To the Editor of the "Norru-Cuina Dany News"
Sm,—About 11 am. on Sunday morning October 9, my wife and I had a rather nasty experience at the Hungjao railway crossing, in which those who frequent Hungjao may be interested.
Having just negotiated the staggered. barricades on the Shanghai side, we were crawling along in first gear, and the front wheels of our car were. actually on the railway line when, for no apparent reason, a sentry on the Hungjao side suddenly held up his hand and signalled us to stop. To our horror a Nanking-bound train, which had approached the crossing without whistling, was but a few yards oft and there was barely time for me-to snap into reverse and get clear of the line before the train rushed past. Apparently the engine driver "brake" as soon as he saw us, but was unable to stop until about intact!
It may seem incredible that a train could approach without being heard, but there was a good deal of noise going on at the barricades. Also the wind direction did not help matters, and as none of the many sentries on the Shanghai side signalled us fo stop I presume they heard nothing either.
The incident passed off quite pleasantly, but I was unable to impress on the Japanese sentries the desirability of holding up traffic or waving a red flag when trains are approaching, (it is impossible to see them coming from within the barricades), especially when mọ warning whistle is given, and I trust that those in touch with the authorities concerned will take the necessary steps to avoid the possibility of a recurrence, which might not end so happily.
Shanghai, Oct. 9, JosteH Brown.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.