893.811/1136: Telegram
The Consul General at Hankow ( Spiker ) to the Secretary of State
[Received 10:15 a.m.]
247. Reference Department’s telegram No. 30, February 9, noon to Tokyo20 and subsequent correspondence concerning Japanese restrictions upon navigation on the Yangtze. I have just been reliably informed in strictest confidence that on September 29 last, Japanese transport carrying troops and few foreign travelers was fired upon by Chinese artillery at a point about 20 kilometers west of Wuhu. Three soldiers were killed outright, 12 fatally wounded and 20 others received less serious wounds from shellfire. One non-American passenger was slightly wounded.
This isolated case in support of Japanese contention that river unsafe for foreign commerce has only just been notified to this office in strictest confidence since all passengers were required to sign supplemental undertaking not to disclose anything heard or seen while en route. This Consulate General has received no definite information concerning any other cases of effective attacks on steamers during recent months.
Repeated to Chungking, Peiping and Shanghai.