Evening star., 1927-03-25
tNINE MORE u. S. WARSHIPS
SPEEDING TO CHINESE WATERS
Will Augment 81 Fighting Graft and 1878
Men Now Protecting American
Lives and Property.

by the Associated Press
Within the last - hours nine
American warshlps have been ordered
TO proceed at once to Chinese waters
to augment the squadron of Il fight
| ing craft now there under command
I Of Admiral &. s. Williams. commander
in chief of the Asiatic fleet.
| Three, the light cruisers. Richmond.
! Marblehead and Cincinnati. are sailing
| from Honolulu and are expected to
| take about eight days TO make the
| trip Each carries 430 men and 3S
| officers two airplane, II siX-inch guns
and threeinch anti'aircraft guns.
The others, all destroyers, are en-
| route from Manila. The distance from
| that port to Shanghai is about 1,lIO
nautical miles and, it is estimated,
| that the ships by travelling at speed
! of from Is to 20 knots will arrive on
I the China coast in three days.
Complement of DestrOyers.
The destroyers are the Peary. Ford
Pillsbury, Edsall. Parrott and Buimer
! Each is listed in the Navy Department
! Register as carrying a normal com
1 plement of 104 men. 10 petty ofncers
| and 8 wardroom officers. This com
plement. however, may have beer
| increased slightly in view of the exist
! ing situation.
! All Of the destroyers carry toui
| 4.inch guns and one 3inch gun az
! well as torpedo tubes and antl-alrcralt
weapons. -,
| The crews of these ships will sup
! plement the complement already II
| the China zone. At present, Admlral
Williams has 2.178 bluejackets ana
about 200 Marines on board the u
craft in addition to 1.5OO Marines
| already landed.
| The three last destroyers leaving
| Manila. were the Edsall, commanded
by Lieut.. Comdr. L. f. Lindsay; the
Parrott by Comdr. II. w. BoyntoT
and the Bulmer by Lieut.. Comdr. M
J. Foster.
J Commanding at Nankins
At Nanking, seat of the present dis
! turbance, Rear Admiral Fl. I'll. Hough
commander of the Yangtse patro
| force. is directing the operations IL
the immediate vicinity from his flag
| ship. the destroyer Isabel.
| On shore at Shanghai, aiding in thu
| protection of the international settle
ment is Col. G. s. Hill, in command o
| 500 marines of the 4th Regiment.
| At Canton the gunboat Helena, flag
| ship of the south China patrol force
under the command of Capt. j. NJ
Enochs, is stationed.
Nine vessels in all are at Shanghai
while others are stationed at Chunk
| ing Changsha, Hongkong. Ichang
| EIankow, Kinkiang and Chinkiang.
Ships at Shanghai are the armore'
cruiser Pittsburgh. commanded b,
Capt. G.. w. Steel, jr.; the transpor
iChaumont, with Comdr. J. Fl. Black
burn in command: the destroyer
Sicard, Lieut.. Comdr. T.. B. Nixor
Stewart, Lieut.. Comdr. Frank Sling
luff. and the Preble, Comdr. r.. T
Horner; the oil tanker. Pecos, Comdl
w. E. Clarke; the gunboats Ashe
vile. Comdr. T.. B. Armstrong: Sacrs
mento, Comdr. I. III. Mayfield an
the mine sweeper, Penguin, Lieut.
|Comdr. p. w. Yeatman.
Stationed at Nanking.
+ Lieut. Comdr. Z, S. Stone is in com
mand of the Isabel. on which Admira
Hodgh is aboard at Marking.
At Marking also are the destroyer:
Noa, Lieut.. Comdr. r. G.. Smith
jr., and the William b. Preston, Lieut.
Comdr. G.. B. Ashe.
AT Hankow are the Villalobos, gun
: boat, Lieut. Comdr. r. A. Mcintyre
and the Truitt. destroyer, Comdr. l.
G. Davis; at Chunking, the Monocacy
gunboat. Comdr. r. Jacobs; at Chang
sha, the Palos, gunboat, Lieut.. ComdI
r. G.. Risley: at Hongkong, the Pam
tpanga, gunboat, Lieut.. S. G. Norton
at Ichang, the Elcano, gunboat, Lieut.
| Comdr. j. d. Smith; at Kinkiang, the
Hubert. destroyer. Lieut.. Comdr. 3
". Meade. and at Chinkiang, the Pau
Jones. destroyer, Lieut.. Comdr. w. A
! Riedel commanding.
/ In addition to the Bluejackets anC
Marines. the United States has nearly
lone thousand men of the Regular
Army in China. At Tientsin. S13 men
comprising two battalions of the 18th
Infantry, are stationed under com
mand of Brig. Gen. Joseph Castner
They are there under the terms of the
Boxer protocol to guard the I1entslr
railway. with British, Italian ant
French troops. and cannot be move'
except in an emergency.
At Peking $50 Regulars make III
the American legation guard.
Fragmentary Reports Received.
| F'ragmentary radio reports iron
Nanking Yesterday alone carried the
story from the river port, 13O miles
from the coast, out to the world. They
nainted a grim picture in the terst
language of official naval advlces.
The break came just after Nankne
had passed from military control o1
the Northern Chinese faction to the
hands of advancing Cantonese troops
Reports from Shanghai told of rem
nants of the Northern army cut on
and penned in against the city wall
Apparently the first outbreak came
within the city of Marking as Amer
loan Consul John X. Davis was
desperately gathering American ma
tionals for refuge under guard oi
American sailors on Socony Hill al
the edge of the city but two miles OF
more from the river. 1t is the plant
of the Standard Oil Co., one or the