TORRID HEAT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 19 June 1939, Page 6

TORRID HEAT

AMERICANS IN TIENTSIN GO SWIMMING JAPAN'S ANTI-BRITISH AGITATION. STIRRING UP CHINESE ' HOSTILITY. By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright. (Received This Day, 12.10 p.m.) TIENTSIN, June 18. The temperature today reached 106 degrees. Americans went swimming in the bay. Only three Britons have passed the barricades in two days. Official British reports state that Japanese guards searching forced the first man to strip. A second was partly stripped and manhandled. A girl was also manhandled by Chinese policemen. The Japanese continue their efforts to set the Chinese against the British. A captive balloon over the city carried the slogan: “The British despoil our commerce and are North China’s public enemy.” The British authorities have fixed loud-speakers at the entrances to the concession, telling Chinese to keep out. The secretary of the British Municipal Council states that supplies of foodstuffs are sufficient for only two days. Supplies of rice and flour in the warehouses are ample but the Japanese continue to allow more Chinese to enter the settlements, resulting in a bigger demand, leading to a shortage and higher prices. AN ATTEMPTED BLUFF DR WELLINGTON KOO'S OPINION. TACTICS OF JAPANESE MILITARISTS. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received This Day, 9.55 a.m.) PARIS, June 18. Dr Wellington Koo said: "Japan's militarists need a cheap victory, for which reason they are trying to bluff Western Powers. Japan will turn on another concession if she succeeds in Tientsin. The West can call this bluff by a boycott of Japanese goods and a ban on exports to Japan. NO CHANGE IN POLICY •ACCORDING TO JAPANESE NEWS AGENCY. (Received This Day, 11.20 a.m.) TOKIO, June 18. The Domci Agency states that Japan’s policy regarding Tientsin will not bo altered. The Government is whole-heartedly supporting the measures taken locally. "Since Britain cannot very well withdraw from China, both the English and Japanese authorities in Tientsin are likely to maintain their present ground unless an unexpected incident happens,” it is added. CHALLENGE MUST BE MET OPINION OF SIR R. KEYES. (Received This Day, 12.10 p.m.) LONDON, June 18. Admiral Sir Roger Keyes, who was in Tientsin at the time of the Boxer rebellion, in a speech at Hornsey said: “The events at Tientsin amount to a declaration of war and the challenge must be met. If we hesitate, humiliation is certain and war is almost inevitable.”