Owing to the monopolizing of the railways by the soldiers, fuel is becoming very searce in this centre, It is impossible to obtain coal for riy price at present. A consign iment of 300 tons, which was expected from Honan by the Pu Chung Coal Corporation, was commandeer ed by the military on the Peking-Hankow Railway last week, This means a poor look-out for those who have not yet Inid in their winter stock of coul. With a view to assisting the' poorer people, the merehunts have bought ina large stock of wood fuel, to be sold at normal prices #0 long as it last They are said to have procured for this purpose 5,000 Toads of wood from Changsha and 4,000 of char coal from Ichang, After a fortnight of normal autumn dry weather, the rain has come again, and is falling in much lgreator quantity than did lust This in exceptional for The Tuchun Hsiao Yao-nan has! November, but itis a thing to ked the Hankow—Merchants, thankful For, beewuse it means a for a loan of $600,000 for his breaking of the drought. whicl military expenses.
After some threatened be so severe. th consideration, the merchants replied
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.