JAPANESE OUTRAGE.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13641, 27 August 1937, Page 5

JAPANESE OUTRAGE.

BRITISH AMBASSADOR SHOT. MOTORING UNDER UNION JACK. United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. SHANGHAI, August 26The British Ambassador to china, Sir Hughe KnatchbullHugessen, while motoring to Shanghai from Nanking was bombed and machine-gunned by JaPanese ’planes and injured in the stomach. He was taken to a hospital. His military attache was also hit. The military attache, Colonel Lovat Fraser, was driving the car, which was flying the Union Jack, when a ’plane swooped down and machine-gunned it, then dropped a bomb. Immediately ahead cf Colonel Lovat Fraser was Mr E. L. Hall-Patch, British adviser to the Chinese Ministry of Finance, who was also in a car. He was affected by the concussion but scon recovered. Mr Hall-Patch rushed the Ambassador to hospital, where he was found to be shot in the spine and liver. His condition is critical.

JAPANESE DRIVE HALTED. SHANGHAI, August 26. Lighting with extraordinary determination the Chinese brought the 1 Japanese drive towards Shanghai to 1 a standstill, forcing the attackers j fiercely to contest every inch ot tho ; ground. The possibility of an invasion of ‘ the International Settlement by ! either army is now considered more < remote. AIL places oi amusement art , closed and curfew is enforced be- j tween 10 p.m. and dawn, but the ar- I rival of British and other troops is I having a calming effect. Most oi the j firms have re-opened their businesses, j Independent observers express the; opinion that the Japanese pressure, ! especially from the warships, is too strong. The most disturbing feature j from the international standpoint is j th < i J a pa n ese, b lock a do which the A d - j miralty describes in the Japanese I stock phrase as a 4 ‘measure of self- j defence.” It adds that foreign &hips j are liable xo be boarded to ascertain ) the true nationality. It is feared that ! this will seriously injure British and j other traders. An earlier message says that the blockade against Chinese shipping ( from Shanghai to a point near Hong- • kong applies to both Government and private shipping, but foreign shipping is exempt, | As a result of the blockade Chin- j ese shipowners are seeking to sell ! their ships to foreign, interests. | A Genoa message says the Italian ’

cruiser Montecuccoli is proceeding to Shanghai. FIRES IN SHANGHAI. ! SHANGHAI, August 2-5. j Again, as_ night fell, vast fires lit ( up Shanghai. The position of the city to-night is that the Japanese landing in force lias not yet been completed. ! In the meantime, the Japanese mar- ! ines are steadily driving back the , Chinese, especially threatening their • rear in the Chapei area. j Japanese troops, under cover of I a bombardment by i 0 warships and j2O warplanes, landed to-day T near | Paoshan. north of Shanghai. The Ja- ; panese warships in the lower reaches ! of the Whangpoo river are at present bombarding Chapei, Kiangwan and ! Tazang to cover the advance from • Woosung which began earlier in the j day. I Japanese planes heavily bombarded j outlying vi! j ages, while a dozen new : fires started in Shanghai itself,, one ! near the recently-evacuated Central | Hospital and another behind a BriI fish-owned skyscraper, Broadway i Mansions. The Japanese bombed and set on , fire the Kiangwan arsenal, South ; Shanghai. It is recalled that the first arsenal there was blown up by Admiral Seymour in 1900 during the | Boxer rising. j Vice-Admiral Hasegawa has pro- ! claimed a blockade against Chinese | shipping from Shanghai to a point ! near Hongkong.