CHINA HARD HIT.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 375, 17 March 1932, Page 1

CHINA HARD HIT.

£1,400,000,000 Damage Done at Shanghai. COSTS OF WAR CALCULATED. United Press Assn. —By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received March 17, 8.30 a.m.) SHANGHAI, March 16. The League Commission has announced its intention of remaining here until there appears to be a definite possibility of settling the Chino-Japan-ese dispute in Shanghai. In the meantime the Chinese are compiling data as fast as possible to submit to the Commission for the purpose of showing the wholesale destruction in Chinese areas. According to data prepared by the Social Affairs Bureau at Greater Shanghai, the civilian casualties in Chapei, Kiangwan and Woosung total over 6000 killed and 200 wounded, while many thousands are missing. Property losses are estimated at £1,400,000,000.

EYE-WITNESSES’ STORY.

Tale of Terrible Suffering Among Chinese. (Special to the “ Star.’ ) SYDNEY, March 10. Terrible tales of suffering in Shanghai were brought to Sydney by members of the crew of the wheat ship Anglo-African, the first vessel to reach Australia since the Sino-Japanese conflict began in earnest. They did not see a great deal of the fighting, but they saw enough to make them feel that they never wanted to return to China. The suffering of the Chinese, they said, was pathetic, and thousands and thousands of them were in a state of starvation. Their outlook appeared to be quite hopeless, and it rhade them wonder what the ultimate outcome of the whole sorry business would be. “ When we went up the river past Chapei.” said Chief Steward Trotman, “ the town was bustling with life, rickshaws were running and everything was shipshape. When we sailed back there was no town there to speak of, just great big holes in ruined buildings. We did not see any bullets, but there must have been plenty by the noise as we sailed to -our berth up the Whangpoo. The coolies refused to leave the ship, as they were afraid of the machineguns, the crackle of which could be heard on all sides. We took more notice when we knew that shells were being fired over the ship.” Two members of the crew .went ashore, and they had a lively time before they decided to return as fast as their legs would carry them. The Japanese were firing almost indiscriminately, and were always on the look-out for snipers among the Chinese. The Chinese also fired at almost anything, and the members of the crew say that they escaped with their lives solely because the Japanese and the Chinese were such “ dreadfully bad shots.” Even with the Japanese machine-guns there was plenty of noise, but very little slaughter. Most of the Chinese were terrified, however, and were suffering from fear and lack of food. “ I have never seen such starvation,” said Trotman. “ Why, the refugees—and there were thousands of them — would pick up the clinker cinders. We had to feed a lot of them. We could not let them go without doing so. The stevedore told us that his house had been blown to pieces, and he brought with him his two starving wives. We shared our meals with them. The Japanese were ruthless when they obtained control. While we were there they ordered a rich Finn who was driving a car to stop. He did so, and then, thinking he had got the signal to go on, he started off again. He was shot dead. Terrible punishments were given to Chinese who were caught stealing. One man was lashed to a pole and batoned until the man who was inflicting the punishment dropped, exhausted.”