393.1163/781: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consul General at Shanghai (Gauss)
32. Please communicate urgently the following to Nanking:
Your 9 [11], January 8, 4 p.m. Please telegraph urgently within a few hours if possible, to the Department the approximate dates on which damages mentioned in your second paragraph occurred and who was responsible for burning of buildings if this has been established. Also report whether you have authenticated facts regarding circumstances reported by American residents mentioned in your third paragraph, together with any further facts which have come to light regarding outrages by Japanese armed forces against Americans and their property.