The flagstaff stands in the Queen's Garden opposite the main Consulado compound. Again I was rather undecided whether my presence would do good or harm but all things considered it seemed it would probably have done little but add to their sense of triumph at being thereby enabled publically to humiliate ne in person. Having succeeded in bending the top of the flagstaff, for the time being the crowd seemed satisfied, and moved off opposite the building of Butterfield and Swite, next door, which houses the Press Consul's Offices, Blackwell and I had just concluded lunch when the crowd started yelling and throwing a shower of bricks at the windows of Butterfield's building. Soon afterwards a briok landed through our dining-rom window scattering broken glass all over the place. It was followed rapidly by many others. It is possible that these bricks were taken from the demolished, and not yet rebuilt, pavilion on the Shameen Tennis Courts. As I have already reported this pavilion was built by the Japanese, since the war it was used by the San Min Chu I Youth Corps as a sort of Club, and it was pulled down at my request, on the sanction of the Mayor, to be erected on a more suitable site. San Min Chu I Youth Corps I am informed played an active part in the demonstration.
7.
At first the throwers of bricks remained outside the compound. The crowd excited by this act of violence passing unchwoked began pulling on the stays of the flagstaff until they pulled the
I flagstaff down. To celebrate this event, a great howl went up. now asked one of my Chinese Assistants, who had been unable to leave the compound for lunch, to ring through on the study telephone to
This he did the Polios and ask then to send reinforcements at once. at 1.35 P.M. speaking personally to General Lai, the Chief of Police.
8. The crowd had now started moving freely into the Consular compound and at least its leaders, many of whom were armed with sticks, and some of whom were in battle dress, were behaving in an ugly
A continual shower of bricks came from the compound through the study window, where Mr. Blackwell, my Chinese Assistant Mr. Shieh, and I had retired to avoid the bricks thrown from the street. Chinese with thick sticks also started entering the house, yelling out and smashing things. Presently they started battering down the door of the room which was looked, At this stage the three of us breaking the wire netting, jumped through a window into the servants' coutyard, Mr. Shich in so doing spraining his ankle. From here we went into two little rooms over the kitchen which housed the cook and his family the latter consisting of a wife and three small children and we concealed ourselves in the further room. Mr. Shich told the cook's children to ory at the top of their voices when any Chinese appeared. Three men carrying iron bars came and asked for me but Mr. Sheih tola tnum only Chinese were inside and as the children all started orying they left. Also a man in battle dress, who said he was one of the organisers, ane and asked for me but when he was told there were only Chinese he remarked the Chinese having nothing to fear and also left. I could hear the cook telling enquirers that I had not come back for lunch. After a time he managed to contact two or three gendarmes who stood at the top of the stairs leading this room and prevented others coming up. We now came out from conosalment and looked through the window at what was going on, Fires were being deliberately started everywhere, the shutter of the window through which we had jumped being on fire. Boy scouts were breaking open the door of a shed in the courtyard below and using the contents of the shed to feed the flames. At that time an hour had passed since we rang up and I asked the gendarme at the door why the Police and gendarmes did nothing. He said it was impossible as there were very few of them, and their small numbers made them quite incapable of controlling so large a crowd.
why reinforcements/....
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