huchcape at
General sheeting of P.00. Steam Nawig =
CHINESE PIRACY
As I have said, the trade with China has been seriously interfered with by the continu- ance of civil and Bolshevist war in that coun- try, and it is wonderful how the British and n Chinese mercantile community, acting in a y friendly way together as they have always e done, have been able to carry on.
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But the days of piracy in the China seas are by no means ended, judging from a letter I received the other day from Hong-kong, which I will venture to read to you:·
"After an interval of many months the -activities of South China pirates have been h resumed with an attack, which met with the usual success, on a Japanese steamer, Deli és Maru, belonging to the Osaka Shosen Kaisha.
"The vessel was on a voyage from Takao, h Formosa, to Hong-kong with nine Japanese 1 officers, 62 Chinese crew, two first-class passen- gers, and 124 Chinese deck passengers, mostly emigrants returning home from Formosa. She called at Swatow on September 20, where the pirates are said to have embarked in the guise tof passengers, and in the early hours of the is following morning the Indian guards on duty were shot down without warning and the officers and wireless operator held up with automatic pistols. After robbing the passen gers and officers of money and jewellery said to value altogether about $18,000, the captain was ordered to navigate the ship to Hong-hai Bay, which is close to Bias Bay, the usual pirate rendezvous, where the gang landed in the ship's boats, taking with them four of the passengers to be held for ransom.
The cargo was not touched.
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"The Japanese Consul-General reported the incident to his Government, but whether any- thing in the nature of reprisals is contem- plated is not known.”
ATTEMPTS ON BRITISH SHIPPING
The attack seems to have been a fore- runner of renewed attempts on British ship- ping in those waters, judging by a report in the papers yesterday, but it will perhaps serve as a salutary reminder that none of the present precautions can safely be relaxed, and I trust the occurrence may result in a change of attitude on the part of the British autho- rities who announced in April of this year that the provision of naval and military guards would cease on April 1, 1930.
My correspondent adds that a curious feature of the affair was that the pirates were led by a nice-looking young woman about 20 years of age. I wonder if the lady, in some way or other, was a descendant of my reputed ancestor, Ralph the Rover, who sank the bell on the Inchcape rock ? (Laughter.)
Nawig & Co. 11.12.29
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