The present holder of the office of Hsien is one of the most intelligent men I have met. He has as tutor to his sons a Chinese who speaks anglish and teaches arithmetic and other Western learning. Being anxious to inaugurate some reforms on Western lines, he has turned his attention of late to the question of prison reform. The old cells have disappeared, and in their place he is erecting three prisons. The first is for those who are serving short sentences; the second for those imprisoned for life; the third for those under arrest. In each section the prisoners are taught a simple trade, and the proceeds of their work are used to provide them with better fare than the prison would otherwise give.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.