"On the day of the Japanese aerial bombing" the Ambassador continued, "the American nationals who had come to the Embassy took refuge in a dugout near the Embassy building. This dugout is capable of holding 100 persons, is strongly built, and additional work is being done to increase its capacity and its protection against bombs.
"The members of the Embassy staff returned with me to the Legation on September 22 between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon. There were no air raids by the Japanese then, but I had viewed the others from the deck of the Luzon.
"I saw one plane brought down after an engagement with another machine. It fell in flames, but I could not determine whether it was Japanese or Chinese. The fight took place high in the air—so high that to me they looked hardly larger than two birds, "I witnessed both air raids which occurred that day. The principal objective of the first attack appeared to be the headquarters of the Kuomintang. I saw a number of bombs dropping in that vicinity as well as along the river, and I believed the building had been struck. I also saw bombs drop in the circle not far from the Metropolitan Hotel. There were lots of anti-aircraft firing as the Japanese planes kept diving and dropping their bombs.
"When I returned to the Embassy I learned that one anti-aircraft shell had fallen in the garden only twenty feet away from my residence. It had made a, hole in the ground and fragments had scarred the gate hous.
"So far as I have been able to learn, there were not many casualties as a result of the raids. The morale of the people is firm," Mr. Johnson concluded. They seem almost cheerful in fact. General Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang are here. and have no intention of leaving."
On the way down by train, Mr. Newman noticed on every side signs of the excellent morale which exists among the Chinese troops. He saw large numbers of troops from many different-provinces all along the line, and troop trains were incessantly pufüdg to and fro crowded with men.
"The Chinese soldiers do not seem to be affected by the Japanese aircraft," declared Mr. Newman. "They sleep on straw placed right out on station platforms, and there are no signs of panic when the air raid is sounded. The soldiers tly man their guns, and await order. Air raids, so far from dampening their morale, seem to give them added determination."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.