playing havoc with Japanese transportation in North China, particularly along the northern section of the Peiping-Hankow Railway, according to Chinese dispatches received here Railway trafic between Paoting and Shihchiachwang is said to have been interrupted.
Practically the entire town of Shihchiachwang, the reports claim, has been flooded, affecting over 10,000 houses, 2,500 of which have collapsed.
"The Yungting River is said to be rising continuously. The new branch railway built by the Japanese between Sinhsiang and Kaifeng is e reported to have been badly damaged by flood waters.
All rivers in Hopei province, the dispatches continue, are overflowing their banks and flooding the country-
The steel railway bridge spanning the Bute River at Sinlo is said to have been washed away.
South-bound trains on the Peiping-Hankow Railway, the reports add, can only reach Paoting. All bridges across the Tang River, north of Tinghsien, have been washed away.
Hopei province is said to be facing a severe famine. The spring drought has made it impossible to plant cotton and wheat, while the present heavy rains and flood are expected to ruin the harvest—Reuter.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.