Hankow, Nov. 14.
Following the panic which has broken out in Changsha, during which civilians and Chinese troops alike are reported to have evacuated, it is now reliably stated, in a message received here, that the offices of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Ca. Ltd, the Asiatic Petroleum Ca., Ltd, abd "Defag" (Deutsche Farben Handels-gesellschaft Waibel & Ca.) have all been destroyed.
The offices of Butterfield & Swire and the Yee Tsoong Tobacco Distriputors, Ltd., however, are still intact.
No further news is available regarding the foreign community which evacuated a few miles downriver yesterday morning, but it is presumed that all ate safe.
The actual position of the Japanese is obscure, but it is expected here that they will arrive in Changsha within a week.
Practically the entire city on the mainland was in flames yesterday, causing heavy damage to property, according to foreign reports. Many important buildings are said to have been destroyed.
A general exodus from the city is in progress. Chinese civilians are hurrying away by all available means that Chinese guerillas still infested both banks of the Yangtze and frequently fired on Japanese warships and transports.
Chinese troops were letting loose drifting mines which endangered navigation on the Yangtze, the notes further declared. A Japanese transport recently struck one of the mines and was sunk, it was disclosed.
The fifth and final reason given in the notes was that considerable time would be required to completely remove the mines laid by the Chinese and replace navigation markings which were taken away.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.