At 9.22 p.m, on Saturday, the Fire Brigade received a cal] to a serious fire at the Yih Sing flour mill which it took the united efforts of the Central and Sinza Divisions to stop. The mill, which was the oldest in Shanghai, was a four-storied brick building, beyond the junction of Ichang Road and Ferry Road. When the firemen arrived, the building was a mass of flames from top to bottom and the fire had already involved two one-storied godowns near by. Owing to the distance of the hydrants, exccedingly long lines of hose had to be laid, each being over 3,000 ft. in length and extra pumps had to be used to relay the water.
A number of Chinese houses were seriously endangered, including a big range of buildings to the south, and also the Kiangsu Acid Works. Jets were trained to protect the buildings endangered, the fringes of a big range of buildings being already alight. From the first it was seen that the mill was doomed and every effort was made to prevent the flames from spreading. The Brigade's fire float was brought up the creek and did very good work.
The work was rendered somewhat dangerous by continuous explosions of flour dust and also by high tension wires. The blaze was a magnificent spectacle and could be seen all over the Settlement, but, after about two hours' hard work, the fire was well in hand, although it was not extinguished until many hours afterwards, It was only due to the fine work of the Deparetment that the damage was confined to the buildings already doomed before the firemen arrived. The flour mill was totally destroyed, as well as the two adjoining one-storey galvanized iron roofed godowns. The range of Chinese houses and surrounding terraces were saved intact and also the premises of the Kiangsu Acid We and the quarters and Elec tricity Department's transformer house attached: to the mill. A. seetion of the Brigade was still at work yesterday with the fire float.
Shortly after 9 o'clock on Sunday morning, the men of the Central Division were called out again to a house in Shansi Road, where they found a quantity of straw and bedding on a first floor landing on fire.
"first aid' jet was used and the outbreak speedily dealt with, the damage being very slight.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.