Show Is adventurers 1 CLUB ia how wars are born by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter HERES hl ERES a lad who says he saw me in shanghai and boy would I 1 have a tough time trying to prove an alibi on that statement As a matter of fact any alibi I 1 might try to dig up would be shot to pieces before I 1 started because this lad sends in a picture he took of colonel freddie barker and me standing at one of the rifle ments in the international settlement during the late sino japanese argument at shan shanghai hai the man who took that picture Is frank B eckhardt and along with the picture he sends the story of an incident that happened over there in which he participated an incident that might easily have hava started another war a war between japan and the good old U S A this incident happened to frank and a bunch of his buddies while he was doing duty with the first battalion united states marines stationed on sinza road shanghai it was in january 1932 just about a week after the trouble had broken out between the japs and the chinese and the whole place was ins ina turmoil the officers of the battalion had bad a chinese tailor by the name of ione fong nee kee and one day kee came to battalion headquarters and asked for a guard to take him to tits his shop on boone boode road hong kew district to get the officers uniforms uniform lie go and get them alone because the shop was inside the japanese lines and an unprotected chinese in that tury stand is chrin chrindia cia of getting out with n alth any merchandise guard Is armed for any emergency A guard was made up which consisted of a battalion major and jers company commander two other privates and frank they aliey rode in a truck and were armed with pistols and thompson submachine sub machine guns they got to the tailor shop all right and the officers ficeri of and fong kee went inside while frank and one other private stood guard at the entrance and no sooner had the officers gone in than a japanese patrol consisting of 20 men and an officer came marching down the street they stopped at the sight of two american marines in the tailor shop doorway turned and leveled their rifles in a menacing manner they stood that way poised on their toes for a moment then budde suddenly aly une one of the japanese soldiers lowered his fits bayonet and sprang toward them the jap pointed the bayonet at franks buddy the other marine private on guard with him at the doorway de be raised his gun gion knocked the 5 w X he raised his HI machine gun knocked the bayonet aside bayonet aside pulled back the extractor of his gun and yelled at him to stop that lie he meant business even a jap was afraid of a tommy gun the jap took a step backward at the sight of that deadly machine gun pointed at him the marine officers came running out of the tailor shop and the officer of the japanese patrol stepped forward to see what the trouble was during the heated conversation that ensued the jap officer demanded fong kee as his prisoner and expressed his intention of seizing the uniforms that had been placed in the truck the marine officers finally convinced him however that the goods were american property and that they were not aiding the chinese in any way may and the truck was then allowed to proceed when the truck was loaded it started back toward battalion headquarters they were approaching the Wo ochang road crossing when another japanese patrol halted them they surrounded the truck ordered the marines to get out and again came the demand for the trucks contents and for foug nee kee the tailor major lets japs know hell fight the second patrol was even more threatening in its attitude than the first the american major ordered tits his wen to cock their pieces told the japanese that if they approached the truck or even touched it lie he would give the word to ure fire the jap officers face turned black with anger there followed a few moments of tense silence while he stood deliberating then he said that the marines could proceed with the truck if they left the goods behind and turned fong kee over to them again the major had to go through that longwinded long iong winded explanation that the goods were the property of Awe american rican officers rind and that he be was not seeking to aid the chinese C in auy any way after considerable argument then the jap officer accepted the explanation the truck started for headquarters once mure more and this I 1 time line it mana managed ged to get 1 back ack to sinza ainza roud road without ine meeting eting any more japanese patrols out looking for tin argument frank says you cant get gel any idea of how scared he was those japs he says looked as they were spoiling for trouble and although they got out of it each time with nothing more dangerous than a little heated discussion he never knew when those japs were going to take it into their heads beads to open ire fire if you ask me he goes on id say I 1 was looking into the eyes of death twice inside of half an hour and plenty for one day C |