Lull

Over what was left of the valiant Woosung forts hundreds of sweating Japanese soldiers crawled last week, dismantling the heavy siege guns to ship them proudly back to Japan, first tangible trophies of her bloody Shanghai invasion.* Japanese headquarters gave a novel explanation of the shipment: the guns were originally made in Japanese arsenals. They were being paid for on the instalment plan. China was remiss in her instalments therefore Japan, like any piano company, was repossessing her goods. Japanese authorities last week made amends for assaults on two U. S. citizens. The car of U. S. Trade Commissioner H. D. Robison was smashed by an army truck (TIME, March 14). Commissioner Robison was punched in the face. Japan paid the garage bill and cut the truck driver's salary. Miss Rose Marlowe was severely beaten by a civilian reservist when she attempted to enter the ruins of Chapei. The reservist was sentence to 15 days in jail. China and Japan were still deadlocked over peace terms. Firing on the Shanghai front had almost ceased. The League of Nations Commission arrived, was taken for a drive through the ruins of Chapei. Soldiers of the 31st U. S. Infantry on duty in Shanghai asked the Red Cross for more and livelier reading matter.

While last week's situation amounted to a definite lull, it was not without disquieting developments. An official Japanese statement insisted that more than 30,000 Chinese troops were massing around Soochow; that large numbers of Chinese snipers had been smuggled into Shanghai; that a Chinese incendiary plot to destroy the Japanese college at Nantao had been narrowly frustrated. Four new divisions of Chinese soldiers were reported to be proceeding from Chekiang to Shanghai. According to Japanese authorities, Chinese were transporting cement and barbed wire to Sungkiang for the construction of defense works.

* Last week the Japanese War Office finally gave way to domestic pressure, published its first official casualty list. Between Sept. 18 and Feb. 29 565 soldiers were killed, 2,204 wounded, in Manchuria and at Shanghai. Still secret are the navy casualty lists.

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