Peiping, June 6.
Mr. L. H. Lamb, Assistant Chinese Secretary, and Major Delamaine returned from Kalgan on June 4, without having been able to achieve anything towards obtaining the release of Lieut.-Col. Spear and Lieut. Cooper. But they were, at least, able to obtain official confirmation of certain facts.
Lieut. Cooper since has been Released. The two British representatives, on their arrival at Kalgan, had the greatest difficulty in getting into touch with Japanese authorities of any kind. Neither Gen. Hiranuma, commanding the Kalgan district, nor his Chief of Staff would see them, on the rather lame excuse that the case was still under investigation. Finally the highest Japanese authority they were allowed to see was a captain of the Military Police, who professed to be speaking on behalf of Gen. Hirenuma. It was with him that Maj. Delamaine, who is a fluent Japanese linguist, conducted negotiations for over three hours.
They were not allowed to see the prisoners. It appears that Lieut. Cooper had met Lieut.-Col. Spear just before they were arrested. They were taken to Kalgan and lodged in separate, but adjoining, rooms in the gendarmerie headquarters. The Japanese assured Messrs. Lamb and Dalamaine that the captives were being well-treated, and were in good health, and could have anything they wanted. As the case was very com: plicated, it was impossible to say, how long they would be kept in detention, Mr. Lamb was allowed to send Col. Spear an open note, who replied in the same manner that he was well and would like some money. Having done all that was possible the two British representatives returned to Peiping, in order to forward their information to London.
"Wrong Thing at the Wrong Time"
The Japanese have a peculiar faculty for always doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Although the matter is still under negotiation between the two governments, the Domei news agency issued a long message from Kalgan on June 6, purporting to give the results of the official examination of the two captives. In it the gravest, and on the face of it ridiculous, charges are made against Col. Spear: for instance that he had not only been sending messages by wireless of Chinese Communists to the British authorities at Shanghai end Peiping about conditions inside the Japanese lines of operations, but that he was actually gathering infor-motion about Japanese operations on behalf of the Kuomintang Government and the Communists, and sending same to them, The Domei message also contains several serious errors of fact. It states, for instance, that Mr. Cooper and Lieut.-Col. Spear met at Yangchiaping and that both men were in hiding for three days before they were arrested, But, in the first place, Yangchiaping (the Trappist Monastery) lies a good two days march from the Peiping-Kalgan Railway where the two were arrested on May 26; and in the second place Lieut. Cooper only left Peiping on May 25.
Nevertheless, this lengthy Domei message is of considerable importance and must be regarded as at least a semi-official communication. In view of the strict censorship existing in these parts, no such message could have been given out without the full consent and approval of the Japanese military authorities The Japanese military spokesman here, in reply to questions by foreign correspondents today, confirmed officially that the Peiping Military Headquarters were now in possession of the results of the Kalgan investigations. Moreover, when pressed further, he gave it as his considered opinion that the Domei message was a correct summary of the findings from the examination of Lieut-Col Spear, Italians to Leave Planes In Spain Paris, June 11 The Spanish Government has reported to France that all foreign troops have been evacuated from Spain. The notification said the liner Dulio was picking up the last 1,730
Italians.
Some 600 Italian bombing and combat planes will be left behind, however, to become part of the Spanish fighting machine. These will be paid for in a final settlement of the Spanish war debt to Italy.—United Press.
Convict Hurt in Escape North Clarendon, June 11.
An escaped Connecticut State prison life termer convict was injured seriously tonight when the automobile.he was driving crashed into a culvert here. The convict, Albert Raymond, of Worcester., Mass., escaped from' the prison at Wethers-field, Conn, this morning in the of Warden R. H. Walk-
United Pre: stops pain in 3 seconds
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.