Ch'sochoufi, the prefectural city of the Swatow region, has been experiencing within the last few days its liveliest times since the Boxer year. For some time there has been unrest over the proposed taxation of food, and for several days there has been no killing of pigs, owing to the tax upon them. Saturday, the 30th April, was rumoured 10 be the day when all shops were to be shut as a protest against taxation. On the morning of that day, the 15th of the moon, the 'Taotai left. his' yamen to worship inthe Confucian temple as usual on that date. A small crowd had collected at the gate and grew to larger proportions as he proceeded through the streets and when he reached the temple he found a large and angry crowd awaiting him. The Prefect and District Magistrate had arrived before him and the crowd soon bad them all shut for three hours. At the end of that time up in the temple, where they Kept, nen the Taotai succeeded in getting 200 soldiers through to rescue them, which they did, but injuring 2 number of people in the Process. In the meantime the mob had Proceeded to the temporary residence of the pork tax farmer, and gained an entrance there where they looted but did not find their man as he had taken alarm the night before and departed to the yamen of the for Foreign Affairs. The crowd followed him there, but found only the wife and children of the Deputy, who were roughly handled trid the yamaa was looted and some of its
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.