Evening Star Newspaper, August 17, 1937, Page 4

3NATIONS IN HUNT FOR SOVIET PLANE Plan to Spur Polar Search After Being Grounded by Bad Weather. En route to Fairbanks, Alaska, from Moscow, Sigismund Levanef- sky, the “Russian Lindbergh,” and Mve companions disappeared Fri- day and have not been seen since. The last definite message from the flyers was early Friday after they had crossed the Pole. The men reported one of their four motors was going dead. By the Associated Press. FAIRBANKS, Alaska, August 17.— Aviators of three nations gathered on the rim of the Arctic today for a search into the bleak wastes where six Russian transpolar flyers vanished last Friday. Wind, rain and lowering clouds, which swept omniously across the top of the world yesterday, balked Amer- ican, Russian and Canadian airmen trom launching an aerial hunt. Among those grounded by the storm was Jimmy Mattern, American aviator, who in 1933 was saved from death in the wilds of Siberia by Sigismund LevanefIsky, pilot of the missing plane which was en route here on a 4,000~ mile flight from Moscow. Equipping Airplane. Mattern, who was on a world flight when he crashed in Siberia, spent yes- terday equipping his fast, long-dis- tance ship with de-icers. A refueling plane to enable him to extend his search was en route here from his California headquarters. At Aklavik, Northwest Territory, Canadian Pilot Bob Randall was ready to soar out over the frozen Arctic Ocean in a plane chartered by the Russian Embassy in Washington. He flew to Aklavik yesterday from Ed- monton, Alberta, 1,750 miles south- ward. To Go to Cape Wellen. At Markovo, on the Anadir River in Siberia, Soviet Pilot Zadkoff prepared to hop to Cape Wellen, on the North- ern Siberian coast. The Soviet icebreaker Krassin was loaded with three seaplanes at Cape Schmidt and was ready to steam toward Alaska. Three more planes were being fitted at Moscow with extra fuel tanks. Vague radio messages picked up on & wave length assigned to the missing transport plane spurred searchers in the hopes the ship had landed safely, possibly on an ice floe. Bleucher (Continued From First Page.) between the Soviet government and the Spanish loyalists. The Russian officer is well known | {n China, where soon after the World | ‘War under the name of Gen. Galine | he reorganized the Chinese Army. At the present moment, according to reports received here, he has offered to supply the Chinese National Army with airplanes, tanks, guns, poison gas and ammunition. The Soviet Siberian force is an in- dependent unit. For the last six years, under the energetic leadership of Bluecher, it has become a formid- able force, well-supplied with all the most up-to-date war paraphernalia. It could supply China from its enor- mous stores in Siberia with almost any kind of war material it needed. ‘These would be replaced in short time with new materials, which can reach Vladivostok or other centers from the Russian factories. Should these reports prove correct there is no doubt that the Sino- Japanese conflict might expand into an international conflagration. Japan Can't Quit Now. It is too late for a proud nation like Japan to withdraw now, even though her leaders might realize that they are biting off more than they can chew. The reply to the support which the Moscow government may be ready to extend to China will be an outcry from Japan and Germany that the SBoviet, after having succeeded in causing an international conflict around Spain, is now spreading its sphere of activities into the Far East. Thus, the 8ino-Japanese conflict, which is considered by many chan- cellories as a war for territorial ex- pansion, will enter, like the Spanish civil war, into the domain of the struggle between two political phi- losophies—communism and fascism. The fact that last Fall Japan and Germany signed an alliance against communism must not be overlooked. On the basis of that treaty, the Jap- anese could demand assistance from Berlin, In the event that this new move by the U. 8. 8. R. is confirmed, Japan will have to fight for its life, and will in all likelihood be supported by the Reich. War Not Popular in Japan. ‘The war against China is not par- ticularly popular in Japan despite the outward signs of enthusiasm on the part of the population. As long as the campaign appeared to be one of military marches to which the Japa- nese people have been accustomed since 1931, they were in favor of it. They believed that, like the conquest ©f Manchuria. this would be a short end swift campaign. Consequently the new taxes and the increased cost of living would be only temporary. Once Northern China becomes a part ©f Japan, the people were told by the government propagandists, an era of prosperity as never seen before in Japan would follow. But the problem will became com- pletely different if Chiang Kai-shek, with Soviet support, is able to offer determined resistance. Japan is not able, because of her financial and eco- nomic situation, to wage alone & war of lang duration. Japan, having to fight with? its back to the wall, will not hesitate to request Germang's as- sistance in her new *“fight against communism in the Par Bast.” Over- night the Tokio gover:ment