Held by Brigands.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXIX, Issue 4, 25 April 1914, Page 5

Held by Brigands.

A SYONEY-BORN CHINESE. HOW CHAN MET HIS DEATH. Some rather remarkable details have come to hand (states the Sydney Daily Telegraph) concerning the capture by Chinese brigands at Canton, and, after a seven months’ incarceration, the subsequent release by police and soldiers, of •Duncan Lee, a Sydney-born boy. Duncan is the 11-year-old brother of Mr Vv. A insin Loo, managing director of the firm of Onyik and Lee, Ltd., of this city, and this is the story of his adventures, as told by Air Lee. At the end of last September Duncan Lee and another boy, as they were returning from school, were captured by Chau, a notorious brigand. Chan had been a soldier, but owing to the disinclination of the new Republican Government adequately to remunerate him for his services, lie conceived the idea of starting in business on his own account as a kidnapper of children with wealthy relatives. In his spare time he pillaged and robbed indiscriminately.

Chan paid a surprise visit to Kong Moon, a port on the Canton River, about 50 miles from Canton, and established himself, by force of might, in a village with his band of perverted soldiery. Making this place his headquarters, he began a system of abducting children at Canton, and carrying them to his stronghold, where, as it afterwards turned out, they were treated with kindness. The Lee family is wealthy and wellknown in Canton, and also in Hongkong, one member of it being in the Hongkong Legislative Assembly; and when the lad Duncan was captured, Chan asked for him a ransom of £6OOO and 50 pieces of silk. For ways that are Dark. The negotiations which ensued between the robber and the Lee family were a marked illustration of “ways that are dark,” and for sheer bluff on both sides would compel the admiration of a veteran poker player. 'When Chan asked for the £6OOO ranson, he was given to understand that that sum was out of the question, and, with the complacency of one who neither toiled nor spun, he dropped Ids request to a mod--3st £2OOO, whereupon Mrs Lee, the mother of the child, offered him £BOO. Thereupon the robbers sent the bov’s Nothing to Airs Lee in Canton by one of number, and Airs Lee had the man arrested by the Chinese police. Alarmed at the arrest, the brigands offered to accept £-100 and the release of their comrade in exchange for the boy. Mrs Lee made an offer of £2OO, which was accepted, and it was decided that the money should be lodged in a bank at Alacao, a city some miles from Canton, and handed over to the brigands when the boy had reached home safely. The negotiations up to this moment had taken about three months, and Air Lee, who was being kept in touch with the happenings by chhie, 'explains that the utmost tact had to be used in case the robbers resorted to desperate measures, which might end in a massacre of the abducted children.

About this time also Mrs Lee began to receive letters from Duncan to the effect that ho was being cruelly treated by his captors, and her maternal instinct made her doubly anxious for her son’s safety. The £2OO was paid into the bank at Macao, but then the robbers fell out amongst themselves, and instead of handing over the boy some of them made a demand for a further £2OO. Mrs Lee thereupon promised them £IOO. Commonwealth Takes a Hand. During the period of the negotiations Mrs Lee had communicated with the Commonwealth Government and pointed out to them that an Australian subject was being held up for ransom in a foreign country. The result was that the trouble was reported to the British Consul at Canton. 1 No doubt the Chinese authorities were “hurried up,” for by the mail Mr Lee received word that a force of soldiers and police had stormed the brigands’ stronghold at Kong Moon, and, after a sharp fight, in which there were fatalities on both sides, had put the insurgents to flight and rescued the boys, safe and in good health. It appeared also that the letters which Duncan Lee sent to his mother, alleging cruelty, were untrue. He was forced to write them as directed by Chan. The final results were that Mrs Lee got her son back without having to pay any money whatever. .Duncan Lee will return to Sydney when he has completed his Chinese education in Canton.