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Show IBANDITSCAPTURE FIFTHMRON H. J. Lone, Employed by British-American Tobacco Company, Com-pany, Reported Released. NEW YORK, April 23 News of the capture and reported release of H. J. Love, a Virginian employed by the British-American Tobacco companv, by Chinese bandits, was received here today from Washington by the Siems-Carey Siems-Carey Railway fc Canal company. Ad -1 vices to the state department from' the American legation in Peking dated j April 19 and delayed in transmission were quoted as follows: "The time limit for money rewarded I expired yesterday for the rescue of j Kyle (George A. Kyle of Portland, Ore., an American engineer abducted, March 5). No result. Therefore gen-1 oral military pursuit is begun. "Love, an American employed by the British-American Tobacco company, was captured near Tsining, Chengtu, and a British missionary was murdered mur-dered in Fuklen. Train on British railway attacked by bandits." Siems -Carey's, informant at Wash ington then adds this comment to the I telegram : All Released Except Kyle. "Since the foregoing was received by the state department Love and everyone tire who has been captured by bandits seem to nave been released except Mr. Kyle. An official of the Stems -Carey company said that the reward otfered by them for the return of Kyle was high enough to cover any possible demand." Kvle as the chief engineer of tho Stems-Carey company was encaged in locating possible routes for 2,600 1 miles of railway in China. It is un-derstood un-derstood that Chinese troops captured a relative of one of the bandit chiefs and that Kyle is being held as a hostage. hos-tage. This may explain, it was said, the release of the other captives The manager of the Siems-Carey company in China received a message from Kvle as late as April 18th in which he said he was ' alive and kickinp." Tslning, where Love is said to have been captured, la near Tsing-Tao. the port taken from the Germans by the j Japanese early in the war. Chengto, the capital of Ssechwan province, j mentioned in the cablegram, is several hundred miles away. Kyle and V. J I Purcell of St. Paul, a companion, were taken cantive near Wuvanc in the j provinco of Honan, Indicating that the I Americans were not the victinn of the same gang of bandits. Officials of the British American I Tobacco company here said they had an American named H. J Love in their employ in China, but that they had received no word regarding him. I LONDON, April 23 An American j named Love has been captured by Chi 1 nese bandits in the province of Shan-I Shan-I tuns, according to a Reuter dispatch from Peking. The American minister I to China, it is added, has suggested to the Chinese povernment the necessity of appointing an official with powers to suppress bandits and rescue foreign for-eign captives. In the past seven weeks five Americans Ameri-cans have been reported captured by .bandits in China. On March 11 George I A. Kyle, of Portland. Ore., and E. J. j Purcell, American engineers, were I robbed and aken captive in Hunan. I province. The bandits were pursued! j by Chinese troops and on April 1 Pur-! Pur-! cell was rescued. The whereabouts of i Kyle is still unknown. Miss Katherine Schmidt and Mrs. Stanley M. Dixon, American missionaries mission-aries formerly of Springfield, S. D., was captured by bandits near the Ki-angsu Ki-angsu KlanK border April S. Troops were sent out and the women were rescued unharmed the same day. rtr |