We have had some mild excitement recently in our district by reason of discoveries of gold. At Lo¥oying, a village which lies behind the Changli Hills, seen from the train en route to Shanhaikuan, gold has been discovered, and a number of men began working it without any intimation of any sort to the official. This gentleman, on learning the state of fairs, reported the matter to the authorities, with the result that the Salt Taotai has taken over control of the workings, farming out to such. people as are prepared to agree to the conditions that are being enforced. So far as I have been able to learn, the new management is much more sati tory than the old, inasmuch as now there is' not the tendency to strife and contention that was the order of the day, when it was a case of "every man for himself and the del take the hindmost.", A Brilliant Idea.
At another place, quite near to the Groat Wall, a little while ago your correspondent was offered a chapel by the villagers, the support for the same to be drawn from the rental of certain hill in the village which was to be rented out, as we were told, for the growing of trees ete. As we had no more than one member in thi ion was somewhat overpowering in its generosity, and led to close questioning and cautious moving on the part of your correspondent. The result of investigations was that, a native of the village, who had returned from Manchuria on account of t where he had had som gold-mining, confidently affirmed that in the aforesaid hill, gold would certainly be found. But how to work it without arousing the interest of the mandarins?
brilliant idea: Mako over the hill to the foreign missionary in the city, appropriate a c sum for the upkeep of a Christian chapel, and then, when prying officials came round enquiring, all' that would be necessary to-sxy would be that this hill belonged to the Mission, whose representa-it was presumed would be quite to he task of satisfying the Ta Verily, " brilliant idea! And your correspondent almost trembles to think how near he has come to being a rich man, with a gold mine of his own to boast about. But we have have not yet 'S opened a chapel in that village, and the jeds of transfer of that wealth-producing hill have not yet been placed in the writer's hands,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.