Not many days ago'a lady complained to the writer of a marked Change for the worse in the attitude fof riesha coolies towards the forfigner ever since the outbreak of coal disturbances and the coming of the various defence forces. 'Their insolence, she said, is past Dearing; and she elted two phases fof their conduct in support of her contention, 'The first is that they refuse, with growing frequency, to accept' foreign fares: the second, that many have acquired a discon: feerring habit of constantly turning about and staring at her most peculiarly. As to the first, we reminded her that, with the advent of 40 many strangers who have not the faintest inkling of fair remuneration of the coolie and their consequent overpayment. of him, it was but natural that he—with his uncanny faculty for immediate discrimination between the seasoned China Hand and the newcomer—should prefer the patronage of the latter, Another factor, we explain-€4, is that a coolie whose base of food supplies is somewhere in Hongkew, has every right to refuse fan intending passenger for Bubbling Well and points west. So much for the riesha coolie's marked indopendfence for which none can justly blame him, however, inconvenient it may be. As to the other count in the indictment, the chances are that the coolie, having no inkling of the desired direction, gazed inguiringly at his fare at every street corner, med dissertations to the contrary, there is a definite Timit to occult, powers; and second-sight so liberally credited the occidental is not, passenger is aware of destination, ft does not follow that the coolie' knows this without being told. We shall be only too ited to be proved wrong in this assumption, since it will create new field for comment which is bound to be a welcome relief from the subjects commonly coming with" in the editorial purview,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.