Warships Moving

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 842, 10 December 1929, Page 9

Warships Moving

REVOLT CRISIS IN CHINA Women And Children To Leave BRITISH CRUISER READY FOR TROUBLE United P.JL.—By Telegraph—Copyright Received 11 a.iu. SHANGHAI, Monday. IN accordance -with instructions issued by the British and American Consulates, European women and children are being evacuated from Nanking. A steamer arrived there this afternoon and 73 persons went aboard. While rtie situation in the capital is quiet, the evacuation step is indicative of the seriousness of the outlook.

It is reported that Government officials at Nanking have wirelessed instructing the holding of a swift vessel in readiness to evacuate the city in case of necessity. A foreign official opinion received from Nanking says that Chiang Kaishek is preparing to fight. A telegram received from the British cruiser Suffolk this morning said all was quiet; but trouble was anticipated hourly. A train carrying consular officials to Nanking last night reached the capital safely; but the midnight express was partly derailed as a result of the removal of a section of the rails.

A Shanghai volunteer corps has been ordered to stand by for mobilisation in the event of trouble. A British Official Wireless message from Rugby says a somewhat critical situation exists at several Yangtse ports, arising out of the advance of the Kuominchun troops and the defections among the National troops at Changchow, which led to the interruption of railway communications between Nanking and Shanghai. The conditions appear uncertain, and as a precautionary measure the British cruiser Suffolk left Shanghai

for Nankins yesterday mornins in order to be available, if required, for the safety of foreign residents. The cruiser Berwick has left HongKong to replace the Suffolk at Shanghai. U.S. CRUISER SAILS PITTSBURGH ON THE WAY TO SHANGHAI SERIOUS SITUATION Kecd. 10.39 a.m. MANILA, Monday. Admiral Charles MeVav, commander of the Asiatic fleet, has sailed for Shanghai aboard the cruiser Pittsburgh, to be at “the centre of the trouble.” The admiral said his decision was due to the serious situation in China, and the possibility that the lives of American citizens might become endangered. He believed it was his duty to go to Shanghai.