Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-02-20
2 WOMEN DESCRIBE
CAPTURE BY BANDITS
Tell Vivid Story Of Hardships as
Captives of Chinese for
Five Weeks.
RESCUED BY SOLDIERS
Long Chase Ends in Mountains.
Escape Miraculous.
BY JUNIUs b. WOOD.

! Special correspondence of The Star and Chicago
Daily News.
! HANKOw, China, December H.
J Few more vivid stories of hardships,
| miraculous escapes and bold defiance
! of death have been told than that of
! Miss Mary Darroch of Scotland and
| Miss Mary II. Sharp of Australia after
! their five weeks Of bandit captivity.
When they were rescued by Marshal
| WI Pei-fu's expedition their feet
| were cut and bruised from being
forced over rocks and brambles at the
muzzle of a rife. their clothes had
| been torn to shreds as the fleeing
bandits dragged them over the noun
tains, and had been replaced by Chi
rese garments. Miss Darroch, who is
past fifty. had been worker in the
China Inland Mission for many years.
| while Miss Sharp is younger and a
more recent arrival.
! When the horde of bandits under
Feng Ming -hsing swept down on
Sin wa, three miles from Yen Cheng,
September %, the two women con-
| tinued with their breakfast as If
| nothing had occurred. The bandits
! burst into the room with drawn guns,
but, finding there were no armed de-
| tenders, proceeded to a systematic
footing orgy. Chang Shi-kwei, the
| second in command, led the first
looters He Gained the two women
| with the assertion that he had be-
During the day group after group
ransacked the house. One bandit
| drew a revolver and threatened to
shoot Miss Darroch unless she imme-
diately produced $4,000. She laughed.
4 ri o..
take both women with him instead of
! only the younger, and their protests
| were silenced with clubs The long
march started, traced by looted towns,
burning farms, murdered men and
ravished women. The first night a
village was captured.
Column Three Miles Long.
! Days and nights were much the
same. The bandit column was three
miles long-many horses. few carts,
prisoners pushing wheelbarrows of
loot, Others carrying packs, more
| woman prisoners and fighting men on
! foot. AT night it moved without
lights. One night it passed within a
! mile of the lights on the walls of
| Chen Chow-fu. the metropolis of WI
ing parties secured the countryside
in the darkness, bringing in their
spoils at daylight. Almost daily there
were fights with local militia bodies.
fifteen battles before the final rout.
They had been captives for two
weeks. and the militia was closing in.
AS Miss Darroch describes it:
ION October 10 the bandit army
was again attacked. The horses were
beaten into a gallon. Our cart upset
and we were dragged ahead to an
other and continued the mad flight
running on foot. finally pulled and
| hauled through a river to where Feng
had reached the opposite bank. He
mad US thrown on Aorses, and we went
on at a speed that was killing for two
| women who had never ridden before. "
/ Had No Attendants.
! One of the trailing missionaries
| said that if the troops had been there
! to support the militia the two women
! would have been rescued that day
! AFTER that IT was a continuous flight
| They were in the mountains, where
Feng, though he tried to provide
woman attendants, could find neither
| carts nor comforts. 4 donkey stepped
| on Miss Darroch's foot, but she was
! pushed along with the rabbie on foot
! horse. Their food was course millet
/ or unSeaSoned sweet potatoes and
| they slept on earthen floors without
! covering through the cold mountain
! nights. Each day the attack would be
renewed at dawn and the fight would
! continue.
; Sliding over the horses head or
/ being thrown down hillsides We're
frequent occurrences. Once the flight
started at midnight, and they reached
a stream at daylight under the fire
| Of soldiers from both sides Miss
| Sharp's horse went down twice before
she was unseated. She waded ashore
| barefooted. None of the mounted
| bandits would give her horse, and
/ her feet were full of thornS and cuts
I before village was reached late that
| night.
The two women were separated
throughout the long day without food
| or water, except when Miss Darroch
! def1ed her guard to shoot and drank
| out of the river while bullets splashed
F, nearby. She fell from her horse three
! times, the last time from sheer ex-
haustion. Bandits revived her and
l the flight continued. She was threat
! ened with death when she baked at
being pulled up another hill. Miss
! gun was lowered.
Promised to Get Shoes.
! A few hours halt in deserted
village, and Feng announced that the
| flight must be resumed. He promised
to get shoes for Miss Sharp on the
| next day. and did get horses. Eight
| miles farther that night over noun
tain paths.
The next day was the last. Dawn
/ showed soldiers on every surrounding
hill. Feng desperately attempted to
break through. Bullets Were flying
from the heights. Then came the cry.
NO ammunition" and the bandit dis
clpllne broke, every man for himself
and the stampede began. They still
tried to keep the two women for their
own protection or profit.
Dragging their victims by the
hands, the bandits started for the
highest peak. They literally rolled
down the sides of ravines. BY after
noon they were separated in the mad
rush.
We came to a steep, rocky descent
or thirty feet, says Miss Sharp. The
brigands slipped and jumped down.
! on the bias. Most Of the guard was
down. The soldiers We're getting
closer. Esteeming their persons more
important than foreign lady, the
faithful bandit who had been carry
ing my bundle dropped it and made
off. l crawled into a cave under an
! overhanging rock. Hundreds of ban
j their haste. Then came a soldier,
! who mistook my bundle for aban-
doned loot. He held his gun ready,
! but when informed that ! was a for
eigner he lowered his gun
When Miss Darroch jerked herself
free from the last bandit who had
| been leading her she discovered that
| Feng himself had been her guard.
| DeAed Bandit Leader.
| eff you won't run, I'll shoot your.
| he exclaimed, drawing his gun
Miss Darroch defied the bandit
leader, and. glancing over his shout
| der. he saw the approaching soldiers
\ and decided immediate flight was
] necessary. He left his prisoner and
| hurried on.
| Chang, the second in command, was