Two events have transpired that have caused a sensation in native circles, The Girst was the arrest by the provincial authorities of several of the runners in the district magistrate's staff. Tt seems that at the end of the Chinese year it is the custom here—I do not know whether it is the same in other distriets—for the mandarin to issue warrants for the arcest of a large number of doubtful characters and punish them unless they find securities in the usual way. This year the list. was exceptionally long and co1: d the names of several respectable citizens. Must: of these paid large sums tw be set free, It la said that the runners made 100 strings of cash in one day, in the shape of bribes from the arrested persons. But one young man was kept in prison for one night, for his father to bal him out. The day after he was taken ill and within a day or two was dead. He was a respectil fellow and had been arrested simply order that the runners might get a xqueezo, His father went xt once to Wuchany and laid the matter before the provincial authorities, with the result that the runners were arrested. Their leader, named Chang, was sentenced to receive ONE THOUSAND SIX HUNDRED BLOWS, and they were given. I am told that it is doubtful whether he will ever walk properly again, as ho was taken into the prison after the beating and his wounds ave had no attention, Whatever a man's offence may be, one cannot credit a country which treats criminals in this way with any real knowledge of civilisation.
The other event was the arrest of Messrs. Buttorlield and Swire's Chinese agent here on a charge of
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.