Having just' met one who was in Taian last week, 1 am able te upploment from a reliable source, that the details which I sent bog & bout the band of robber who have. recently "moved "from Tsaoshih to the Suichow region. north from Hankow and £0 railes Teian is a city about 100 miles
east of Tsaoshih, and so lay more or less on the line of movement lof the robbers.. Penglingshih, large market town 40 li north of Teian was looted and burned on Satirday, April 4... (This is one lof the towns which was plunder fod lant year, and about 4p of the inhabitants were carried away og. hostages and kept for eral months wandering about with the Fobbors and suffering great, hard. ships)
"On evening the mis. sionaries in teman were warned el by the city magistrate that. it was necessary for them to leave the Place immediately. A personal visit to the yamen procured a few hours' respite, and most of the night was spent in collecting to-Jgether what necessities could be taken ino hurried "fight. But fo tunately, in the morning cama: news that the situation was less dangerous, and, the city was no longer threatened. An cngagement had taken "place between the military and the robbers,. in which 17° soldiers were killed, though the robbers had the worst lof it amd were beaten back. The band is supposed to have been 400 for. 800 strong, bub their losses. are unknown. 'They retreated, as ay, ina' notre Ssereaalabowt Tt Sherer ces easterly: tion to: the:
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.