We have heard that Ch'enliuhsien, which lies on the main road between here and Kaifeng, has been taken by bandits. These fellows seem to be able to off any plum they fancy in Honan in these days and the foreigners are getting their full share of the treatment accorded. Mr, Riding of Chenliu hag been carried off with the rest of the captives numbering about 200 we are told. General Kuo has tched some of his men to the! west to try to control the ravages of the brigands a little, but it would seem that so large a proportion of Marshal Wu's and! General Fan's armies have taken to the brigand business that it will need on very big effort indeed to bring this menace into anything like control again, There is no sign that anyone is likely to make this effort at present, 0 the people may continue to" be ravished, robbed and slaughtered whilst their lords and masters continue to jockey for position and demand increasing sums of money to try to buy men to remain loyal to them or to come over from the other side.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.