The six months' protracted drought has s0 affected the Wéeuchow river that the is advanced in price," Kiukiang Jumber rafts cannot come down, and timber and Nganking, and their neighbourhoods, are in great straits owing to the cracking up of the parched soil, Secd cannot be planted.
Owing to the thinness of the population in Kirin province, the proposal to give it a separate educational establishment has been negatived for the present. notified of an eclipseof the moon on the 17¢ "The Canton authorities have ben ofiially of the next moon, and that part of it will take place when' the moon is below the horizon. They are to wear court dress, beat gongs and save the moon as usual, as long as she is above the horizon, and make one beisanee as she disappears: she need not be saved when once below the horizon, notwithstanding that her disc will still be practically obscured.
wife-pawning is reported from Wenchow, 'A curious Jocal Chinese custom called A man having learnt from astrologers that his own wife would not live long, took another man's wife over in pawn, ready for appropriation when required. It appears, however, that this woman had already been pawned to a third party who was too poor to support her comfortably, and that she herself fraudulently procured her second pawning by representing that her mother wished it to be #0. The problem for the Wenchow authorities is to find out the legal rights of the respective owners arid pawners, the whole affair being illegal, The Shen Pao says that the Emperor has Mis. 80,000 as a reward for vacating cheir resented the Peking Catholic Mission with old premises before due date, An imperial decree dated Saturday last orders the Cabinet Council to take a note of the name of the District Magistrate Kwochang, restored to his position in the Szechuen service. Kwochang is a Mongol, and was disgraced in connection with the Chungking riot of 1885, The native papers give full accounts of the missionary riots in Fu-an (neat Foo chow.) Three establishments were pulled down, and one burnt. The people are willing to pay the cost, but will not allow rebuilding. "The civil and military authorities endeavoured to throw the blame on ench other, and so both have been removed from their posts.
One of the Censors prevents a very severe indictment against the Silk Comptroller at Soochow, who is accused of the most flagrant indecency and corruption. The Prefect of Hwai-an Fa is also accused of gross misconduct. One of the most interesting cases. denounced by the same Censor is that of the magistrate of Ch'ang-sub District near Shanghai. One of the accusations against him is that he beat within an inch of his life one Zie Sih-tsz, who was suspected wrongfully of having sent an account of a local row to the Shen Pao otice.
The Emperor's horses were violently startled by some hunting dogs during Hia Majesty's recent visit to Prince Ch'un, but the Emperor maintained his composure and was magnanimous enough to allow the incident to pass unnoticed.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.