Enclosure 1.
Colonial Secretary's Office,
Hongkong, 5th May, 1914.
454
Madan,
I am directed to confirm the telegram which I
sent to you yesterday, and to express the deep sympathy of His
Excellency the Governor and the Government of Hongkong with you
in the loss of your husband on the night of the 27th of April
in the course of a piratical attack on board the steamer "Tai
On" of which he was the Chief Officer.
2.
Your husband backed up the efforts of the
Captain of the ship, Mr. Wetherall, and the Chief Engineer,
Mr. McCartney, with great bravery, and he was at last compelled
to jump into the sea with those officers as the whole ship had
become enveloped in flames. I regret to inform you that his
body has not been recovered, but it is practically certain that
he had been wounded in the leg and was thus unable to keep him-.
self afloat by swimming until help could reach him.
3.
The Whole Colony of Hongkong has been much
moved by this occurrence, and it is the intention of the Govern➜
1 ment to mark its sense of your late husband's bravery and of
the great service he performed in helping to withstand the
Piratical attack on the ship by affording you and your family
such assistance as you may stand in need of. I will communicate
with you further on this subject, and will only now repeat that
the Government and all classes of the community feel very
deeply for you in your sudden bereavement.
4.
I enclose for your perusal extracts from the
Hongkong newspapers relating to the attack on the "Tai On".
Mrs. Evans,
Nurses' Quarters,
Government Hospital,
Calcutta,
I am, etc.
Sd.
Claud Severa
Colonial Secretary.
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