In addition to a Japanese military force patrolling Nantao, 190 Chinese policemen of the Ta Tao Government were engaged in maintaining peace and order under the direction of the Japanese gendarmerie. Their efforts to prevent depredations, the spokesman said, had been rewarded by the Nantao Benevolent Society, consisting of prominent residents under the direction of Mr. Wang I-ting, with a gift of $1,000.
Referring to the fires in Nantao, the spokesman declared that 28 blazes had been reported from Dec. 12 to Jan, 30. These fires were attributed by the police, in order of their frequency, to accidents caused by bonfires built inside houses by beggars and other destitute persons sains warmth; accidents attributable to the use of candles and other uncovered fires in the dark houses, by ordinary dwellers as well as burglars; incendiarism by gangs of intimidators seeking to collect "protection money" from wealthy individuals whose houses are still intact: arson for revenge agauist landlords and other wealthy persons; and incendiarism for incendiarism's sake.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.