'NDITIONS in Hankow are graphically described in this article 4 by a correspondent who has had unusual opportunities of witnessing and investigating events as they have occurred since occupation of the area by the Japanese military. This article applies only to Hankow.
Conditions in Wuchang and Hanyang—cities which have been almost entirely abandoned by the Chinese people—are different and find no place in this article which describes the general situation.
Another article to be published. tomorrow will deal with the position of foreigners and foreign trade since the closing of the Yangtze River.
It must first of all be noted that the population of Hankow at the time of the Japanese occupation had dropped to a generally accepted figure of about 150,000 persons, or one-fifth of the normal population. None had expected so vast a depopulation, and whither the multitude went remains a mystery. The advent of the Japanese found practically this entire survival of population within the confines of the foreign areas, the normal population of which is about 40,000 persons.
One of the first steps taken by the Japanese was the creation of a Refugee Zone some two miles above the Hankow Concessions, in the poorest district of the city, instead of using the Concession area, which had been designated as such. Taking all the circumstances into consideration, the step was a reasonable one. The area in question, known as Wu Shien Miao, has in the meantime become the most densely populated and only truly "live" district in Hankow. Its population is now estimated at 90/100,000 persons, practically the entire remainder being distributed between the French Concession (35,000) and the S.A.D/'s 1, 2 and 3.
There has been no shortage of rice for the Chinese population, and, in view of the attenuated population, none is feared. This is thanks to the forethought of the Refugee Committee. Fresh vegetables have hitherto come in abundance. There is no doubt that country-people are getting their crops in as quickly as they can, but there are grave fears that new crops will not be soon and that an eventual shortage is inevitable. Salt and fats are scarce and prices have advanced heavily, Fresh meat has hitherto been plentiful but, as in the case of vegetables, it is an unhealthy sign, because there is no doubt that cattle are being deliberately killed off.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.