will be-~ come the defender of law and order. The implication of Russia’s stepping into the Far Eastern conflict are of &° momentous importance. It may mean a general conflagration which Will extend from the Pacific to the Atlantic; from the Far East to Europe. Devoe & Reynolds Paints Benjomin Moore Paints 922 N. Y. Ave. Netionel 8610 e Suited for Long- Range Raids. Although Marshal Chiang Kai-shek always has considered the eventuality of making an air demonstration against Tokio or other Japanese cities, mili- tary observers believe that in the pres- ent conflict the possibilities of a Chi- remote. of which not more than 165 are ade- quate for a long-distance raid. All these planes are essential for the military operations with which the Chinese dictator is confronted. China must buy its aviation abroad and each airplane which is lost must be replaced by one purchased either in the United States or in Europe. Hence, it cannot afford the risk of losing a number of planes for the purpose of & demonstra- tion, Many Would Not Return. Although the distances from the Nanking or Shanghai air bases to the Japanese mainland are comparatively short, the chances are that more than 90 per cent of the raiders would not return, Japan has been worried over the possibility of such an attack for the | last three years large air fleet in Siberia has made the Japanese government air-con- scious. Thus, besides the 2.400 mili- tary and naval planes, the anti-aircraft defense of the Japanese isles is as | modern and efficient as that of Great nese air attack against Japan are | China possesses some 500 airplanes | The presence of a | THE EVENING STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C. Bombing of Japanese Cities by Chinese With Present Air Force Held Doubtful ¢ Only Small Part of Force | PIEPING TIENTSIN Map showing approzimate and important Japanese cities. air distances between Shanghai Britain, Germany and the United States. Might Not Reach Japan. A raiding squadron of 30 or 40 Chinese planes might not even reach the Japanese shores. | would be known at once, and it would be met long before it reached the shores of Japan by a force five or six think—and the planes could escape the Japanese pursuit squadrons, the coastal | anti-aircraft defenses Its departure | times its size. But even if the utmost | secrecy were preserved—so the experts | would bring | ‘dnwu the Chinese airmen before they | | had time to do any extensive damage. The Japanese rulers realize that the | nation at large is only doped with enthusiasm for this new war, and| this dope would wear out quickly if an enemy force could destroy or se verely damage any important city. Hence extraordinary precautionary measures have been taken to avoid a successful air attack In the meantime, Tokio is reported | to be seriously concerned over the| | turn the conflict is likely to take in the near future. China (Continued From Page.) & powerful reprisal raid against the Chinese Chapei and Kiangwan areas to the north and the Chinese lines. | The bombardment centered about the Commercial Press Building near the northern edge of the International Settlement The building, which suffered heav- ily in 1932 warfare, was reported shel- tering concentrations of Chinese artil- lery batteries. The bombs started fires which raged over an area of several | square miles. China’s own artillery and bomb at- | tions in the Hongkew district of the International Settlement, which lies | at the northern edge along a curve of the Whangpoo River and at Japanese | warships in the stream. Chinese lines were blazing from fires started by the bursting shells. A ris- | ing wind fanned the flames. Mrs. Roosevelt, Jr., Leaves. Among the refugees who left Shang- hai today were Mrs. Theodore Roose- velt, jr. and her son Quentin, who went down the Whangpoo to the Presi- | dent Jefferson, bound for Manila | Twice a Dollar Line tender made the perilous trip down the Whangpoo, safely carrying loads of . American refugees to the liner President Jeffer- son. Then the ship slipped out to the | open sea toward Manila. | __Another Dollar liner, the President complete a fast 54-hour run Thursday to pick up more Americans fleeing from the war dangers and privations. ‘She carried United States Marine re- inforcements and doctors. British Troops Landed at Shanghai. The Welch Fusiliers, a British bat- talion of about 950 men, transferred at the Woosung anchorage to the H. M. 8. Delight and were landed up- river at Shanghai. They marched from the Bund to the race course in the heart of the International Settle- ment. British tenders, following in the wake of the American, reached the refugee ship Rajputana, which had withdrawn about six miles toward the sea. The Rajputana, her refugee pas- sengers safely aboard, put out toward Hong Kong, British crown colony to the south. Japanese warships were spraying the western positions of the settle- ment with shell fragments as they sought ineffectually to down a low-fly- ing Chinese pursuit plane. Authorities of the French concession reported the Jagged hunks of metal were taking a similar toll there. The full fury of the Chinese at- tack broke against the Japanese posi- tions in