The engineer of the Amoy Waterworks crossed the harbour more than once seeking information workmen who were left behind when the Japanese forces advanced on the' city. He was advised not to proceed to the hills that are the water catchment area as it was thought that many Chinese soldiers were still lurking, hiding there, 'On his way back to the Bund on the last' occasion to his surprise he met the foreman of these stranded men, He had come to the town to procure provisions for himself and his men, He stated that there were no Chinese soldiers among the hills a8 far og he knew, but numerous Chinese families had taken refuge' there, 'These were starving for the' little food they had originally taken to the hills with them had long since been finished. These men, had just carried on with their work as usual attending to the reservoir and had not been molested in any way by the Japanese soldiery, Japanese Allegations the long period of bombing various points of the city, during and after the retirement of the Cantonese troops, not a shot"from an anti-alr-raft gun was ever fired, 'The Japan. ese planes had it all their own sweet way, Only on the day the. city fell at 11 am, four shells from antt-aircraft guns' were seen to burst, being red at air-craft zooming over the harbour, No further shots were fired and two days later at their newly made naval headquarters on. the Tiger Hill, the Japanese were firing at nothing, evidently, trial shots from two antlatreraft guns, Were they these two guns abandoned by the fly-Ing Chinese soldiers?
The head watchman of Messrs, Butterfield & Swire godown, a compulsory visitor to Kulangsu, stated that not a person was left behind at the wharf, pontoon or warehouses, Not a sampan, too, was allowed to go, or would go, near the Amoy side for 'a number of days. That story was an invention and so was the one avent sailors fung on Japenese Property Damaged With regard to the protection of property—an eyewitness to incidents stated that Japanese soldiers smashed the doors and the plate glass windows of a hotel that was flying the British flag, and he saw people, some of them carrying a small flag with a big red elrele in the centre, kicking open the door of a shop above the root of which was flying the French tricolour. These may have been isolated cases, The American Vice-Consul acted during the emergeney—he put American marines on the streets and their presence did much to pacify a frightened teeming populace; it was American marines that crossed for water when the reservoir was dry and the wells were rapidly shallowing being lapped by a thirsty multitude, It was the commander of the American gunboat, it is said, who went over for rice which the Japanese refused to give up and said he would take it by force if It was not given peaceably. He wanted no trouble with a starving people in Kulangsu, Mr. Altaffer, the American Vice-Consul, will be heard of further. He is a man of resource and ability and the least reward he can receive for his good work here during this crisis 1s promotion—he is worthy of it
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.