At the request of the Public Works Department, Settlement police yesterdaycmorning blocked Passage 1341, Vu Yuen Road, with barbed wire bar: "leades as a retaliatory action against the Central Weaving & Painting Ca. which, it is stated, has failed to comply with orders issued to banish noise, smoke and night working.
Other barricades were put into position in front of the Be Ba Be restaurant, which adjoins the passage. the reason for this being that the yard at the rear of the establishment communicates with the factory compound. This step has been taken to blockade all exits from the factory.
It is understood that the Public Works Department repeatedly has requested the management of the fac-ory to re-arrange the methods of work in view of the fact that it is situated in the western residential district. Huge volumes of smoke, it s said, have emanated from the factory chimneys at all hours of the day, and there has been the noise of heavy machinery working through the early morning hours.
A Chinese Police-constable of the Shanghai Municipal Police acted as interpreter and, apparently, mediator during a dispute between sentries of the Seaforth Highlanders and Japanese police and sentries on Garden Bridge yesterday morning.
An argument between the two arose, it is understood over the regulation of the traffic, the Japanese stating that the Seaforths position was hampering them in their work of checking all vehicles entering Hongkew. As neither of the parties were able to make themselves understood negotiations were not proceeding too amicably and the result was that there was much gesticulating by both parties.
'A Chinese Police constable standing nearby then came forward and spoke to both parties and shortly afterwards smiles came over the faces of all concerned in the dispute. Apparently the constable had a knowledge of both Japanese and English and was therefore instrumental in explaining matters to each side with the result that frayed tempers became calm once again.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.