FLOOD DESOLATION

Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 June 1938, Page 7

FLOOD DESOLATION

INUNDATION OF CHINESE PROVINCES Half a Million People Driven from Homes VARIOUS JAPANESE UNITS MAROONED By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. SHANGHAI, June 17. A day of ceaseless rain threatens a worsening of the flodds in the Yellow and Yangtse Rivers. Correspondents report that various Japanese units are marooned and being provisioned by aeroplanes. Reuter’s special correspondent, who made a thousand-mile tour in a Japanese army plane, describes a scene of desolation in Honan, not th and south of the Lung Hai Railway. A stream eight to 10 miles wide is spreading in a south-westerly direction between Chengchow and Kaifeng and seems likely to join the Yangtse via the Grand Canal. Two long sections of the Lung Hai Railway are submerged and at least 500,000 have fled from their homes. Thousands of farmhouses are submerged and two small hills are visible in West Kaifeng teeming with refugees. Japanese army pontoons are ferrying rescuers to Kaifeng.

JAPANESE ACCUSED.

DIKES BROKEN TO SHAKE CHINESE MORALE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. The following cablegram has been received by the Chinese Consul from Hankow: — “The Japanese, after having bombarded and broken the dikes of the Yellow River, endeavoured to cover up their guilt by laying the blame for the breaching of the dikes on the Chinese. The enemy’s motive in breaking the dikes and flooding the country was the same as the indiscriminate bombing of the populace of Canton —to break the morale of the people. “The enemy’s planes yesterday bombed the vicinity of existing gaps in the dikes north of Chungmu, causing further inundations, and machinegunned the fleeing peasants. A further motive of the enemy in breaking the dikes was to destroy the defence works which we had erected between Chungmu and Chengchow, thus forcing our troops to retire westward and to wipe out the mobile units operating in the rear of the Japanese lines. “We recaptured Kaohsien station — an important centre of communications—in the south of Shansi, which gives us command of Chuwu and Shingkiang in the south and Lingfen in the north. “Severe fighting is proceeding between our forces and the Japanese troops which landed yesterday at Tadookow, on the south bank of the Yangtse River opposite Anking.” JAPANESE RETORT BREACHES PREPARED BY CHINESE. REPAIRS IMPOSSIBLE UNDER FIRE. PEKING, June 17. Japanese army leaders declare -that the Chinese prepared the breaches in the Yellow River dikes three months ago in anticipation of their retreat, and blew them up on June 11. Japanese engineers attempting repairs last Sunday were fired on by Chinese and 10 were killed. Reuter’s special correspondent states that the waters are four miles from

Kaifeng, which has hitherto been destroyed three times by floods. The town lies 20 feet below the river-bed. The Japanese say it is impossible to repair the dikes under Chinese fire, so the flow of the Yellow River must continue till the normal autumn recession. Missionaries of all creeds united to succour the wounded and the refugees. Their dressers recently changed the bandages of 40,000 Chinese wounded from Suchow who were passing through Kaifeng. Cholera and smallpox have also appeared.