Reports of the alleged searching of American women at Tientsin barriers were described as "vague" by the United States Consul-General in Tientsin, according to a message from that city on Friday night.
A Bhanghai English language newspaper, basing its article on a weekly magazines report, alleged that letters received from Tientsin revealed that American women had been searched.
The newspaper reported that Mrs. L. Michiaelson, wife of an employee of the General Motors Company in Japan, and a Mrs. Briggs, wife of an employee of the Standard Oil Company in Japan, had been searched on June 16.
Mrs. S. Fink. Principal of the Tientsin American School, and her daughter, aged 12, were searched at a Country Club barrier on June 18, according to the newspaper. A Mrs. Silverberg also was said to have been searched.
The American Consul-General admitted that reports of the searching were submitted on June 20 by the Tientsin American Chamber of Commerce, but he added that the "nature of the search was vague," the message from Tientsin said.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.