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as his chief.
Eventually, Marshal Li Chai-sum
and his party left Hong Kong in the s.s."Antenor"
Next day General Chan Ming-
on the 8th March.
shu came to Hong Kong, and in the afternoon
attended a race-meeting in Happy Valley. He
and his wife lodged at the King Edward Hotel in
Ice House Street, and there they became victims
of the fire, which broke out in that hotel at
3 a.m. on the 11th March. In their endeavour
to escape the fire by jumping from the hotel
windows both the General and his wife were
seriously injured, and they had to be conveyed to
the Government Civil Hospital. There I visited
General Chan Ming-shu at noon on the day of his
accident. His face was covered with plaster,
his hair and eyebrows had been singed by the fire,
and his thigh had been broken. He was, however,
fully conscious, and was able to exchange a few
words with me in Cantonese.
I understand that
he is likely to be in hospital for about six weeks,
and there will, of course, be no question of his
attending the forthcoming conference at Nanking.
No one can explain to me why, having decided to
go to Nanking, he did not travel with Marshal Li
Chai-sum; but it seems clear to me that these two
men are very suspicious of each other, although
they try to disguise the fact. My personal
relations with both of them, and especially with
Marshal Li Chai-sum, are very pleasant: and from
Shanghai Marshal Li telegraphed to me on the
12th
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