Scores of Japanese soldiers who had come to the scene from barracks near by to look at the blaze, remained idle throughout and no effort was made to bring the fire under control with the exception of some ten coolies who arrived with pails of water which they poured into the fire and thus gave a rather humorous note to an otherwise sinister spectacle.
The buildings were completely burned-out, and the blaze was still in full swing at 5.30 p.m., some four and a half hours after it had been first noticed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.