The Wilmington morning star., 1946-11-18
IN CHINA
START CLIMBING
OF Large-Scale Civil
War Causes Wild Food,
Fuel Buying Spree

to new h1ghS IN tnlS government
capital and in Shanghai Sunday as
householders frantically bought
commodities to hoard and business
men grabbed for foreign currency.
Pro-government reports told OF
continued sporadic. fighting at
MANY points in Manchuria and
North China, and the Communist
radio at Yenan accused government
troops of attacking on a large
scale in Shantung, but the. main
tenor Of the news concerned prep
arations and presentiments.
Business doomed in all sorts Of
retail shops, despite soaring prices.
as housewives scrambled for pro
visions.
The U. S. dollar led an all-time
record jump on the black bourse,
being quoted at 1850 Chinese dol
lars in Making and at 5,00Os in
Shanghai. Even at these so per Cent
increases, demand continued
strong.
Spectators Prize
The Hong Kong dollar, ordinari-
ly not particularly desired, also
became a SPECTATORS prize.
Coal jumped from $50, 600 to 450.;
900 Chinese dollars a ton. Ever
at the black market currency rate,
that is nearly $97 U. S.
Dispatches to- pro-government
papers said the Communist high
command at Yenan was rapidly
placing all areas it controls on 4
wa footing. Conscripting all able.
bodied men and ordering food con
servation in anticipation of a pro.
longed guerrilla campaign.
Reports from Yenan ea.Ser said
women and children we're evacuat.
ing that capital in expectation Of
government attack but there was
no further wo-d on it today.
The Nationalist newspaper Ia
Kang Pao said the top Communist
Generals Chu Teh, Ho Lung anc
Lin Piao were holding a series Of
secret conferences on war name.
uvers now that Communists ano
government have split.
Predicts Victory
Color was lent to this report by
a Yenan broadcast that Gen. Pens
Teh-hWai had just returned from
a tour Of Communist areas anc
confidently predicted stirring vic
tory over the Kuomintang invading
forces"
Peng said farmers were hiding
every grain of food and then o.
ganizing search parties to max.
sure that only the person WHIT
had hidden it could find it.
The Yenan radio also reported
that government troops had beer
attacking steadily in Shantuns
along the Tientsin-Pukow railway
without regard for Generalissims
Chang Kai-shek's cease.fi-e ordel
of Nov. II. The broadcast sale
"Kuomintang troops were reported
to have used poison gas in ths
attack" (Such reports have crop
ped up internationally but never
have been confirmed by any i'm.
partial observer.)
Government military sources ir
Peiping said the communists were
attacking Tsaichechan, captured
Shientsopao and encircled Kuo.
kiatien, all in Manchuria on the
Mukden-Changchun railway.
Communists also cut the Antung'
Mukden line in Southern Man.
chu-ia and were deploying large
forces and building defense works
at many places, these quarters
said.
Small Scale Affair
Government accounts described
the Shantung fighting as small
scale but said Communists still
were attacking along the Peiping
Hankow railway south of Peiping.
Peng Hsueh-pei, government
minister of information, said he
had no knowledge of Peiping ru
mors that the Russians had evacu
ated the Manchurian port of Dairer
and handed it over to the Chinese
Communists. Communist %headquar'
tiers also issued a denial, saying
that eve if it were true they would
have refused fo- fear of foreign
complications.
The tiye-day-Week has contrib