7 '9th September. Village and Clan Fights, common enough in the south and north, are in the immediate vicinity of Shanghai of quite rare occurrence, owing to the general timidity and peace-loving nature of the country people belonging to the prefectures of Sungkiang and Soochow, in this province. Hence people here wore greatly surprised to hear that on Monday there was a regular battle royal, accom panied by loss of life, between the mom-bers of two villages situated on the borders ofthe neighbouring districts of Paoshan (Wusung) and Chiating (Kahding). There were over two hundred contestants on each sida of the rustic armies, who were led by the members of the chief families of the respective villages. The scene of the battle was on neutral ground, namely, within the borders of the town of Nan-hsiang (Naziang), about a dozen or fifteen miles north of Shanghai. The cause of the fight was concerning the right of gathering water-lily roots in the Tangho canal, rights claimed by one village and denied by the other: Nearly twenty villagers were badly injured by blows from iron rakes, hoes, scythes and clubs, while three killed. A native guard-boat, containing a crew of a dozen men, was manifestly too weak to stop the fight, which continued until the side that had lost most men in wounded gave ground. It is stated that if the chihhsion of Chiating (Kahding) proves himself too weak to overawe the villagers, that rowdies, gamblers and desperadoes, who abound in that vicinity, will take advantage of the opportunity thus given to plunder and spread the disturbance to neighbouring towns.
"Kept in Rigid Confinement."
The local mandarins have received dispatches from the North to the effect that the Tartar General, Tseng Chi, and Ting Chieh, the Civil Governor of Mukden, are now kept in rigid confinement within their respective yamens, by the Russians, for fear, it is said, that they will let out to the world-the-disastrous condition of Russian resources in Fengtien. No outsider is allowed to communicate with these two high Manchus, nor are they allowed to send any word to their subordinates, ever! in the city.
ILE, Tieh Liang, the Special High Commissioner, it is stated, ended his examination of the Kiangnan Arsenal andthe members of the Director's Staff yesterday. His Excellency will probably romain here several days Jonger to investigate other Government establishments. It should be noted also that the Special Commissioner has a foreigner on his Staff, who is called in Chinese Ha K'sh-men (2 Hackermann).
The Cargo of the Hsiping.
The Shanghai Taotai received yesterday a petition from a Chinese merchant named Tseng Ming-ch'ion, who represents the owners of a considerable portion of the cargo carried by the Hsiping when she was captured by the converted cruiser Hongkong Maru, praying' that stops be taken to assist the petitioner in requesting the Japanese Government to release his goods, none of which came under the category of contraband of war. The steamer itself having been released, declares the petitioner, his cargo should therefore be also returned to him, otherwise the loss he would suffer would' be roster than he could possibly bear.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.