The mandarin Chao of Saning (one of the two hsiens of this city) has been degraded by erder from Peking on the ground of mismanagement of his office, and never to hold such position again; but the. reason given locally for his degradation is that he like several other offi cials in this province had purchased his position for several thousand dollars from the Into acting Provincial Treasurer Wing, who committed suicide a short time age when he learnt that the Governor of the province had been ordered by Imperial command to make inquiries into the matter. The mandarin Dao has a reputation here of being as good as his fellows. A Fire in the Great Street,
nine on Saturday evening in the principal la, Irae fire, boke out about 1 part of the Great Steer, devtolint louses and shops on both sides for a tance of about 150 yards and extending back from the street about 20 yards; at one place the fire crossed a canal and burnt several houses in" parallel stiet, A strong wind was owing at the time which made it difficult to confine the fire to small area, ud the houses, and mat being 80 very dry through the prolonged drought easily ignited, wd the fire rapidly spread over a wide si Local appliances for combating the fire are not of the best, and the narrow streets and the difficulty of getting an abundant supply of water make extinguishing a large fire almost an possibility. It is not easy to obtain able information as to origin or extent, yet it is known to have commenced in a bvotshop, probably through the overturning of of some bedding by a brazier, Various an oil Janp on a bed or through the igniting estimates are given as to the number of houses destroyed ranging from 300 to 400, Some of the shops burnt were the latest and the loss bet ween $100,000 and $200,000, in the city; only in one instance had an insurance been taken out, The red hue of the flames was plainly discernible 23 miles away. As faras can be ascertain. valy three lives were lost, a woman and two child-on.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.