Deaths of Noted ChineseDuring the year 1917， several prominent Chinese passed away.
The death of Sheng Hsuan-hwai （Kung-pao） occurred at his residenceon Bubbling Well Road on April 25th. He was a man intimatelyconnected with some of the most important events of modern Chinesehistory. He had a great deal to do with the development of the ChinaMerchants Steam Navigation company and the Chinese TelegraphAdministration. Just before the Revolution， he had been appointedDirector-General of Railways， and his policy of state control of railwayshad been one of the immediate causes of the revolt in Szechuen andCentral China. In consequence of the failure of his policy he hadbeen cashiered by the Government and deprived of all his offices andbecame one of the most unpopular men in China. It was under hismanagement that the Hanyang Iron and Steel Works， Tayeh IronMines， Pinghsiang Collieries， and Chuchow-Pinghsiang Railwayhad come into existence， and he was also the founder of NanyangCollege. He accumulated enormous wealth， and it is estimated that theelaborate funeral held in the following year， when the coffin was sent toSoochow， cost Tls. 300，000.
One of the revolutionists， Chen Chi-mei， was assassinated in theFrench Concession on May 18th. He had been Military Governor ofShanghai in 1911， and had been one of the leaders of the rebellion of1913， when the Kiangnan Arsenal was attacked. After defeat， he soughtsafety in Japan， but returned to Shanghai about two months before hewas murdered.
The last death happening at this time was that of Yuan Shih-kaion June 6th， his end probably being hastened by his chagrin over thefailure of the plan to restore the monarchy and make himself Emperorof China.
Burning of the OpiumA spectacular event occurred toward the close of the year， inDecember， in Pootung， opposite the Punlic Gardens. The Chineseauthorities， anxious to convince the world of their sincerity in dealingwith the suppression of opium， committed to the flames 150 piculsof the drug， valued at half a million dollars， which had been seized bythe Customs. Special furnaces were put up for the purpose and theholocaust was witnessed by officials and a small number Europeans.
The United States Enters the WarThe outstanding event connected with the Great War during thisyear was the entrance of the United States had on the side of the Allies.
During the first years of the struggle， the neutrality of the United Stateshad created to a certain extent a feeling of estrangement between theBritish and American communities. It was difficultt for Britishers tomeet with what appeared to be a spirit of lukewarmness on the partof their American cousins， some of whom were suspected of havingpro-German sympathies. After April， 1917， however， the atmospherecleared， and the fact that American and Briton were fighting shoulderto shoulder on the battlefields of France was a source of mutualsatisfaction.
Rupture between China and GermanyThen followed the breaking off of diplomatic relations betweenChina and Germany， and the entry of China into the war on the sideof the Allies against the Entente Powers. As a consequence all Germanand Austrian residents in Shanghai were obliged to register in theTown Hall， and their rights of extraterritoriality came to an end. TheDeutsch-Asiatische Bank on The Bund was closed， and placed in thehands of liquidators.
There Austrian ships， he “China，” “Bohemia，” “Siberia，” wereseized in the harbour of Shanghai. These， with the five German shipswhich had already been interned， made eight enemy vessels in all， andpermission was granted for their employment by the Allies for warpurposes.
The German Minister to China， Count yon Hintze， and his staffpassed through Shanghai early in the year， and after the declarationof war the Chinese Government contemplated sending all enemynationals back to their homelands. The German Medical andEngineering School， situated in the French Concession， was closed，but was reopened at Woosung with a staff of 50 teachers and a studentbody of 600. This caused much dissatisfaction to the British residentsof Shanghai， as they considered it a dangerous centre of propaganda，and a possible source of military danger.
Effects of the War
Week by week the war came home more closely to the people ofShanghai， especially as they scanned the list of Shanghai men killed atthe front， which appeared from time to time in the North-China DailyNews‘ Roll of Honour.
The various war funds continued to grow and the subscriptions tothe China and Japan War Saving Association reached ￡578，798. 13. 4.
The Shanghai Volunteer Corps was able to keep up its enrolmentby taking in fresh recruits to replace those who left for the front， butthe foreign police force decreased from 284 to 180， and there was alsoa falling off of volunteers for the Fire Brigade.
The British Women"s Work AssociationThe British Women"s Work Association was opened in Shanghaion October 1st， 1914， and closed in December， 1919， and carried on avery remarkable work.
As time went on， the British women in twenty-four Treaty Portsjoined the Association. Shanghai was the main centre of the work andall materials supplied by the Association were cut here and sent to thedifferent outlying centres.
All contributions other than those of the Sock and VolunteerSupply Department were regarded as gifts to the Queen Mary"sNeedlework Guild and sent first to London， then to Mesopotamia andfinally to Siberia， according to instructions given by Her Majesty.
The Sock and Volunteer Supply Department had a separate fundand gifts were sent direct to volunteers gone from China.