It was estimated that there were 50,000 refugees in Canton, most of whom are women and children left homeless by the destruction of thousands of houses, alleged to have been set on fire by Chinese troops before their retreat from the city.
Permission for the Wuchang to sail up the river was granted by Japanese naval authorities as a result of an interview at Hongkong on November 17 between Vice-Admiral Koichi Shiozawa, Commander-in-Chief of the South China Fleet, and Sir Percy Noble, Commander-in-Chief of the British China Station.
During the conference Vice-Admiral Shiozawa expressed sympathy for the refugees suffering severe hardships in Canton.—Domei.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.