The fighting and relentless bombing and machine-gunning of civilians in the Jessfield area has added momentum to the flow of refugees into Siccawei, which was already caring for some 7,000 homeless and penniless Chinese, mostly from the battered Lotien sector. In the shadow of the tall spires of Shanghai's main Catholic settlement, these hordes of village people are finding sanctuary after their harrowing experiences in the war zones. They are chiefly from the farming district of Yanghong, between Lotien and Paoshan, and most of them have made the perilous journey on foot, under shell-fire and with practically nothing to eat during the several days they were on the road.
The Jesuit Fathers and Brothers, assisted by French and Chinese nuns, are looking after the bodily and spiritual comfort of the refugees and are now desperately trying to devise means for housing their charges in permanent buildings when cold weather comes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.