CITY IN DARKNESS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 August 1939, Page 5

CITY IN DARKNESS

FLOOD HAVOC AT TIENTSIN JAPANESE BLOCKADE SWAMPED VAST EXPANSE OF WATER. APPEAL MADE TO LONDON FOR AID. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. LONDON. August 20. The Tientsin correspondent of I lie Associated Press of Great Ilritain says that the flooding from the river, which lias been fought feverishly in the past week, has cut off the electricity and plunged the city in darkness. It lias swamped the .Japanese blockade, whose sentries are mounted on Jinxes and barrels. Thousands of Chinese have rushed into the foreign zone, which is the hardest hit. The British have appealed to the Lord Mayor of London for aid. The crest of the flood is two days distant. Earlier messages stated that protective walls of sandbags have been hurriedly built in the foreign concessions as a result of the rapid rise of the flood waters. The Japanese electrified barricades were almost submerged, and the Japanese military road was only eight inches above water. The British municipality proclaimed a state of flood emergency as from 6 a.m. tomorrow. The palatial Foreign Country Club racecourse is four feet under waler, and the whole country is a vast expanse of water. The Japanese sentries are relaxing the blockade. Russian dairymen were permitted to drive in cattle, and eight trucks of vegetables entered without being searched.