/EMINISCENT of the 1932 evacuation, the exodus from Chape: and Hongkew reached alarm thousands of people streamed into. the Settlement and the French Concession with thei belongings of vehicles, piled high with household goods, were to be found in practically every: street south side of the Soochow Creek up-to. Nantao boundary, Continuing from the past two days with. increased vigour, the migration also affected the Wayside and Yanztszepoo districts where a few" hundreds Joined the trek: across the Creel 'The number was further increased by refugees from the north and from. the outskirts of Shanghai who arrived in trains, buses and" trucks Jaden, with alt sorts of luge So heavy was the trame ab every bridge along' the Creek that motor ears had to crawl slowly for some distance before being able to get through. For the greater part of the day, Broadway, "Szechuen Road, Honan Road and' several other streets connecting Hongkew with the Central District were jammed with tref.
50,000 Returees-While no statistics were kept of the exodus, a conservative estimate by official quarters put the number of refugees entering the Settlement from Chapel from July 20 up to Aug. 5 at $0000. This excluded those who moved from the Hongkew districts In' the Settlement to the south, of the Soochow Creek.
Rumours of an imminent war between China and Japan were given as the cause of the panic. These rumours were said to have found their support in the large-scale departure of Japanese residents from China and the presence of sandbags In certain, sealeted sections of Chapes Another rumour, which was denied by the Chinese Police, was that Chinese residents in Chapel and in streets along North Szechuen Read and Sawgin Creek had been advised by the Peace Maintenance Corps. move as sven as possible.
So many moved into the Settle~ ment throughout the day that the Chapel Police found their hands full directing trame, The refugees were fat one time asked to return to their homes, bub ro such advice has been riven in the post few days, In fact, residents wore allowed to flock into the Settlement without any inter-{erence from the Police,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.