Fire in the. godowns of the National Commercial & Savings Bank, situated: in. North Soochow: Road, occasioned a loss of about Tis, 250,000, on Wednesday night. The origin of the fire is unknown, although it is believed that a work: man had dropped alighted cigarette, which shouldered" unnoticed. Another theory advanced is that of spontaneous combustion.
the building is closed. at night, the flames were not seen until' 831 p.m and when the Brignde arrived the roof had fallen and the upper floor was a mass of fire. The firemen turned to with celerity and in a few moments shx engines were pouring on huge quantities of water, pumped from hydrants and from the Soochow Creek. 'They Leyland 1,000-gallon, pump' did particularly' effective work, The fire was spectacular and ate tracted a large crowd which lined the Bouth bank of the exeek. The: flames -had got such headway that there: was no chance to save. the: cargo on the upper floor which cone sisted of cocoons, Indian corn, ands waste; and Captain Read onder €d; his men to save adjoining: property, in the next godown, also the property of the Bank, consisting of a large quantity of leaf tobacco.
Fouy divisions fought the fire for 90 minutes, before getting. it under control and a. party remained throughout the night damping: down, Gex. Chien Ta-chun, Commission-of Shanghai and Woosung Gendarmerie, fearing that Com. munists will take advantage of the present unsettled conditions create trouble, has ordered his men to take special precautions, He has, nevertheless, ordered the prow tection of anti-Japanese student lecturing parties, given instructions that the body: Should be removed to the Public Mortuary, A The Deceased'y Worries Mr, J. B. Sawyer, in charge of the U.S, Paksport Office, who had been the late Mr, Wilson's superior, said that he had known deceased intimately for about seven years. As he knew that Mr. Wilson was very punctual in appearing for duty, he thought it strange when he did not come in-on the morning of May 1, Witness visited his sub ordinate's room in the Astor Hous four times during the morning, and. when he failed to appear in' the afternoon he reported the matter to Mr. E. S. Cunningham, U. 8. Con sul-General. That afternoon: Mr.
Sawyer walked round the golf's course to see if he could find any trace of the missing gentleman, In reply to Mr. Davies, witness said that he received a letter at 7 fon Wednesday. The envelope was addressed in' Mr. Wilson's handwriting and he recognized the handwriting on the letter paper, although deceased had not signed it. The letter, intimated in ite opening sentences that deceased desired to "end it all."
Witness, continuing, said that to all appearances, Mr. Wilson had seemed normal, although he had told Mr, Sawyer that he was wore ried about the financial affairs of a friend, Mr. Hodgens, regretting that he could not help him. On tone occasion, however, asked witness if Mr. Fleming (who has just left for America) intended to prefer charges against him, Mr. Wilson, Deceased also laboured under the impression that Hodgens wished to injure his character. Only several days before he di appeared, Mr. Wilson told him that he had overheard one of the Con-: stenographers say, im yet." After the disappearance, Mr. Sawyer investigated and as: certained that the remark had never been made, This concluded the evidence, and the jury returned the verdict as stated above.
"Arrangements for the funeral are being made, after which" the body will be sent to 'Mr. Wilson'c home in Greenville, North' Carolina,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.