Over a hundred poor Chinese families were left homeless and many will have probably been left jobless as flames destroyed the village of Tse An Pang off Edinburgh Road early yesterday morning.
The fire was believed to have been started maliciously by a Chinese woman and man, who were later taken into custody by the police of the City Government of Greütet Shanghai for questioning, The flames were first noticed in a Chinese food shop at 167 East Tse An Pang at about 6.15 aum. and four engines of the Shangha Fire Brigade, from the Bubbling Well and Ichang Road stations, under Assistant Station Officer A. B. Cornell, and two fire machines from the Jessfield Brigade, reached the scene simultaneously few minutes later.
Hoses were immediately laid by the Shanghai Fire Brigade through an alleyway leading into the flaming village from Edinburgh Road, while the Chinese engines turned back to Vu Yuen Road, where one hose connection was laid in front of the home of Major-General F. K. Simmo Commander-in-Chief of the British Military Forces in Shanghzi. This hose was brought to: the rear part of the blazing village; from a lane adjoining the British C-in-C's residence.
About 2000 yards of hose were used by the Shanghai Fire Brigade to reach the scene of the fire. A strong breeze made fire operations still more difficult and caused the flames to spread rapidly on to other buildings in the neighbourhood.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.