In the early days the staff were beset by other problems than those of maintaining the water service. Many women and children, both foreign and Chinese, had to be evacuated and a camp had, to be provided for those of the latter nationality. Altogether about 1,700 people of all nationalities were evacuated by the only means left—the water way—from the war zone. Some 700 of those were not em ployees of the company. Four hundred of the evacuees shifted by the staff organization were Chinese and Indian police who had been ordered to withdraw from the district. The transport of so many people under highly hazardous circumstances required considerable organization, The launches were manned by volunteers in addition to the regular members of the crew ang their work was rarely performed without risk of personal harm, The 200 miles. of water mains escaped with relatively small damage from bombs and shells. A waste main was damaged by the torpedo intended for the Idzumo when the Japanese flagship was lying off Consular Point. All mains inside the perimeter and in the north east districts were repaired as soon as they were damaged.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.