'A general strike was declared by, the merchants of Minghong, a town connected with Shanghai by 0 motor road and the Huangpu River, on Monday afternoon.
It appears from reports received that a soldier, a member of the Anti-Smuggling Corps, entered a shop and wanted to buy some fresh pork. The shopkeeper weighed the amount asked for, but the soldier short weight had been given and that the shopkeeper had cheated and insulted him. Thereupon he took the unfortunate shop-Keeper into custody.
When they arrived at headquarters, the officer in charge is alleged to have said that the crime was a serious one and, without giving the shopkeeper 'a fair trial, immediately ordered that he should beaten. The report goes that he was taken out and, in front of the office, given more than 300 blows with a heavy stick, When the story became known, the merchants demanded the arrest and punishment of both the soldier ind the officer, but this demand was ignored. The shopkeepers then. declared a strike, which continues at the time of writing.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.