Evening star., 1937-09-16
Cholera Grip OH
Shanghai Is
frightened.
FOREIGN AREAS
/ HEAVILY HIT
Japanese Driven
Out of LOtien
by Chinese.
BACKGROUND

Grounding of more than million and
a halt toar refugees into Shanghai
and lack OF housing and sanitation
facilities haze created grave dan
ger OF disease. Cholera and dysen-
terry are raging and epidemics OF
smallpox and typhoid teuer are
feared as conditions grow worse.
japanese haze prevented removal
OF refugees from Shanghai by
threats to bomb refugee trains.
Hundreds already killed in attacks
on trains and river boats.
BY the Associated Press.
SHANGHAI, September 16.-A
cholera epidemic reaching grave pro-
portions spread through the foreign
sectors of this war-racked metropolis
today, striking down more than 100
additional victims overnight.
The sweep of the dread plague
raised the number of cases in the In
ternational Settlement and the French
Concession alone to TAO. There are all
additional 1,400 suspected cases in the
two areas
In the Chinese sections of the city,
where war refugees have been huddled
together without even the most primi-
tive sanitary provisions, the number
OF cases was believed in the thousands
Because of conditions it has been i'm
possible even to estimate the number
affected outside the settlement and
the French Concession.
The great number of those stricken
are Chinese who have been forced into
Shanghai from the war zones ringing
the city. The native population of the
foreign sectors has been almost dou-
bled by the tragic army Of homeless
civilians. Only a few foreigners have
been affected.
Chinese Force Foes Back.
Chinese counter attacked in force
today from the center Of their strong
Shanghai defense line and drove the
Japanese from battle-scarred Lotfen.
Is miles northwest of the International
Settlement.
Despite a steady downpour Of rain,
the Chinese troops were said to have
broken a mechanical japanese attack.
Counter-charging, they drove out the
Japanese who had entered the town
with armored cars and tanks. Lotien
has changed hands countless times in
the five weeks of battle in the delta.
The Chinese spokesman said that
the heavy rain had slackened activities
along the entire 30-mile front from
Shanghai's North Station northwest
to the Yangtze River. The japanese,
he said, were having great dif1iculty
moving their motorized units through
the mud-mired roads.
Matsui Takes Command.
Major operations in the Shanghai
sector can be expected shortly, a
Japanese Army spokesman said, now
that Gen. Iwane Matsui has taken
over the high command in the area
He indicated that the long -heralded
big push to drive the Chinese into the
interior might be in the offing. The
Japanese strength at Shanghai has
been varlously estimated at from so 900
to 10000 men.
The japanese spokesman said that
the Chinese now have 90 divisions of
100000 men in the Shanghai and
5oochow areas with 13 divisions massed
in the immediate Shanghai area. Two
of these, he said, were strongly en-
trenched in the Pootung area across
the Whangpoo River from Shanghai
proper,
Fear Of the outbreak of hostilities
again in Pootung, placing the settle
ment in danger from shell fire, is one
OF the reasons holding the foreign
community from settling down to
(See CHINA. Page A-51