February Ist.—(1) Jen Tao-jung, Governor of Shantung, reports a double murder by a beggar named Sun Yi-p'. 'The man in question was, on a hot day in autumn,' engaged by two youths of his acquaintance to carry their coats for them, and, having at the time no money to procure foud, he seized a favourable opportunity to make off with the cents up a difficult and stony path, The tivo brothers gave chase, and one outrun the other and came up with the thief first. An angry altercation ensued which ended in the beggar taking the other by the throat and dashing him on to the ground, striking his temples against some Toose stones and wounding him mortally. By this time the other brother came up and was laid hold of by the murderer, who forced him on to the ground, and killed him by striking him in the back with a stone. The two bodies were subsequently discovered, and the uncle of the youths, fearing the result of an official enquiry, engaged a friend to help him carry them away and bury them. The truth was subsequently discovered, and the beggar apprehended and sentenced to summary decapitation with exposure of the head. For the offence of having surreptitiously buried the corpses, the uncle and the man engaged to assist him were sentenced to be beaten with the bamboo, but, in virtue of an Imperial Act of Grace that has intervened, the punishment will not be inflicted.
(2) Ming An, Mi ientenant-Governor of Kirin, that, in oboe ence to an Imperial Rescript [see Gazette of November) authorising him to forward wild ginseng to Peking as it is from time to time discovered, he has now procured six large sprigs, six small sprigs and ten sprigs of intermediate size, weighing in all five ounces. He has caused them to be carefully packed in two boxes, and despatched for the use of His Majesty. The cost of procuring the plants amounted to 639 taels, and has been defrayed from the proceeds of the duty on cultivated gins in Kirin, pt: Noted.
(3) Ta K's-erh, Military Governor of Uliasutai, reports that he has deputed officers to hold the triennial inspection of two camel breeding establishments situate in the territory of the Sain Noin Khalkhas, During the past three years 3,827 young camels have been born, a number above the average; the death rate, too, among the animals has not been excessive. rialist asks, in conclusion, that marks of Imperial approbation may be bestowed on the Mongol officials connected with the establishments.—Granted by Rescript.
February 2ud.—(1) Memorial from Wen Shuo, Read f the Grand Secretariat. The careless of the officers and men on guard at the gates of the Forbidden City has been the subject, of late, of more than one representation to the Throne; and the Decrees that have appeared in answer to these representations have not been altygether without effect, for' Memorialist, whose duties require his daily attendance at the Palace, has observed, on his way thither, a marked improvement in the demeanour of the men on duty at the Tang Hua and Wen Hua Gates. One morning, however, he observed that the Manchu characters inscribed on the slab attached to the building over the Tang Hua Gate had disappeared. Bad they fallen down or had they been stolen? In the former case there would have been some noise, which it is scarcely probable would have escaped the ears of the guard besides which, the characters themselves would be forthcoming. They must therefore have been stolen. But, in this case, it is extremely difficult to imagine how the robbery could have been effected; for the characters were firmly let into the slab, which was fixed on a high and pery part of the building. The work of abstracting them could not have been accomplished in a single night, and the conclusion reluctantly forced upon Memorialist was that the robbery was the result of stealthy operations extending over a long period of time. He feels that no time should be lost in enquiring into the circumstances of the robbery and devising measures to prevent the occurrence of similar crimes. With this latter object in view, he begs respectfully to submit eight draft regulations calculated to ensure the maintenance of a better guard round the Palace. First, he would suggest that the high officers whose duty. it is to inspect the guards should not, as heretofore, content themselves with going the rounds on the level ground, within the Imperial city, but should mount the wall and proceed along it from one gate to another, to see that the soldiers on duty are not asleep or smoking or committing any other irregular There should be several such inspections in the course of a month, and the exact time of each should be kept as secret as possible intent orders in the meantime being issued to the men to be continually on the alert and, in particular, to maintain a careful guard over the side paths which gi aces to the wall. His second suggestion is that there should be more united action among the troops constituting the garrison; and to this end each division should be placed in charge of a particular part of the Palace ground, and the reports sent in from the various stations should be communicated to all the commandants and other high officers who are at the time responsible for the efficiency of the guard, He proceeds to point out in the next place that the gates of the Forbidden City are opened before it is light, a practice having its origin in the fact that the Hsi Pien Men and 'Té Sheng Men used formerly to be opened at midnight to allow high metropolitan officers to proceed to the early audience at Yuan Ming Yuan. There is however no reason why the Palace Gates should be opened so early, and it is prayed that orders may be issued to keep them barred until it is sufficiently light to distinguish surrounding objects. The entrance and exit of women at the Tung Hua and Hei Hua Gates should in any case be rigorously prohibited. Memorialist then observes that there should be a more systematic scrutiny of the Palace buildings and their inmates, and he disapproves of the present isolated action of the authority whereby each office merely inspects its own belongings and leaves duoceupied apartments,—notably those intended for the residence of the Emperor's son,—entirely neglected. The officers should not confine ther to an inspection of their own Ya-but should from time to time visit colleagues, and should all join in a periodical scrutiny of those buildings the supervision of which does not at present fall within the province of any household Department. It is also very necessary that rules should be drawn up which should regulate the movements of the eunuchs, and the workmen and others who have access to their quarters; and the practice of allowing Chinese entirely unconnected with the Palace to pass through i n order to save them the trouble round the wall, should be put a he remainder of Memorialist's are directed towards securing more considerate treatment for the guards on duty. He recommends that rewards should be more plentifully distributed for exceptional services, and that in the case of soldiers who have by excess of zeal refused admission to, or, as recently hay pened, have gone so far as to assault persons who are subsequently shown to have had a right to enter, the punishment should be as lenient as is consistent with the demands of justice.
February 3rd:—(1) The Civil Governor of Feng-then reports the rehearing of a murder case. Chang T'ao-hsiang, a native of I-chou, whilst ona journey, had picked up some playing cards, and on his return home he and his family were amusing thomselves with them when they were surprised by Ch'in Fu, the head of a local antigambling society. No money had as yet changed hands among the players, but Chin Fa seized the cards and took them away with him, declaring his intention of reporting what he had seen to the authorities, He was subsequently invited by Chang T'ao-hsiang to come and talc the matter
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.