Although the Japanese heve dented imprestment of Chinese in thelt ateaby It. is, reported tht several Sapaneso oMmeers have been in-Yestigating the rumours that eblebodied men, sole supporters of tamil. fee, are in the bande of press gangs. tie taid that the officers called upon these families and. promised thet, ich Bethe gas, they wold" Supported by the Japanese Army: At the. Wing Ca Cotton Mil. Seoul Road, It is learned, more than 500 Chinese have. been held, with many of them arriving in Shengh By trucks from Pinght, Keating and Minghong, while. others have. beer Drought from Ha: ning. Shenshih, Kashing and Hangchow.
'Quite a number manage to escape from the clutches of the. Japanese 'Army, but the fear of having to pay heavy penalty if they are retaken fan one thie mouths. "The fact however, that Yanglszepoo district deserted' at night and. thet. Chinese, who live north of the Soochow Creek brea_snd who work on this side. {he Creek, prefer to remain in the Soitlement rather than return there in the evening.
may be Fecalled that the commendeering of human labour north of the Soochow Creske has deen done efore—in. March 1040, but was do-nied by" the Japanese Bmbassy spokesman, who attributed the reports to the facts that arrests north the" Soochow Creek had been made, the detained men being crl-
No $.¥.C. Inspector This Year Several commandeered Chinese, it was reported, ad not taken their supper, and when they requested the interpreter of the Japanese military allow them to buy, food, they met with a flat refusal, 'The interpreter is quoted as saying, "that if they showed any' sign of hunger or exposure," they wontd be beaten. They were also fold that most probably they would be sent to various war fronts to work as coolles, oF to the frst line of defence as cannon-fodder.
The escaped man saw more than ten Japanese soldiers leading approximately 200 commandeered men from the headquarters. He, himself, was Ted away at midnight with other men. "They were all forced to leave truck, but when the vehicle reached the vicinity of Wentsaopang (creek), he decided to escape since -lmew that there would be litle hope for his life it he was sent to the front.
"Taking the chance when the car stopped for a little while on the road, he Jumped into the creek and swam to safely, Just before he reached the Shanghai, Feb. 22.
In view of the fact that the ma-Jority of members of the S.V.C. have been doing regular duty in "BY Sector since last August, the Cotinell has decided, on he recommend tion of the Commandent, S.V.C., 10 forego the usual Corps' Inspection Parade this year, and to substitute in fits place inspection of each unit by the Commandant, 'A certain amount of preparation and rehearsal is always necessary. for big parade, whereas an inspection of each unit near the end of the Training Season should call for no special preparatory worl Whilst it is appreciated that some units of the Corps are in favour of holding the parade as usual, enquiry hag elicited that the weight of volunteer opinion is inclined towards shelving it until the return of more Tt is pointed' out that the Couneits decision refers to suspension for the current year only, and does not imply that the Corps Parade wil hhotybe' held in future years.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.