Pedestrians Searched A terrific explosion at the rear of the Palace Hotel just before moon yesterday, thought to have been caused by a cigarette tin type bomb, sent lunch hour crowds on the Bund scampering for safety as police with drawn pistols dashed to the scene. Clouds of blue smoke drifting up from the yard at the rear of the hotel lent weight to the theory that a bomb had been thrown over the wall by someone wishing to rid himself of the dangerous object, probably on account of the close proximo ity of a police search party. Inside the yard, however, except for a few marks on the wall, there were no signs of there having been an explosion, The explosion, which occurred at 11.50 a.m, -was heard over a wide area, and a reporter from the "North-China Daily News" who arrived at the scene immediately after the detonation found the lane between the Chartered Bank building and the Palace Hotel jammed with a crowd of curious sightseers. Over the heads of the crowd a pall of blue smoke was being blown about by the breeze, but nowhere was there any sign of damage, Inside the yard no splinters or evidence of a bomb having been thrown could be found, and an official ihe Palace Hotel was at a loss to explain the cause of the explosion, The yard does not contain anyo articles such as gas containers, refrigerator or domestic appliances which are likely to explode through the heat and, therefore, the theory is held that a home-made homo
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.