The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-08-25
Seven Hundred Miles
 Blockade By Japan
toontinued from l'ago D

1 in the oity outside the settlement. A great pail of smoke drifted over from the famous Mandarin gar- dens in the Maniac section, adjoin- Ing the settlement and the French concession on the southeast, one squadron steadily bombed Chapel and the North Railroad station. New fires burned In Hongkew and Yang t2epoo.
 Foreign military and civil authori- ties reported that the Chinese had begun c general retreat from the YangtEepoo section at the east.end of Shanghai and the danger of Q rush on the barriers of the Inter- national Settlement acute.
 Coineidently, the Japanese start- cd drives at dawn onall four north- ern fronts-ISalgon, Nankcw, Peip- ing and Tientsin-in 0 desperate ct. tempt to crush China's hordes quickly.
 Three Roads to Shanghai
 This morning, Japanese troops started out simultaneously along three roads leading Into Shanghai from north and northeQst-from Kiating, Lotien and Woosung.
 They found that Chinese had been heavily reinforced during the night and were strongly entrenehed their Qualifications flanking the dirt highways leading into tho city.
 There was Q clash. The Chinese held and the Japanese put down Q terrific artillery and airplane bombardments,
 It was apparent from reports that the Japanese were advancing, but with painful slowness and ct heavy cost in casualties. Their progress was made more difficult by the torrld sun.
 The villages of Tazang and Chenju north Of Shanghai were the objec. tives of two Japanese columns while tho third was trying to bayonet It's way down the Woosung Shanghai road.
 As the troops advanced, artillery was unloaded from transports In the Whangpoo.
 storm Troop Lands
 . Fb uisbS SbAthHAs obtEttd NiuA final drive for Shanghai, storm troop army was landed ct Nanwei, southeast of Shanghai.
 This column was to drive up into tho Pootung section of Shanghai ih which tens of thousands of Chinese regulars are massed.
 News that the Chinese were bee ginning to retreat from tho Yangtze- poo section of Shanghai was taken to mean that Gen. Chang Tso- Chung, the Chinese commander in chief, was guarding against Q trap which might catch several divisions of his men and cut them off from the main army, whose line of re- treat would Do westward.
 Fearing that c rush on the The ternational Settlement barricades by demorali2ed Chinese troops might be near, the American emergency com- mittee made It's final arrangements for evacuation of ell Americans If necessary.
 Americans on Police Duty
 All able-bodied Americans not now performing emergency police or military duty were asked regarding their willingness to take places in the American defense sector If con. ditlons became dangerous.
 This American defense sector Is several thousand zig-zagging yards long and would be most difficult to hold against desperately rushing troops, facing annihilation by the Japanese. The sector Is fortified with sand bag and barbed wire barricades. United States marines, i,0b0 in total strength, guard 1t, and there are bluejacket and volunteer corps endorsements, but there are tends of thousands of Chinese.
 British authoriteis were aA~grave- ly anxious as the Americans.
 Brig. Gen. A. o. D. Telfer-S -Sinol- lett, World war hero commanding the British garrison, conferred with commandants of other foreign troops and as the result sent an urgent request to Hong Kong for ar. tillery.
 Plans to Evacuate
 Plans for evacuation of the Set- clement by all non-combatant foreigners have been completed.
 A Japanese army spokesman said this morning that unless the Poo- tlng smelling ceased the Japanese army would take the offensive there on a big scale, and that this op- eration necessarily would force the Chinese across the river into the Nantao section, which immediately adjoins the International Settlement and the French concession.
 Chinese north and northeast ot the city suffered heavily as the day advanced from repeated Japanese airplane raids.
 It was estimated today that since the opening of hostilities. i6.Y00 foreigners. predominantly women and children, had evacuated shang- hai.