We translate the following from a num-Der of private lett 1s from people in various parts of Szechuan province to fiends in Shanghai which may give some ida of the state of that province "luring September—the time the letters in question were written.
day from Sha. E. at once tele-Chtun-hsuan, arrived Lin Eat city the ster that when the new Vierrey, H.
wilied to the Grand Council at Peking the' following:—"Have arrived here. Famine is very severe all alons the route of my journey from the borders of this province to this city xnd the sights of suffering amongst the unfortunate people that met my eyes were h-artrending. At the same time the country is overrun with desperadoes and Boxer rebels, I send the above as the frst of iny reports to the Throne to show the present condition of the country I have now come to administer." Another letter from the same city concerning the incursion of the small party of Boxers on the 15th of September last hus the following—"* When the Boxers entered the city not single soul dared oppose their advance, swnall though their party was. At last, one of the district magistevios of the sity, Mr. Chu by name, endeavoured to show front to the advancing Boxers the Tungyd Street; hut it was, at most, very feeble one, and the moment a Boxer made slash at his stirrup:—he was on hor-e-back—which sliced off " portion of the sole of one of his boots, Mr. Chu and his escort, which by the way outnumbered the Boxern five to one at least, made off to side alley like a flash, allowing the Boxers torn riot as they pleased. "they then met a police magistrate maned Mr. Ma, whilst riding in a sedan-chair and proceed: ing to the South-gate, through which the Boxers had entere The Boxers dra the mandarin out of his sedan-chair made him kneel down and kowtow t+) them. After Mr. Ma had done th the alacrity necessitated by the situat in which he was placed, he was allowed to rise and was then told to make himself scarce,' which he did."—A letter from Luchou, dated 17th ultimo, has the following:—" Eighty li from the city of Chianganhsien, there is an important lace called Tatu. A zo number of xers suddenly appeared there on the 12th and took possession, there of communication between this part of the province and Chengtu. Tatu, ax name implies, is an important ferry which people must cross to get to Chengtu, ete. The Boxers are there still."—From the city of Tzechou comes the following "The Imperial troops attacked the Boxers of Tzeyang on the 18th September, killing (reports say) several hundred of them and capturing 160, whom they brought in chains to Tzechou."—A chiang letter states:—" On the Sth Mr. Wang Ming-te, sub-prefect of Tzechou, with a large force of troops, came here, surrounded a Boxer village not far from this city, and killed from five to six hundred of them. Neicl is now quiet once more."—From Tungehuanfu comes the following:—General Ting and his brigade attacked on the 12th idem a strong ly of Boxers and other desperadoes at 8 place called Taihéchen, which they had strongly entrenched. General Ting finally bombarded the place which, becoming untenable, was abandoned by the Boxers, who retreated to Shéhunghsien. This city they entered, being somehow admitted by the department magistrate of that place, and upon being once more driven out of the city by General Ting they took the magistrate along with them as hostage."—On the same day, dispatch carrier of the Imperial lace called Yaochiatu ferry with a [mail bag, was attacked by some Boxers, (who wounded him with a spear thrust on the thigh. The postman fortunate caped in the end. Finally a Chungking letter states that " since the arrival of the new Viceroy, H.E. T=én Ch'un-hsien, the mandarins of the province are extra From Chéneta one letter states precautions in safeguarding mission property everywhere, so that Since then one does not hear so much of attacks on Cimrebes or massacres of converts as when Kuei Chun, the incapable Manchu Viceroy, was in office."
25th October.
Counterfeit Ten-cash Pieces in Hupeh.
reported from Hankow there are at present numbers of counterfeit ten cash pieces in circulation in that ci Weelow wu other places in the interior he pr ce. In spite of frequent warnings from tradespeople the authorities congernel continue to ignore them, in consequence of which counterfeiters are becoming more numerous and daring than ever, and smaller tradesmen in the province are becoming chary of accepting cent pieces tendered them in payment for fear of receiving inferior money.
The Death of Sheng Kung-pao's Father.
News was received here yesterday th: BLE. Sheng Hsia-jen, the' nonagenaci father of Shénz Kunz-puo, died at hi residence in Soochow yesterday morni at 4 o'clock, There is also current that the old gentleman really three days ago, the news of his death bein for certain reasons kept hack from the public until yesterday. This will make Sheng Kung-pro nominally "retire"
om the public offices, such as the Vice-Presidency of the Board of Works which he now holds, and the Associate j High Commissionershi tamms. on the other hand, the Director-of Commerce, re-Generalship of Railways, snd the Directorship of the China Merchants' S. N.C the Tmperial Chineze Telegraphs, and similarly lucrative posts.
27th October.
The Death of Sheng Kung-pao's Father. misapprehension his late ex ey Sheng Hsia-jen, brevet premier button' and former Provincial Treasurer of Hupeh, was steted to have died on Friday wninz at Soochow instead of at his son, she tee on Bubbling V Rad. Phe te cnarian's remains were inid in the ¢ tit yesterday afternoon at about 5 o'clock in the Bul-bling Well Tord residence with the usual native ceremonies in the presence of all the local and visiting mandarins, and to which some foreigners came asa mark of on. Tu all probability the re-1ot be taken to Chfangehou, thre city of the Sheng family, fo burial until about the middle of December huan, as the hishest and immediate on Saturday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at Pel king it to. memorialise Kung-pao's behalf reporting the death of the latter's father the date of the commence: ment HLE.'s putting on of mourning and retirement from of ial duties for three years.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.