New Home For Uncle Sam In Chinese Port. The palatial new consulate of the United States at Shanghai is shown in the center with the old structure at the upper right. Above, to the left, is Edwin S. Cunningham, consul-general.
SHANGHAI— (JP) — A landmark of this Chinese port, over which the American flag has flown for 20 years, is coming down to make way for
America's new consulate-general. The structure will be the finest of its kind in all Asia and will set a new standard for United States diplomatic
buildings abroad. The site, on the Whangpoo river, Shanghai's artery to the sea, is in full view of every steamer entering or leaving the port.
Destruction of the old buildings has begun and within two years there will be completed a million dollar structure which will furnish living quarters and office space for Edwin S. Cunningham of Maryville, Tenn., consul-general here for 11 years, and his entire staff of about a hundred.
The old buildings were erected about I 50 years ago and when structures reach that age in Shanghai they are old. The soft mud brick of which they were made began to disintegrate years ago and great slabs fell away from various parts of the group until the structures looked as if they had been subjected to shell fire.
The foundations sank until floors were so uneven that steps had to be constructed between some of the rooms. So frail did the main office
become that steel safes housed on the second floor were removed to the basement, lest they crash through and wreck the whole interior.
But although the old buildings were disintegrating and sinking in value, the opposite was true of' the ground on which they stood. The government bought the property 15 years ago, paying a third of a million dollars for it. It is now worth a whole million and with Shanghai real estate values booming, it will soon reach a still higher level.