At 430 p.m. on Tuesday the German officials in Shanghai formally resumed possession of their old consular building in Whan, Road. The formality of handing over the property to them was carried out by Mr. S. K. Chen, chief secretary of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Mr. K. Schirmer acting on behalf of the German Government. The Consul-General for the Nederlands and his staff were also present. To mark the event the German republican flag was thereafter hoisted. On Wednvsday the Consulate was nominally open for business, but for some time yet the building in Bubbling Well Road where German affairs have been transacted will continue to be occupied, while the consulate is being put into a condition: convenient for business.
For the present there is nobody holding the rank of German Consul-General in Shanghai, and no definite appointment is expected until the lapse of some weeks. In he meantime Mr. Schirmer is in ge. Prior to the declaration of war by China he had been for many years stationed here, and is remembered best as Mixed Court Assessor. Some months ago he was in Peking as a member of the German Mission which proceeded to Peking.
It is difficult to ascertain exactly how many Germans are now ° in Shanghai and district, but taking all members of the community into account—men, women and children d|—the number is certainly not below 300. Quite possibly it may prove to be as high as 500.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.