A clash between the local students and the authorities was expected to take place on Monday, In the moming the Chinese papers dwelt largely upon its probability, for it was generally understood that a mass meeting summoned for the afternoon was to be prohibited. This meeting was called as a protest against. the alleged ill-treatment of the students in Tientsin and Peking, being directed chiefly against Yang Lteh, chi-f of the Tientsin police, and the Civil Governor of Chihli. Tt was announced for the City Recreation Ground, and the anticipations trouble were based upon the belief that the City authorities would forbid entrance thereto.
The expectation was that the authorities would hold the ground against the students by soldiers. The ground is enclosed by a stone wall, and having only one gate could be defended against incursion with comparative ease, unless a well laid plan of attack by scaling the wall at many points were devised. Whatever may have been the original design of the authorities, no step such as the forbidding of the ground to the agitators was carried out. At one o'clock, when the meeting was supposed to begin, sokliers to the strength of an average platoon were in attendance. Four were stationed at the gate, the remainder occupying the pavilion, but there was no sugges: tion that the representatives of the numerous bodies would be refused admission.
THe Para or Discretion.
Had it been the order of the powers that entrance was to be forbidden, the number of armed men present would have been ample to enforce the decision. They were smart and soldierly in ap pearance, and there seemed 0 earthly reason why they could not have held the place against unarmed crowd. However, this was not part of the their duties, and the authorities probably took the wisest course, as it is practically certain that the protesting bodies would simply have conducted their meeting in the neighbouring streets, causing no end of inconvenience thereby.
The meeting was, as has been stated, timed for one o'clock, ani by that time a few of the societies summoned had arrived. It was not until an hour later, however, that anything like a reasonably large gathering had assembled, and even when the speeches started the meeting showed none of the im. posing" dimensions which other gatherings here are said to have achieved. On the call of " man with a speaking trumpet, the mem-hers of the societies present gathered round their banners and than round the rostrum, an? after the meeting proceeded on orthodox lines, the speakers being of both sexes.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.