April 14th.—The Governor of Shantung reports the receipt of a representation from the Financial Commissioner who states that the Magistrate of the Wen-ten District announces the receipt of a petition from several of the gentry of that district brin ing to his notice the assistance which has been rendered to mariners and others by the interposition of the deity of a temple known xs the Lung-shen Miao, or Temple of the Dragon God. The presiding deity of this temple, which is situated on a hill about a mile to the southward of the district town, is the spirit of the wife of one Li, whose tomb is still in existence. Whenever prayers for rain have been offered to the spirit of this lady, or it has been appealed to by mariners when storms are raging, its silent aid has never failed to be rendered.
28th year of Tao Kuang, and in the year A.title was granted to the temple in the 1861 when the town was in imminent danger of invasion by the Nien Fei rebels, a mist was suddenly seen to appear upon the hill on which the temple stands. In the midst of this mist banners were el and countless soldiers ranged in battle array and the rebels were so alarmed at the spec-tale that they fled in dismay. Last year, too, when rain was sorely needed, a visit~ ation was made to the temple by the officials and gentry, whose prayers were promptly answered. In the autumn, when the country was in danger of inundation from excessive rains, prayers similarly offered were immediately followed by fine weather.—Reqestgranted by special Decree.
April 15th.—Shéng-t'ai, Assistant Resident in Tibet, reported himself at Court on the expiration of his term of mourning.
The Court Ci announces that His Majesty will leave the palace for the Temple of Agriculture at 4.30 a.m. to-morrow, and at 10'a.m. will proceed to the Feng Hsien been once out of his station on the same occasion, The law lays down that any officer charged with the duty of meeting the ial conveyance on the occasions of state journeys who shall be once out of his station shall be fined one year's pay; any officer 80 offending on two occasions being subject to deprivation of two steps of rank with removal to another post. (For Decree seo Gazette of 4th April:)
BANK FAILURES AT FOOCHOW, (2). The Governor-General at Foochow reports the failure of several cash banks in that city, and the pillage of these estab li
and others by the infuriated creditors aided manta and of the houses of the proprietors by a mob of rowdies. He commences his report by explaining that the system of cash notes issued by cash banks was devised to meet the scarcity of ready coin and has long been in operation. The substantial bankers, who accommodate their note issue to the amount of their capital, are of course to be relied upon, but there are others, whether by reason of losses incurred by the proprietor or the dishonesty of his employes, who issue notes representing no capital' fund, and as this system of business cannot be maintained very long, a crash comes one day or the other, arousing the indignation of the note holders who proceed to destroy the bank and remove the contents as a sot off against the notes which are dishonoured. The opportunity is also seized by many who are not note holders to join in acts of pillage, and though succeare Governors-General of the province have done their best to put a stop to this practice by punishment and exhortation they. have never succeded in doing so entirely. It was considerations of this nature that induced the Memorialist, besides ordering the executive to be constantly on the watch, to apply for and obtain His Majesty's sanction to the experimental issue of a new copper cash, hoping to reduce the price of silver by getting a sufficient quantity of cash into circulation. In spite of all precautions, however, an instance of the kind described has recently happened at Foochow. On the 11th of February, news reached the Memorialist that a cash bank situated in the south high street of the city, known as the "Ch'un Feng" Bank, had closed its doors, and that everything in the establishment' had been plundered or destroyed. The proprietor, Chuang Ting-yuan by name, who held the rank of Secretary of the Board of Revenue, lived close by, but when the disappointed note holders came in a to his house to cash their notes he ha already decamped with his family, His house was then pillaged, and the plunderers extended their operations fo the property of two people called Ch'iu and Wang who lived in the same place, but disappeared ike birds or beasts directly attempts were made to arrest them. A run was made at the same time on six other banks, who cashed the notes upon presentation; but two newly established banks, the "Hong Mei I" and "Mei Lung J," could not meet the demand and were obliged to close. These also were pulled down by the mob and the living rooms gutted of their contents. The authorities did their best to put down the disturbance, but they could not be everywhere at once; and in the: course of some three weeks another bank at Nant'ai called the "Fu Yuan " Bank was also plundered on closing its, doors. Intense excitement prevailed, and there was very
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.