One hears next to nothing of any political unrest in the country; good crop has been harvested, and everyone seems contented. The war is talked of less than a few weeks ago, bnt foolish rumours are easily started; for instance, a missionary's buying material from which to make a large Chinese flag for use fon the Boys' School field day, was the occasion of the story that Amer ica was to in the war too, and that the missionaries were buying Chinese tings for protection.
A Turkish subject landed in Hoihow recently; He was travelling round the world, and the opening of the war with Turkey found him in Siam. He says he has been imprisoned in French territory, but that he was finally put on a British steamer and shipped here.
The district of Vangneng seems to be in the grip of a new form of gambling said to have been intro-dueed from foreign parts. Whole villages, women as well as men, seem to become so absorbed in it that they neglect their harvest, their households, and all ordinary duties.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.