Tientsin was startled this week by exaygerated reports of stirring events in Taku: rumour and fear begot as usual a bulky expansion of the real incidents of a fracas which might have beea serious. While lightering a steamer at Tongku last week, the manager of the Taku Tug and Lighter Company had reason to complain of careless stowage on the part of the stevedores nature's noblemen resented this interference on the part of the external bar-dorian and showed themselves contumacious whereupon Mr. Macrae, the oficial in question, promptly suspended (discharged?), the entire crew, laodah and all This summary proceeding ave even satisfaction than the verbal complaint. After an ineffectual attempt to bring out—to use the striking language of Labour's leaders in the West—the whole of the employes and so paralyse the trade of the port, the malcontents fell back on the aryumentim baculinum, which in this case was a sword, They went and hired three professional bullies, and accompanied by an ardent crowd of village sympathisers paid a visit to Mr. Wong on Friday last. This gentleman is the interpreter and local compradore of the company, and has to bear the brunt of most of the friction between foreigners and natives. On this occasion they plainly showed that they thought him the originator of the new policy, but they were quite wrong. Mr. Wong received them in the presence of Messrs. Macrae and Lindberg. The latter seeing one of the professionals swaggering up in ay unmistakable manner, calmly treated him as Ben Macoone did the ox, i.e. he felled him with one from the shoulder. We may casually remark that Mr. Lindberg understands the "noble art"; with the gloves on he is a pretty sight, but without them a serious problem; his fist is
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.