There are in the station and on the sidings at the present time well over 300 waggons and coaches, utd 22 engines. The sidings are block: <4 with standing waggons and th:
line is blocked also from a, point two miles below the station to another point half a mile above: the station, As I reported in my! last despatch, collisions at both ends of the track' successfully block. the! road either for the purposes of ingress or exit. The officers cannot agree on what course they wish to take, so nothing jx done at all, The soldiers themselves stay in the Waggons and fately refuse to get out to allow the necessary. shun which might clear the line, Con sequently they must stop here, The officer who ix in local command of the forees, in my presence, and backed by an'armod guard of at least 20 men, made a weak attempt "0 et hix' men to evacuate the. ear-nages, He went up to a party in tone wasgon, and in a weak. voles! commanded them to get out. They; simply laughed in his face and took no more notice of the order than if he had been a station coolie. Instead of having the strength (o order his guard to arrest them, he: simply shook hix head and. walked away. The sight was pitiful, and disgusting. The men remain in the wagons and carriages because they fare hoping that in some wonderful manner engines will come along and collect them and take them down to Shanghai, They are seared to fight and make no bones about saying so. Many have been ordered to proceed to Changchow and meet the enemy there, They flatly refuse.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.