Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-23

| The spread over central and south
ern China was rapid. Its military
activities We're greatly aided by
propaganda of Kuomintang, the pc.
litical party which dominated it.
Agents taught by the Kuomintang
many sections made military success
easy by undermining the morale of
the northern armies.
Marshal Sun ChuanFang, once
ruler Of five provinces of eastern
China. was unable to present effective
resistance, and the Cantonese took
from him Kiagsi and F>ukien prov,
inceS and obtained a stronghold OH
Anhwei. Down from the north came
the Kuominchun, the so-called national
army, once the backbone of the
Picking government, ousted last April
by the united forces of Marshal Chang
Tso-Lin, dictator of Manchuria, and
Marshal WI PeiFu. The Kuomin-
chun, animated by the same principles
actuating the Cantonese, and also
aided from Russian sources, began to
act in concert with the Cantonese, al
though their forces did not join.
Foreigners Are Pinched.
The civil war proved disastrous to
foreigners. AS their warships moved
up the Yangtse River toward Hankow
and Wuchang to protect their ma
tionals, the vessels many times were
fired upon from the river banks by
Chinese soldiers. The most serious
affair took place at Wanhsien, 1850
miles up the Yangtse, in early Sep
TENDER, when a fight took place be-
tween British naval forces and the
soldiers of Gen. Yang-Sen, an adher-
ent Of WI Pei-Fu. Forty British
naval men upon a small, unarmed
boat went to the assistance Of the
British crews of two merchant ships
seized by the Chinese on the assertion
that the ships carried munitions Of
war for the enemy.
The Chinese soldiers fired upon the
British and killed or wounded more
than half their number. but the little
party persisted, and rescued their kin
folk from the ships. The British gun
boat Cockchafer returned the fire of
the. Chinese soldiers.
Claimed 1900 Casualties.
The Chinese asserted that the Cock
chafer killed or wounded upward Of
2 900 Chinese; that it's shells were di-
rected into the City Of Wanhsien,
many civilian casualties resulting.
The British claimed that the Chinese
losses were not more than 800, of
100 Chinese being struck by stray mis-
siles
The Wanhsien incident was used by
the Chinese to increase the agitation
| against foreigners, already become &C.
tive. Missionaries in the interior were
harassed; several in widely separated
| districts were kidnapped by bandits, but
| they were released unframed.
In November strikes developed in
Hp f1lxn1xt g. NJ hn tot,
of trades unions. Radicals spoke
against foreigners and placards were
posted upon walls of the citys build
| ingS melting the Chinese to action.
| The coolies were stirred to action by
anti-foreign speakers at mass meet
ing on the river bank December 3.
Charge en- Masse.
They charged thousands strong
| upon the British concessions, hurting
stones at police of the British conces.
sion, which stood firm, though beaten
with long sticks. Forty sailors from a
British warship in the river reinforced
| the police, and for four hours the thin
| British line held, without firing a shot,
| until belated relief came at nightfall,
| when Cantonese troops appeared and
forced back the coolie mob.
| The following day, coolie mobs
swept over the British accession dis
trict, hurting stones at buildings and
| yelling imprecations. The Cantonese
authorities asserted that they could
control the situation, and to avoid in
| flaming the mobs the commanders of
the British and American warships
| held their men on board. The British
and American women and children
were embarked that night, and the
/ following day and proceeded to
Shanghai. The men remained, hoping
| that the situation would become
calmer.
Hankow Cut on.
Hankow was cut off from com.
munication two days ago, and con-
some stating that 1000 British and
American men were evacuating the
city. The Cantonese government
holds the British concession
Kiukiang, on The Yangtse, 1876 miles
from HankoW and $50 miles from the
| sea, suffered from coolie mob violence
at about the same time as Hankow.
| The British concession was overrun
after it's barricades had been demolish-
ed, and most of the foreign residents
sought safety in Shanghai and else
where. The British having been
forced out by coolie mobs. the Can
tonese armed forces, which had done
nothing to aidsthe foreigners, moved
| in and took possession.
Hundreds of miles away, at Foo
chow, Fukien Province, mobs said to
be lead by soldiers of the northern
army drafted into the Cantonese
forces attacked the churches and hos
pitfalls and dwellings OF foreign mis-
sionaries. These were looted and
many American and British men and
women were beaten.
False Story Infiames.
| The mobs were melted to violence
in part by a false story that Spanish
| priests and nuns had killed % Chinese