War and Aftermath Reduce District to Ruins: Effect of Hostilities on Populous Area HOPEI, three months ago a Shanghai, Nov. 5. thriving and populous unit of the Shanghai city group, is now a desolate area of charred ruins and ashes patrolled by Ji japanese forces. After weeks of terrific pounding by the heaviest engines of destruction, last week's fire which, followed the retreat of the Chinese troops to their present positions in the western istrict, wrote the doom of Chapei. Whether it will rise again from the ashes is something which economic and political circumstances will decide.
Yesterday, it was an appalling picture with st freet after street telling the story of its suffering and some square miles of blackened ruins making the aftermath of the huge blaze which created a pall of flame and smoke over Shanghai for days.
'A parly of newspaper representa tIves—the first to inspect the dis-Party headquarters, the Japanese trict exhaustively—yesterday was faced the Chinese at a distance of conducted through Chapel and the Jabout 300 metres but the bridge rural area beyond by Japanese appears undamaged despite the thorities and witnessed the sad spec-severity of the fighting. The country tacle which was the only conclusion side, however, bears the sears of war to be drawn from last week's tra-{in scores of buildings burnt or shelled geely. It appeared like a_ prostrate the many desperate encounters in and helpless lly, devoid of life and which buildings were utilized to activity' with once familiar land augment fighting posts hidden among marks impossible to distinguish the elds, among the destruction, Indeed, the With the continual boom of heavy skyline appeared og a fogged array artillery rattling on the ear and a sausage balloon "for observation of meaningless architectural forms, For two hours the party was conjelothing the skyline, the party projeeeded along Suitien Road. within ducted through the area and out to sight of the original battlefield when the Kiangwan district and tt seemed from the route taken that not members of the Naval Landing Party positions on one side faced the only in the district traversed Chinese forces on the other side from Chapel but farther afield scarcely a building has survived in anything ines wriggling in and out of grave mounds and disappearing from sight ike shipshape form between the exe Into the green fields. "It was treme measures of military activity, plained that at the beginning of the Even in the countryside among. the hostilities a force of BD Japanese from folds the smallest. of houses have positions. pointed out by the guide been destroyed, and from the narrow faced 10.000 Chinese troops on the confines of the Paoshan Road and Jother side of the road. around the North Station well out into the country a succession of During The Attack sandbag redoubts, hastily improvised One story of Japanese heroism was posts in shops and buildings, hund~ elated. When the Chinese attacked reds of miles of barbed wire de-{the slender Japanese positions after fences and strongly built defence out heavy barrage, a party of 20 blue= among the sravemounds and Jackets rushed out from Kwangehung creeks are evidence of the bitter Road into Suitien Road, surprising the struggle between the two. armies [Chinese on the road and helping which eventually ended in the materially in stemming" the initial Japanese occupation of the district. fa tack. Five tiny' wooden boards, Chinese Pillbox Reveal bearing names and "inscriptions Japanese, with a few flowers at the Passing along Paoshan Road to-base, were seen stuck in the earth at wards the North Station, where an-the foot of a gravemannd and told other view of the battering suitored the simple story of that action. "In by the Administration Building cor-fact, In assessing the human cost of reels previous impressions, it was the' war panorama unfolded tothe dimeult to conceive "how" anybody visitors, many of these little wooden ould have withstood marks,' each with Its little. floral Opposite Blockhouse tribute, were to be seen. Some were esting exhibit was revealed, It was. in North Szechuen oad where the a concrete pillbox of "amazing frst ghting occurred: many others strength, hidden from sight by adver-dotted the roads among the country rising slinboards and matshed coverside farther afield, ing Which the Japanese believe was The strength and extent of the Duilt long before the outbreak. An [Chinese defences in the countryside Inspection showed that it consists of were revealed to the party. In the 8 couple of rooms, or compartments, garden of what was once a pleasant fitted with electric light, and machine villa but now merely a ruined shell, gun slots with two' comfortable, the frst link of a system of dug-outs chairs for the guardians of the post. which the Japanese claim extend 18 Behind is a strongly-built dug-out miles. continuously from' the neigh: which would house reserves. bourhood of Kiangwan to Tazang was Along Paoshan Road and at the shown, "Correspondents crawled can roar of the Administration. there is ously into the entrance and emerged graphic illustration of the magnitude a Tong distance away having traversed of the Japanese task and the stoula series of redoubte with firing points ness of the Chinese resistance. Sand~ [strengthened with planks and other Dag redoubts are in almost overlap-material collected in the vicinity and ping formation along the road and Jeleverly camouflaged. It was pointed every comer resembles a fortified out how selentifieally and thoroughly this system had been constructed post: The Commercial Press build~ {ngs on each side of-the road reveal necessitating the use of heavy Japan the effect of Japanese shellfire and jose bombers and artillery to dislodge bombing with walls awry, the roots the defenders. The discovery potato "masher" in one dug-out some-blown in and big gaping holes in what awed the correspondents, the structure, tu the building hous-Passing this line extending far into ing the printing department, where the green, a Chinese college, cons!~ a huge bulge in the wall following dered to be one of the strongest A collapse menaces the unwary, points held by the Chinese in that there is every appearance of a fort district, showed the effect chiefly of Fess for every conceivable material Japenese bombing. The windows hat been used "to strengthen the were sandbagged and four entrances doors and windows and among the to the quadrangle blocked with sand= stoutest defences are boxes of metal bags, boxes and other obstacles ereattype surmounted by sandbags. Me Ing a strongly fortified position which, side, the mass of debris disproves inthe Japanese view, demanded the the theory of the pen overcoming the employment of the most powerful sword. Machinery, type, papers measures to enable the attacking material of all kinds are' scattered forces on the other side of the road around with bomb and shell damage to remove the obstacle to their pro-completing the medley and 'a nice gress. IL was explained that resort collection of "potato masher" was had to the air unit, and the str= grenades lying in a corner.
Founding wall was first destroyed.
Bight-Character Bridge After 18 direct hits were registered Forther along, just where the line on the school building, gutting of fires started, big bomb craters and Japanese bluejackets. stormed the shell holes show the intensity of the building and captured it after force Japanese attack, Whatever walls are hand-to-hand fighting. Although a school, as it was occupied by Chinese standing are pitted with bullets, shell holes, splinters and bomb frag: who had fortified it and used it as a military base this ction had to be ments, Calculations must run into taken "against it. "A little "wooden millions of hits. The follows the tablet "announces to passersby—at beginning of the conilagratation area present parties of Japanese soldiers where every street leads to desola-Of luejackets—that its shell-pitted tic tind thousands of Chinese houses walls and Ils wrecked tiled root are and shops have been destroyed by now a memorial to Japanese war fire, "As the party passed into the dead. rural districts columns of Japanese Back from the war front of un-troops were seen marching "along pleasant destruction, the scene using many forms of temporary vehi-Switches to the Sotti¢ment where cles for transport purposes, the North Szechuen "Road district seemed heading west, Japanese bluejackets are at. work Eight-Chatacler Bridge, so often feleaning up the debris burning rub-mentioned in the communiques of] hish and clearing the. streets, while Fecent weeks, presented an unusual" Sight. Over this narrow creek, with Sight of the Japanese Naval flandin; the Japanese community, reduced from 30,000 to about 6,000, is now endeavouring to return to normal al-
SCA. VAN'S RESCUE OF ANIMALS FROM MUNGJAO superintendent of the SS.P.C-A. and anoth Boma! ae S8te without
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.