Mob set fire to British Consulate
HONGKONG, Friday.-The British Consulate in Canton and British buildings adjoining it were set on fire to-day by mobs of Chinese protesting against the eviction by the British authorities of Chinese civilians in Kowloon City.
According to reports reaching Hongkong, several members of the Consulate were attacked.
Furniture, clothing and docu- ments from other places thrown on to the blazing building.
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Among the buildings set on fire was one belonging to the British shipping firm of Butterfield and Swire.
Mr. Hiram Boucher, the U.S. Consul-General, speaking on the telephone from Canton, said: "The whole British Consulate compound is ablaze. The Consulate staff escaped, although several of them were attacked by the mob.
Women attacked
"The fire-fighting equipment is entirely inadequate, and I believe that the entire Consulate, and its contents, is a total loss.'
Mr. Boucher also said that the mob attacked Mr. J. L. Murray, the British Press attaché, his wife (formerly Katrine Parsons, of San Francisco) and his secre- tary, Mrs. Bishop Williams, as the party were entering the U.S. naval attaché's home.
Mr. Ronald Hall, the British: Consul-General, left the Consulate under police escort when the mobi showed signs of getting violent.
One member of the British staff has not been accounted for. All the others are safe.-BUP and Reuter.
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