the Hongkew district of the International Settlement and the Jap- anese warships along the ‘Whangpoo river front. A mounting panic gripped the crowds along the famous Bund that follows the winding course of the Whangpoo. Fathers watched their wives and chil- dren aboard tenders disappear into the shell smoke haze hanging low on the river, mumbled a frantic prayer for their safety and then fled. The drawn and whitened faces of the women peered from portholes as Jetty for the perilous 10-mile Journey down the Whangpoo to the huge liners waiting on the Yangtze estuary. Only Marines on Decks. All had been forced below, and only stalwart Marines remained on the upper decks of the tenders, guarding the human cargo that was braving death to live. Entire areas around the city were blazing from fires started by the bursting shells that continually pounded into the Chinese and Japa- nese lines. The Japanese-held area northeast of Shanghai on the Whangpoo water front was fired; the rising wind whip- ped the billowing smoke into grotesque shapes. The wind was fanning the flames of burning bulldings along an 8-mile front, including the entire Japanese area from Chapei to the northwest eastward to the Whangpoo. Scores of the fires in the Hongkew sector of the International Settlement seemed huge. . One Chinese raiding plane was shot down in a foray against the Japanese headquarters in Hongkew. The fiyer dived within & few hundred feet of the. headquarters, dropped his load of bombs and then crashed. Flames Break Out. Flames immediately broke out all over the surrounding area. Four shells struck the settlement Wardroad Jail containing several thousand prisoners and killing an OLD GOLD AND SILVER will bring you m—— | tack was aimed at the Japanese posi- | Areas around both the Japanese and | Hoover from Manila, was expected to | the launches cast off from the customs | unknown number of them tion of the wall was blown out and shells crashed into two cell blocks. All the prisoners were locked in their cells. Police of the settlement were work- ing strenuously to maintain communi- cations between the various areas. Headquarters reported the outlying morning and no investigation had been made of the death toll which was feared to be high Two important police stations along bank of the Whangpoo behind the Japanese warships, had been isolated Twelve British officers were in one and an undetermined numbeer in the other. They were caught under the cross-fire of the Chinese and Japanese forces, and fears were expressed they | might all be slain. Chinese Battle Kishi Brigade. hand to hand with the Japanese Kishi Brigade, the unit to which Lieut Oyama was attached at the time his Airport west of the city caused Japan to rush warships, planes and land troops in Shanghai. The Chinese repeatedly charged the Japanese until the men of Kishi fixed bayonets and counter-charged with cold steel. They stopped the Chinese advance only at the cost of tremendous | losses, including their commander. Chinese losses also were heavy. | The battle lines were drawn from {the area north of Shanghai through | the fringes of Hongkew to the Whang- | peo and across the river in the Poo- | | tung industrial area, where some 35.- | 000 Chinese troops were entrenched with heavy artillery. Salvos Shaking City. The salvos from the Japanese war- ships, strung out below the garden bridge where the Whangpoo makes one of its snaky bends, were shaking the city. Japanese heavy shells have been hurled into the area for almost 24 suc- cessive hours with the Chinese keeping up & steady stream in reply. Bands of Chinese refugees roamed the streets, looting rice shops. They were dispersed by police but quickly reformed. Due to the acute shortage of food, the settlement authorities organized an Emergency Food and Fuel Com- mittee to insure transportation of foodstuffs from the surrounding coun- tryside. Armed escorts, the commit- tee announced, will be used to convoy the food to the se®lement if necessary. French Force Augmented. were rushed into “French Town” to augment the international guard. Four hundred French marines were thrown around the concession water- works half a hile south of the con- tended to take in the Siccawei French Catholic weather observatory and radio station. Unofficial Chinese reports said the Chinese forces around Shanghai were increasing. The horde of regulars and irregulars was becoming so great that Chinese could start a final drive to SUMMER WILL BE OVER BEFORE YOU REALIZE IT —then you'll want Heat . the kind “we are prepared to fuinish + . . dependable. economica; . .'in THE— R * It's built to endure. part is rugged . . . Every quiet, clean perfect combustion, no waste! ASK US FOR DETAILS. MAURICE J. OLBERT 2 Heating Homes for over 30 Years 1908 M St. N.W. .. . Dist. 3626 ® MOVING ® STORAGE ® CRATING ACME Ma A por-| stations had been unable to report all | the Yangtzepoo road, on the north | Nearby, Chinese troops were fighting | | death in the first clash at Hungjao, | French and British reinforcements push Japanese into the sea, the re- ports asserted A trickle of Chinese refugees con-| tinued to cross Soochow Creek from | the Japanese Hongkew districts. Japanese announced that 18 Japa- nese civilians were killed in Hongkew | as a result of Chinese bombardments {up to dusk. The Japanese military claimed a second Chinese plane was shot down late today during an air raid. The pilot was killed as he para- chuted to the ground. Chinese reports said the central gov- ernment at Nanking was “most satis- fled” with action’of its air corps, which | was described as & “shining example for the Nation's young pilots.” From Nanking came reports of a “severe aerial battle” at Hangchow, southwest of Shanghai on the tip of | parliamentary precedent. JAPANESE CABINET 10 ASK DIET CALL Action Is Sought to Place Nation’s Economy on Wartime Basis. By the Associated Press. TOKIO, August 17.