A new feature has appeared in Sutsien, something entirely unique in the history of this inland city. Pits and holes of various sorts are being dug all over town. Most of them are very small, and pitifully ina quate as a protection against aerial bombs, but some are fairly good, and a few appear quite serviceable. The best ones belong to public establishments, The one at the magistrate's yamen is large and strong. The plan is that, if necessary, the magistrate and his staff can live in this dugout and transáct public business there. Some persons, who are fortunate enough to live near the dyke of the old Yellow River bed, are making tunnels into it, thus securing rather good protection at a reasonable cost.
An inexperienced observer reports that a good many of these shelters will be effective against fying fragments. A large bomb, making a direct hit, would probably smash any of them; but of course the chances of such a hit are very slight. Moreover, it does not seem likely that even a Japanese would drop the largest bombs in a place like Sutsien.
When there is a warning of approaching planes, very strict precautions are observed. People must not walk on the streets. The magistrate says that if any one is seen flashing light upward from an electric larch, during a time of warning at night, he will be shot, as a traitor.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.