Bomb in Hankow Slum Area Affects Building Peiping, Sept. 27.
A foreign report from Hankow states that during the raid on September 24, Japanese aeroplanes, flying low, dropped bombs on a group of Chinese shops adjoining the British Methodist Mission, the roof of which was damaged, windows were smashed and doors blown in by the force of the explosions.
The Mission hospital 100 yards distant, was mot hit. The report adds that "as there were no military objectives in the neighbourhood, it seems possible the planes aimed at the hospital, which is conspicuous in a poor residential district—Reuter. e Used by Troops.
A detailed explanation why the Japanese naval authorities delayed till now the bombing of the Canton-Hankow railway which was of great military importance to the Chinese forces, was made yesterday morning by the Japanese naval spokesman.
As a result of the ban placed on Chinese shipping in Chinese territorial waters, the spokesman said, munitions necessary for the Chinese armies were being unloaded at Hoihow on Hainan Island, from where they were transported to Nanking and Hankow by the Canton-Hankow railway.
Chinese forces in the south, the spokesman added, have also been using this line to proceed to the northern war areas.
Although the Japanese naval authorities had considered it imperative to bomb railways to achieve the results contemplated in the naval blockade of Chinese coasts, he added, such measures were not resorted to since the authorities were desirous of giving every consideration to the evacuation of foreigners from the hinterlands of China.
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Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.