Putnam patriot., 1930-10-16
BANDIT RULES
 MIN RIVER BASIN
pr. and Mrs. W. L. Beard Under Fire in Foochow,
 China
Counsel. of to Rescue Missionairie

' cd frcm Dr. Beard by his brother in-law. Ebert (. Kinney. Center street. I.u Hing Bang. illiterate. crude. supertitious bandit. for the past fifteen years ruler of the upper Min river. became SO bold he at tempted Co take Foochow. where Dr. and Mrs. Beard reside The inter csting letter follows.
 For fifteen years the Upper Min River Basin has been ruled by bandit named Lu Hing Bang. He is illiterate, crude, superstitious and cruel. But he has the power to gather about him younger men with ability and education. who have poll tical aspirations. Last year l travel led some five hundred miles in his territory. safely, because We always spent money.
 Until this year he has been satis- fed to keep to the hills But in June he presumed to take Foochow City. which has remained true to Ranking. 2 Some of his young men wrote 10 friends of mine in Fooehow that they would he in Foochow to talk with these friends in three or four days. But Ranking sent down several thousand hardened soldiers and the young fellows from up river were driven back with heavy losses. They have not yet arrived in Foochow al though they have tried three times. For about two weeks we slept to the put, put, put of rifles and the putt t-t-t-t-t- of machine guns only two miles away. One day we set up the telescope and saw them fighting on the hills near Foochow. Two bullets went through the dormitory of the Union High School. Bombing planes circled over us daily. One battle was fought mile from one of our churches. There were so many kil- led that the officers offered s4.00 a day to bury the dead. Even then it was impossible and many acres of rice were not reaped because of the bodies still lying in them.
 This firing began June Eth just be- fore daylight. A few days before the people in Shaowu. 250 miles up the Min river. were ordered to Foo- chow through the American Consul. They got as far as Yenping on June 10th. Lu Hing Bang refused to al- low them to come farther. The party consisted of Mir. and Mrs. Storns and four childen, Mrs. Shepherd and four children fMr. Shepherd was in Foo chow) and Mrs. Bliss. Dr. Bliss and Dr. Judd remained in Shaowu by preference In that up river area were nearly fifty missionaries and children who wished Co come to Foo chow but could not because of the war. Telegrams were sent by the American Consul. the British Con- sul and Mir. Shepherd. Bandit Lu replied that they could come as far as he was concerned but there was little trouble farther down over which he had no power and SO they l had better not start
 l Letters and telegrams continued. ] These went up via Shanghai It was i difficult to get replies. 1t gradually be gan to dawn on us an that the bandit was holding these people at Yenping and other places for military pur poses. On the l6th of July tele- gram came to the American Consul from Mir. Bankhardt, Methodist mis- sionarv in Yenping, that Bandit Lu was willing to release the foreigners and allow Mir. Shepherd to come up with a launch after them. But he was to bring an immense amount of medicines and surgical dressings for his wounded soldiers. This was We'd nesdav. saw Mir. Muccio, the American Consul in his office a few moments after he received the mes sage. He said 'l am going myself and possibly the British Consul will go also. We tart tonight" But they did not get off till Friday. Then five miles above Foochow they were held up twenty-two hours, and re- lieved of much of their medicine and dressings and a lot of kerosene that the boatmen were taking to make a speck on the side. They hired, through the Navy two launches built to climb the rapids for Yenping is nearly one hundred miles from level water and the rapids are fierce.
 The party consisted of the two Consul. and Mr Shepherd. They reached Yenping Sunday evening. Al once they conferred with Mir. La and his chiefs. These men were quite indignant that the Consuls should SO put themselves out as to come on this long perilous fatiguing tourney 70 ktk AHtAA AHht'HHtsf t-' would declare to the world that Mir. Lu and his party were unable to pro- tect these foreigners. They were perfectly safe. And they were hay ing every courtesy shown them. There was no reason at all for them to go to Foochow. The Consuls ~cplied that there were at that mo- ment two British ladies held by Con- munists in the territory under Mir Lu's jurisdiction, and it was impos- sihle to obtain their release. They claimed not to know of it. Then they. the Consuls, said that these foreigners normally went down the river every year for a stay at Kul- iang a mountain near Foochow. But this year they had been detained by Mr. Lu. Very soon Shanghai would hear of this then the world would hear of it and his name would be in bad odor. it last the Consuls got permission to proceed one hundred miles farther up the river to rescue some British citizens. On July 23rd. the two launches reached Foochow with forty-four foreigners and the two ConsulS
 These two British women were taken by the communists about eight weeks ago, in the north western part of the province. s100.000 is de- manded for their release. The finger
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