Damage Between Eight Lakhs and a Million Taels Valuable Fukien and Chekiang' cargoes, estimated to be worth between Tls. 800,000 and Tls. 1,000,- 000, went up in flames on December 80 in one of the most spectacular and disastrous fires which have taken place in 1920. 'The flames rose to such a height that they could be seen from practically all-parts of the port, 'The conflagration broke out in the Ningpo-Shaoshing Steam Navigation Company's No. 1. godown; by the side of the No, 9 hart, in' the, Nantao, Bund, Just adjoining the French Concession.
not known exactly how the fire broke out but it is believed to have resulted from spontaneous combustion which set light to stocks of goods of a highly inflammable nature, Smoke" was first seen coming from the godown 6 4.45 pam. and, a few seconds Inter, a huge burst of flame, went up into the sky. Frantic telephone messages were sent to the Nantao, Tungkadoo and Chinese City Fire Brigades, who arrived on the scene minute or two later, followed shortly afterwards by the engines of the French Fire Brigade under 3M, M, Chapeaux, commandant the French Brigade, Though there was little or no wind blowing at the time of the alarm, a bitterly cold north-west wind sprang up shortly afterwards and this helped considerably to fan the flames. The brigades had tha. utmost difficulty in fighting the fire they had to jam their engines together on the French side of the Bund, the Chinese portion being torn up for new tramway tracks and was in an exceptionally muddy state,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.