The Shanghai Municipal Police were on Dec. 27 investigating a mysterious attack upon a Japanese army. launch which occurred Honan Road Bridge at about 11.20 am. The perpetrator of the attack disappeared afterwards. and all efforts to trace him had met with failure up to that night. "The only" eyewitness of the attack was a Chinese woman who was walking over the bridge when the attack' took place, ut when questioned by the police she was unable to give any clue as to who was responsible. From the report given by this woman to the police, it appears that an unidentified person hurled two oF three missiles, presumably grenades or bombs, at the launch "while It was passing beneath the bridge, The first missile exploded on contact with the water a short distance from the launch. while the second exploded in the alr before striking the water, Neither missile seriously hurt the secupants of the launch, which was carrying twelve Japanese sol~ Jdiers "at the time, It was reported that the Japanese opened fired upon the bridge, but this was denied yesterday by the Japanese military spokesman, The launch proceeded Jon its way, and a report of the: inei~ ident was' made to the Japanese military authorities. A number of people passing over the bridge at the time heard the explosion of the missiles, but no one could be found Jwho saw the incident except the Chinese. woman During in. the afternoon, two] representatives of the Japanese tary authorities visited "the head quarters of the Shanghai Municipal Police to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident, and they oft a short time afterwards, having' been assured that the police would do all in their power to trace the person responsible for the attack, One Slightly Injured One Japanese soldier was slightly injured in the explosion. The sampan, according to a Japanese Em-bossy" spokesman, continued downstream without opening fire on the bridge. The culprit, stated by the [Japanese authorities to be "presum ably a Chinese," escaped.
The failure of the Shanghai Municipal Police to prevent the incident and to arrest the culprit "cannot but hamper the return to. normalcy in Shanghai," the spokesman declared.
'While ' the Japanese _Consulate-General had been informed by the' Shanghai Municipal Police that attempts were being made to track down the grenade-thrower, the presence of "such subversive elements In the Settlement cannot but affect the intention of the Japanese authorities to reopen the areas north of [Soochow Creek to Chinese," the spokesman stated.
The Japanese authorities, "confident that the Shanghai Municipal Police would do all in its power to trace down and arrest the culprit," the] spokesman said, were adopting "a wait and. see attitude."
He intimated, however, that the efforts of the "Shanghai Municipal Police would be carefully watched.
The spokesman, by implication, tended to blame the incident on the failure of the Shanghai Municipal Police to take adequate steps to curb such "subversive activities"
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.