As an illustration: an officer with a few men will go to a village and demand that so many carts and animals, or so much grain must be provided within a specified time or the village will be burned, and there is no help for the poor people, and no redress. At a certain village, they had gathered an amount of straw; one night it was burned and they suspected the villagers; but they could neither find culprit nor proof. As a warning, this and three other near villages wore burned, and all the poor people turned out of their homes with nothing but what they could carry, in mid-winter. This is one illustration of their treatment of the people over whom they are endeavouring to establish their sway.
The Unpreparcdness of Russia.
It is becoming more and more evident that Russia was wholly unprepared for the war, and that they had no idea whatever that Japan would dare to attack the great Empire, utterly discounting the knowledge, courage, and preparedness of the Japanese because they had been so patient and observant of law and equity as against very great provocation. I recently heard of gentleman who. holds an invitation from the "Grout Viceroy of the Bast" to attend the last important social function at Port Arthur to be held two or three days before they proposed to close the place to all such frivolity and against the enemy as well. He hopes to meet the Viceroy again some time and show him his invitation, and ask as to the success of the ball. ''The Japs undoubtedly knew what both they and he were about—he knew neither. It is reliably said that the Russian Minister in Peking said some little time ago that Russia could never go to war with that little kingdom,—the whole world would laugh at them for doing 60 and whipping the little monkeys Such war would be unworthy the great Russian nation, Another Little Incident has both its humorous and its significant side. A Russian officer visited Paotingfu to muke surveys and acquaint himself with the surrounding country. As he could not speak Chinese, he was evidently trusting to luck for some way of communication for his best success. Fortunately for him a well-dressed young Chinaman came on the same train who could speak French with whom he got into conversation, the result being that he consented to become interpreter and assistant to the Russian officer. Whether or not the officer ever learned that his assistant was a Japanese deponent saith not, but such was the fact.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.