On November 23 a Rassian expodition, headed by the famous Russian traveller, Volonel Kozloff, left Moscow for Central Asia. M. Tehernoff, a geologist of the Moscow University, accompanied Colonel Kozloff, who ix attended by four privates of the Moscow Grenadiers and who will be joined at Kinchta by five trans-Baikal Cossacks. The equipment of the expedition will be concluded at Irkutsk and Kiacht where camels and horses will be bou At the end of December the expedition will leave Kiachta for Urgu and the desert.. At the Yellow River the expedition proposes to establish a central point and a station for meteorological observations. The places to be visited are either entirely or almost unknown to European travellers.—Our St. Petersburg Correspondent.
'Ar the Mixed Court on Wednesday morning, before Mr. Wang, Assistant Magistrate, and Mr. S. Barton, British Assessor a shroff, named Sing Kei-nyer, was charged with gross ess on' having allowed an onto break of fire in his premises, No. 524 Foochow Road, about 6,30 a.m. on the 14th instant, thereby endangering property. Detective-Inspector McDowell prosecuted and stated that his reasons for doing so were that while big fire was in progress in Foochow Road, the majority of the fire trucks and reels passed the defendant's premises. No outbreak of fire was noticed at that time, but the noise made by the fire tracks mast have aroused the inmates, and there were fourteen men residing on the premises. Within an hour a fire occurred on the defendant's 5 premises and was noticed by a policeman on fire duty. The premises were entered by the Police and it was found that the occupants were fully dressed and a fire was blazing practically in the centre of the premiscs—used as restaurant—and quite apart from any fire place. The fire was in the corner of a partitioned room and when discovered by the police was well ablaze, one of the main beams having caught. There was '8 suspicion of arson, but the Inspector had not gathered sufficient evidence to support stich a charge and had therefore brought @ charge of carelessness. There was no rubbish or kerosene discovered in the vicinity of the blaze and it was due to the attitude and behaviour of the occupants of the premises that the charge was brought.—The Court decided to visit the scene of the fire and the defendant was rewended on bail of $500 until this morning—Before the same Court a native school-boy was charged with having mailed a parcel which bore an old and previously-used postage stamp, with intent thereby to defraud the Imperial Chinese Post Office. The defendant pleaded that he was innocent of the fact that the parcel bore a cancelled stamp and that he simply delivered the pared! to the Post Office in. the same state ax he received "Tit from the sender.
He was released on security pending the appearance in Court of the sender of Tue U. 8. Army transport Thomas has brought to the Philippines to be stationed at Luzon nine companies of the Ist Cavalry and two companies of the 6th.
Orders have been given for the Bramble, Britomart,—Waterwiteh, Thistle, Moorhen, and Nizhtingale to be paid ion, and recommissioned for further service on that station on the arrival on the relief crews, which will be con Arthur will also carry rating relief of the half-crew: f the remaining gunboats on the China Staion—namely, Widgeon, Woodlark, Sui Kinsha, Teal, Wooloock, Sandpiper, and Robin, the ratings for the frst four boats being drawn from Devonport, and for the second four from Chuthaw, © The new crews for the Bramble, Britomart, and Waterwiteh will be drawn from Portsmouth, All the crews and ratings are to be embarked in the Royal Arthur at Portsnouth on January 14. ictersting item in this week's the eprdetton of suggests the inevitable reflexion that in some respects at least we still preserve the habits of "the gon old days." There is a capital illustration of early be seen in the Shanghai, and a sp Pons Asinorum useful hint for the Paper Hunt Club.
We have received Tientsin papers with dates to January 10. It is reported la has stationed a postal cen~ harbin to scrutinize all newspapers and books pestiag through thera for fear some dangerous matter may ass into Russia from Asia.—A new public library is to be opened in Peking in the Spring.—Orders have been sent to all the provinces to secure a number of good horses (? ponies) for cavalry purposes, as is deficient in ae taken over the Wagon Lits train service from Messrs, Bush Bros.
We have received Japan papers with dates to January 11.—Mervantile business has shown much improverness in Yokohama since the new Year.—
Vladivostok telegrain_ states the Russo-Chinese Bank will esta plish branches at Kobe and Tsuraga shortly, the bank will make an altera-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.