To the Editor of the "Nonr-Cuixa Dany News"
Sm—Many of your readers must have been struck with the paucity of uthentle information regarding the recent accident involving the Sikorsky flying boat of the EN-A.C. Nothing definite has yet been given as the wwe of the forced landing. "Bad weather" was mentioned in press reports, but no details as to what sort of bad weather prevailed have been forthcoming to date. The actual cause fof the accident to the machine is for the time being veiled in complete mystery. Mention has been made of 'a huge wave having hit the pla and one CAC. oficial voiced the possibility of the plane having hit rocks after landing on the wat Otherspoints which are emerging as time Passes are the fact that one wing was wrenched off and that the back of the fuselage was broken be-thind the pilots' cockpit. Lifebelts fare said to have been handed out, Dut it fs not stated whether this wat Jatter the plane touched the water or Furthermore, the all-important Jquestion as to who saw the three missing members of the crew last, and when and where, has never even been mentioned. All sorts of conjec~ tures as to their whereabouts were spoken of at first and latterly as to their fate.
Tt seems to me that the families of the missing members of the crew of the ill-fated machine are entitled to receive all the news available, sand the meagre and conflicting reports made known up to the present can hardly be characterized as satisfactory or representing the best that could have been made available by this time. One is aware that a full investigation will have to be made but Jsuch "Information as the following Jcould well have been given ere this: viz (1) Was the plane damaged on striking the water or subsequently or both. (2) When were the life belts given out, and did each of the pas-Jsengers ahd crew receive one. (3) [Who saw the three missing members lof the crew last, and when and where was It.
One cannot help remembering the AiJaccident which occurred some years igo at Lunghwa and the clamour which was then made for an inde~ pendent Board of Enquiry, which was not forthcoming. It is entirely wrong that officials of the C.N.AC. should hold the official enquiry; they should be admitted merely to give The whole question of civil sir [transport in this country requires very: careful consideration. There Jdoes not appear tobe any independent [supervisory body to guide and control the actions and policy of the Joperators, or to investigate any ac-
But, now has come the denouement of this so-called freedom pertaining to what must surely rank 85 one of the world's most modern ities, Lo. Shanghai's Foreign Settle ment. My sad disillusionment happened on Saturday evening last when I tried to enter the dining and dence room of a certain Hotel wearing the indecent attire of a Palm Beach suit and a cricket-shirt with out a tle.
The Management was Kindly courteous but relentlessly firm. of I wished to have a table with a view of the dance-floor I must wear some }some sort of a tie, which, however, in order to minimize my inconveni!" lence they offered to lend me, I provided myself with a black bow tle jand feeling very Bohemian in my conglomerate dress 1 proceeded to a Jcosy little table in the shadows but Just on the edge of the circle of the Gance-floor and there I sat for a few hours immensely enjoying the musie and the sight of the whirling Agures Jof happiness of Shanghai's elite chasing the coquette of rose-per-
However—to get back to my grouch—as the evening wore on I became more and more astonished to sce what had "passed muster" according to the requirements of the management in regard to dress, To be sure each gentleman had a tic, Dut what a variety of ties had sneak: ed ini Black bows and mourning tes, while tes and variegated. doz lers with big round spots, Then what coats and pants! 1 confine my-Self to the criticism of gentlemen's wear, of course! There were monkey Sockets and black pants, and almost all sorts of masculine out-door attire except over-coats and short. pants. JAnd yet I could not get through on Shanghai August night to indulge in the heated exercise of dress-fed in a clean white outfit and open-necked cricket shirt made me think of some of the jgummer dances I had attended bach in the dear old country of repression and restriction from which I hall There, after summer suns have disappeared in glowing warmth below the horizon, and the romantic night comes on, we turn to dancing as the most convivial of all pleasures for the young and lithe. But do "we" struggle around wringing in clammiess kept in by a strangling black bow, a stiff shirt, and a monkey oket? No, however nathing our fconventicnality must appear to the feitizen of an emancipated commun: lity such as Shanghai, we have long taken it as a molten of course that in summertime, it is not only not impolite, but actually more pleasing in appearance when the guests jan hotel dance are attired Uniformly Jond at their comfort in "flannels" with an open-necked shirt, K, W. Rickerrs, Shanghai, Aug, 10,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.