—The Japanese cabinet decided today to ask for an extraordinary session of Parliament September 3 to consider placing Japan's economic structure on a war- time basis, make appropriations and enact kindred measures for prosecu- tion of the undeclared war in China. The proposed filve-day session, bring- ing the Diet together a third time within 10 months, would establish a The cabinet’s request will be ten- dered to Emperor Hirohito, who would summon Japan's lawmakers. From Shanghai came a Domei (Japanese) News Agency report that Japanese authorities had decided on evacuation of all Japanese. women and children with the greatest possible speed. 30,000 in Shanghai. All Japanese ships in the vicinity were to participate in removal of the refugees, the agency said, and it was expected 15,000 would be taken out | before the end of the week. There are some 30,000 Japanese in Shanghai, including many who have flocked to | the city from the countryside. Trans-Pacific Ocean liners which have been stopping at Shanghai here- after will omit the call at that port and go directly to Hong Kong from Kobe, Japan, it was announced here. The cabinet heard a report from Admiral Mitsumasa Yonai, minister of marine, that 87 Chinese war planes had been shot down or wrecked by bombs while in hangars at Shanghai since the fighting began there last Friday. Seventeen hangars were de- stroyed, he said. A foreign office spokesman said that | the Japanese Consul General at war- torn Shanghai, Suemasa Okamoto, | had forwarded reports that a mutiny | had broken out at Nanking among | the personal troops of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, the Chinese premier and army commander. Mutiny Only Rumored. The spokesman said Okamoto had reported the mutiny at the Chinese capital purely as rumor which he was | TUESDAY, AUGUST 17, unable to confirm. Hangchow Bay, an arm of the China Sea Japanese suddenly evacuated the parted for Hongkong on board a mer- chantman convoyed by | The ship carried Japanese consular officials as well as civilians Strict Measures Proclaimed. | Shanghai International Settlement authorities proclaimed strict measures | to maintain order and protect life !and property within the settlement. A curfew was rigidly enforced The Emergency Food Committee solicited all establishments electric refrigerators to obtain cold storage space. ' | _The smaller foreign communities— | | Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Italian, | Spanish and Norwegian—were evac- | uating their women and children. Reopening today of the Chase Na- tional Bank, the National City Bank and other foreign banking institutions, | using private residences, relieved the | moneyless condition of the popula- | tion. | Eyewitnesses returning from the Chapei district told of wholesale de- struction by Japanese bombs. The | blasts took & heavy toll of Chinese railway and industrial properties. The 13 Japanese bombers, circling in from the west, dropped explosives on the junction of the Shanghai-Nanking and Shanghai-Hanchow Railway. The planes dropped 30 bombs and made 25 direct hits on buildings about the junction WASHINGTON'S COMPLETELY | AIR CONDITIONED | | cession. Their defense lines were ex- | '| From Canopy to Cornice In the s ® Lobby ® Dining Room ® Tap Room ® Barber Shop or in your own room or apart- ment, the Air-Cooled Hay- Adams House assures you com- plete comfort. Attractive Monthly Rates On Rooms and Kitchen Apartments Transient Rates From $3 Single $4.50 Double Free Garage HAY-ADAMS HOUSE SIXTEENTH AT H STREET Opposite the White House Met. 2260 E. F. Ellis, Manager Our low rates are the “talk of the town.” riers. Insured service. Phone for estimate. 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On the eastern seacoast of Shantung Province, Chinese troops were said to be encircling Tsingtao, ready to open fire at the first sign of any attempt to land Japanese troops in the city. . KONOYE’S KIN REGRETS BOMBING OF SHANGHAI Brother in U. 8., Orchestra Con- ductor, Cites Many Friend- ships Among Chinese. By the Associated Press. HOLLYWOOD, August 17.—Vis- count Hindemaro Konoye, whose brother is Premier of Japan, voiced personal sorrow today over the Shang- hai fighting “because of my friend- ships among the Chinese.” The youthful-looking peer, who shocked Japanese aristocracy when he became an orchestra conductor, came here to direct a symphony pro- gram in Hollywood Bowl Thursday night. 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