This disturbance here is not the Shanghailander's war. Yet, the touch-line is so liable to invasion by the contending scrims and errant three-quarters that the citizen of Shanghai, be he foreigner or Chinese, has to be prepared at any moment to receive attentions which, unlike the combatants, he cannot return in kind. The Shanghailander, in thus ruefully surveying his position, does not forget that the men in the fighting line on both sides have a real right to the limelight. This feeling has actuated many foreigners in urging the provision of adequate facilities for treating wounded Chinese soldiers, It has found expression in the action of certain Specials of the French Police who have been giving half of their unbottled rations to some of those soldiers. The gallantry of the Chinese infantryman or machine-gunner vigorously defending his soil and the uncomprehending courage of the Japanese soldier landed in a strange country of which he has vaguely heard strange stories must not be thought to be belittled when the recorder of events dwells on the fortitude of civilians as, like Mr. Brittling, they see the thing through. Foreigners and Chinese alike in this great city have undergone experiences which have tested their quality and the general verdict on the Shanghailander is that he has risen to the occasion. In elaborating this theme it is as well for a Shanghai chronicler to disclaim the attitude attributed—no doubt apocryphally—to a distinguished but now deceased ornament of British public life who for a brief spell was engaged in some special mission behind or close to the front line in France. In due course he submitted recommendations for awards and, when asked why he had asked for the Victoria Cross for his chauffeur, h replied "He has been everywhere I went So it is not necessary to refer in detail to the general spirit of "carrying on"; rather is it desired to bring to attention certain acti ties which seem specially to illustrate the irrepressibility of the Shanghailander's sense of duty. A casual indication was given by a semi-official apology issued by the Shanghai Power Company the other day to explain why certain lifts in the Settlement could not be restarted. It appeared that the staff of a sub-station after being shelled out and compelled to evacuate for four days made no less than three attempts to resume work. On the third occasion they actually managed to carry on for four whole days, when the guns again had the better of the argument.
The rapidity with which the managements of the two big departmental stores in Nanking Road succeeded in reopening after the terrible bombing of a fortnight ago affords another example of the same spirit. Now the two tragically battered hotels have gallantly sprung to life again, On Shanghai's first day of grim tragedy—"Black Saturday"—there were many deeds of heroism. Not least of them was the magnificent service rendered by the staff of a chemist's dispense itself sadly shaken by the explosion, in tending to the wounded and producing essential medical stores with imperturbable efficiency. That unassuming helpfulness should not be forgotten. A special correspondent, roaming further afield, has graphically described the routine of a big wharf where, after a brief period of evacuation, the staff has been living dangerously but managing to crowd into the occupation of maintaining service all the complex responsibilities of an administration which has to exercise the arts of diplomacy, of war, of patriarchal supervision of refugees. Thus is perceived the inspiration which led a Chinese employee to hold the wharf alone for four days although first hand experience of- the bombing in Nanking Road, made him refuse to face the horrors of town life. He preferred the tonic of life on a_war-ridden wharf. Nor should tribute to the laodah who plunged into the river to save the life of the family's dog be omitted. All along the Whangpoo in fact has there been a panorama of unconsciously displayed heroism. The illustration comes from that "parenthetically" told tale of the doughty Briton on an oil installation which was very much in the position of the houses of burning Troy with the added excitement, unknown to Æneas, of falling bombs and shrapnel. Fraternal solicitude led to the receipt of a cable from Londo: anxious about your safety". reply was flashed back: "So am I". Thus does history repeat itself, for ten years' ago an American Bishop engaged in evacuating his flock from a Tiot-torn city of China, anńounced the completion of his task—and convulsed New York at the same time—by telegraphing to headquarters, "All quiet here; wife gone Manila". The attempt to be reassuring in telegrams is always difficult. This thought, no doubt, led another oil employee to embellish the announcement of his safety to his wife with the concluding words "Yours to a bomb."
One day the full story of the fighting round Ward Road gaol may be told. Meanwhile, in recording this impressionist appreciation of calmness under stress, it may be well to recall the conditions under which a young Italian doctor had to deal with the mass of wounded on that day when eighty of the inmates had been killed, when the pandemonium of the raging battle joined with the panic-stricken cries of the prisoners produced an atmosphere most unlike that of the hospital theatre. The surgeon went to his task, calmly enlisting the warders and, it is said, some of the prisoners as amateur ansesthetists, as he disposed of the wounded men rapidly and skilfully. In singling out these individual examples there is always the danger of in-yiting criticism because this or that exploit has been overlooked. So it must at once be said that they are taker as typical rather than as exhausting the narrative-of civilian pluck. This is all the more necessary a reservation because over in Pootung where liveliness has been long sustained there have been remarkable efforts in maintaining plants and preserving routine. Taipans and lesser men have paid daily visits under fire and some have camped with their employees to share the common danger without any other thought than that of doing their job. When, therefore, admiration is expressed for Shanghai's civie obstinacy it is fitting that some attempt should be made ta indicate remem-prance of such fine reinforcement of the policy of "holding on." Shanghailanders may not relish this distribution of bouquets; it may even drive them to the long-forgotten device of blushing, A newspaper has, however, to endeavour to mirror the trends and tendencies of the community. This journal would be neglecting its duty if it failed to record a profound admiration for and grateful pride in the bearing of many Shanghailanders in this difficult time. "They have justified faith in this city and in its power of recuperation. It cannot be said that Shanghai's day is done when so firmly triumphant a retort has been given to the sudden onslaught of Fate.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.