Evening star., 1937-09-04
SHANGHAI BATTLE
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insane, caught like rats In trap be-
tween the croSs-fre of the opposing
armies. Finally, some We're evacuated
but Corinth put stop to that, claim
ing that prisoners were being released
to the American forces.
Bombing planes from the Corinthlan
Warships in the Potomac tried to oomb
Union Station, and tried and trleo
again. The station was damaged, but
not destroyed. Most of the tracks
were bombed, however. and most OF
the incoming American troops had to
be unloaded in Baltimore or to the
west of Washington.
The Americans scuttled six Corin.n-
Ian ships in an unsuccessful attemnt
to block Washington Channel, and
their efforts to sink the Corints3an
flagship, Warrior, were futile, too, de-
spite repeated bombings. Corinth,
now neck deep in the undeclared War
and determined not to retire. moved
transports up Chesapeake Bay and
into the Potomac-transports carrying
tens OF thousands of regular army
troops For days they tried to land
these forces. sorely needed TO aid the
marines and sailors being pushed into
the river by superior American num-
bers. United States land batteries at
Fort Belvoir and Fort Washington met
the Corinthian threat, and the y and
rs inch guns aboard the invader S
warships vomited a deadly reply.
THE duel of big guns lasted two days,
then Corinth attempted to land a
large force from the transports, Amer
lean batteries we're silent as the first
Of many thousands came ashore 1t
WAS a trick. When the Corinthians
had started their march inland, driv-
ing towards the American positions,
the earth heaved up and Corinthian
soldiers with it. The Americans had
mined the terrain
One of the most terrible episodes
Of the first weeks of the siege and
defense of Washington happened on
- MUMMY, ~ tiiC iiieSASNNeAOAi Va A3AS
enth and F streets. The stores in
the vicinity we're crowded with shop
pers, stocking up in preparation for
. long siege. Sir Willmott Lewis,
Washington correspondent of the
Times of London. was waiting in a
car outside Woodward g. Lothrop's
for a colleague who had gone in to
1f Ia, Ia
the colleague was in a crowded ele-
vator shell exploded just above the
street. The elevator dropped. Vir-
tually every one in it had been killed.
Sir Willmott's friend pushed an in
jIred boy to safety. climbed from the
elevator and collapsed Sir Willmott
dashed from his car and began a
frantic search, hlwdling bodies and
debris. Store fronts all along the
block crumpled like paper. Pools of
blood glistened in the street car tracks
and cutters. Bits of legs. arms and
heads plastered building fronts. 1t
looked as if the force of the explosion
had rolled all the dead together,
though pieces of some we're found two
blocks away. A street car conductor
lay In the middle of F street, his
head shatterea, burst open, like an
overripe melon, with the brains spilled
on the asphalt. The faces of a lawyer
with Offices in the National Press
Building and of two women shoppers
were f1attened so that the mouths
were just gaping round blobs framed
by circles of teeth.
SIR WILMOTT'S foot had been torn
by shell fragment. but he stumbled
on. bllndly almost. coughing from plas-
ter and stone dust and the sulphurous
fumes of gunpoWder He found his
colleague and dragged him to his
car. A Red Cross ambulance came
down the street He drove his car
directly in its path, forcing it to stop
and take his wounded friend to
hospital-it was hours before he found
out which one. Sir Wilmott's COL
league was perhaps mortally wounded
His chest had been pierced and one
arm mangled so that he may never
use it again
Five minutes after the explosion
the Volunteer Corps moved in and
attempted to clear up the mess. The
corps was composed of business and
professional men, doctors, lawyers,
merchants, clerks, bankers who in
times Of emergency such as this wore
uniforms and carried arms They
comprised a sort of special police
force They heaped the dead, some
Of them with every stitch of clothing
blasted from their bodies, into ambu-
lances and trucks. The dead who
were only pieces hand, a foot, a
impossible, were buried in deep, wide
trenches on Anacostia Flats, one on
top of another, or In shallow graves
covered with lye.
More than 300 perished in this
shambles
The shelling along the river front
continued, and Corinth was beginning
to make gains. Troops from the trans
ports were landed. The American
drive against enemy forces in Poto-
mac Park and Hains Point faltered. or
at least the American line withdrew
somewhat.
A ND then came an incident which
made it plain-more so, perhaps,
than the wounding of Sir Willmott
Lewis and his colleague-that no one
was safe In or around Washington. not
even persons Of the highest station.