HE 0.5.5. Luzon, with Vice-Admiral D.M. lo Breton, commander of the Yangtze patrol, aboard, and the French gunboat Amiral Charnier, first warships of third party Powers to rake the trip down the Yangtze from Hankow to Shanghai since the "bottling-up" of foreign vessels at the outbreak of hostilities sixteen months ago, arrived here yesterday morning. Aboard the Lazen, which together with the Amiral Charnier had been ese far as Nanking by Japanese warships, were six civilian evacuees from Hankow, five of whom were missionaries Amusing scenes were witnessed as, {he two vessels berthed at the U.S. and French naval buoys, the crews of other warships anchored in the river, engaging in cheerful sallies at the expense of the sailors standing on the decks of the new arrivals. "Did you have a nice vacation?", "I bet you're ready for some decent chow'," "Where are your beards?" were heard by a "North-China Daily News" reporter who witnessed the arrival of ihe Luzon from the deck of the 0.5.9. Isabel, flagship of the Yangtze flotilla, and the equally cheerful replies rom. the Luzon, including the commander's "Tve had to turn at my collars" illüstrated the happy-go-lucky spirit which one usually associates with sailors.
While the Amiral Charnier moored at the French naval buoys the Luzon drew alongside the Isabel, and on her decks were noticed trunks and portmanteau of all descriptions, boxes and. packages and even a private rickshaw, most of these being the property of the six civilians who had made the journey downriver on the warship.
Under the, command of Lieut-Cdr. C. B. McVay, the Luzon, accompanied by the Amiral Charnier, left Hankow per: on December 5 under the terms of a note presented to the senior naval officers of third party Powers in Shanghai by Vice-Admiral Koshiro Oikawa, which extended facilities for the passage of foreign warships from i points up-river to Shanghai under certain unrevealed conditions.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.