More Shanghailanders Return from Hongkong Shanghai, Oct. 7.
Travelling up from Woosung on the decks of the Durmont d'Urville, French sloop, some 350. returning refugees, who arrived off the mouth, of the "Yangtsze in the s, Andre Lebon at dawn yesterday, had an almost "uneventful trip." up-tiver. Almost uneventful, but not quite, for og the cruiser was passing one of the many Japanese destroyers anchored in mid-stream a sudden stack cate "rap-rapping" sent dozens hurrying for shelter, while others flung themselves down onto the deck itself They got up rather sheepishly a moment or two later, however, when transpired "that" the unexpected noise was only the crackle of firecrackers set off by a Japanese sailor in_a moment of fun.
The returning Shanghailanders loft Hongkong on Sunday afternoon, after many days of wailing, arguing and pleading in the offers of the Mcssagenes Maritimes for berths: every form of accommodation was taken up, and just before the ship sailed an' official of the company In Hong Kong told the "North-china Daily News" that had the Andre Lebon been twice her size People would still have been turned away owing to a lack of accommodation, Meeting The Suffolk The trip up the Const was mainly characterized" by bad weather and vain, Two hours sailing south of Ningpo, a large cruiser was sighted onthe "horizon and the Andre Lebon, after continuing on her course for a time, veered round suddenly and drew quite close to the strange vessel—which turned out to be HAMS. Suffolk. Flag signals were interchanged, after which both ships returned to their courses, The Andre Leven dropped anchor In the mouth of the Yangtze at $27 clock yesterday morning. On the horizon "could be seen a. lightship, the pilot boat and a Japanese cruise AL about 9 o'clock, she started the river after picking up the pilot. The ship steered a very wavy cou! up. the river, the object of thi apparently being to avoid overtakin 4 heavily-lace Japanese naval tr: ort. which was. steaming slowly 'The' passenger liner dropped, an~ char at about 10 oclock In the "sate anchorage," andthe returning Shanghailanders crowded the decks {o listen to the dull booming in the distance, and to count the Japanese Aeroplanes, a dozen being frequently seen in the air at a time. Lunch was taken on board, and passengers and their hand-baggage were then trans ferred to the cruiser via the tender Alexandra, Many Transports Soon Dozens of apparently amply Japa ese transports sailed past, dow while the transfer of the passengers was taking place. Finally, by about 2 o'clock, the last _passenyer way on board the cruiser and she sailed for Shanihal, the passengers.—men, women, and tiny childe wang the rails to seo the "sights." As the ship entered the Whanspoo, she passed "a "concentration camp" of Japanese transports—fifteon or twenly of them—two or three hospital ships, with Targe ved erosses on the Sides, and a few destroyers and shambles soon village, most horses and mules which could be seen grazing in fields not far away, On the roads, parties of stretcher bearers could be seen walking along, without any' burdens, while eae und lorries passed rapidly to and. f¥o; some form of convoy systesn appears ted to be in force in the ease of the latter, for the leading eat or lorry always carried a lame Ji Buoys Reached Finally, The Bund came In si and the large crowd wailing on the Customs Jetty could be picked out, The Durmont dUrville sailed up past the long and imposing line of foreign warships, and past a corpse (oat Grotesquely on its back near the Augusta, and then swung round to mucher at the French naval. buoys.
Customs ofoers expedited "ti earryiny-out of the normal torn ies, and in a few moments wiv fund children were being greeted by the large eroivd of husbands, fathers, tives and friends who ind been Jong and anxiously. awaiting their arrival, Not a few of the latter were seen looking disappointedly for an expected face and asking whether i was nob or "probable" that not all the passengers from the Andre Lebon had been landed, They walled around in little clusters lone after the Inst returning Shanghailander had left for "home once
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.