IN BANDITS’ LAIR

Hokitika Guardian, 27 November 1933, Page 7

IN BANDITS’ LAIR

BRITISH OFFICERS’ HARDSHIPS DIARY ON CIGARETTE PACKETS The thanks of the British Government have been officially conveyed to the Japanese Government fcr the part , that officers of that country played in. 1 securing the release by Chinese bandits of three English mehcantile officers who, caked in mud, and with long, shaggy hair and beards, arrived safely I at NeWchwang. I For five months the officers were held captives, and a thrilling story of their adventures, based chiefly on a diary which they kept on the back of cigarette packets, revealed the many hard- ' ships they were forced to undergo. The released officers are:—Mr A. D. Blue, second engineer, of Glasgow; Mr Clifford Johnson, junior officer, of Berj lin Cliff, Colwyu Bay, North Wales; j and Mr W. E. Hargrave, junior j officer, of Ripon, Yorkshire. They were ; captured when the pirates boarded the I British steamer Nanchang, near Newj chwang, on March 29 last, j Final negotiations for the liberation of the three men were made through a Japanese gendarme', Captain Obata, who acted as intemediary. Part of the final bargin was the exchange of the fathers of two bandits, who had been captured by the local authorities and held as hostages. Mr Hargraves, who opened the narrative, stated that after being kidnapped they spent some months in junks at the mouth of the River Liao. “Then we were taken inland,” he declared, “and we and our oaptors wandered about like nomads round! the bandit villages. We had our arms tied at the beginning, and that was rather unpleasant. “We all had our heads shaved in Chinese fashion. But our hair grew again and they seemed to get tired of cutting it. They allowed it to grow at random, and our hair-cut and shave today was a real luxury. We were not really treated too badly. Though the food given us was poor, we did Pave it three times a day. But there was no torturing, and we were even allowed to play cards. “Our worst enemies were not the bandits who first ‘got’ us nor the bandits who ‘stole’ us from the first gang, but the mosquitoes and the fleas and the bugs. We had no idea there were so many in China. Every place we were taken to seemed to be alive with them.’’ The other officers agreed with Mr. Hargreave that really the worst hardship of all they had to endure, was total abstinence “for five months,” they declared, “we have drunk nothing but water—and that hot water. “The bandits were decent enough to offer us Samshu, a- Chinese spirit, but we did not like the look of it. One of us tasted it. That was enough, and all three, of us decided to, stick to water.And now—well—what a strange taste ■ whisky seems to have!” [ The ethers further agreed that the worst treatment they received was when they were tied up after attempting to escape, and kept under deck in the junks. When asked about their future j plans, they all replied that they were not giving up the sea, but added that in future, they mean to carry guns if they should serve in Chinese waters.