Among the Combatants of Liuho A. representative of the "North China Daily News" on Friday visit:
Liuho, at which point fighting which might well have proved ical in the fortunes of the two sides had taken place during the preceding 12 hours. A fairly good roud—as roads outside the Settlement go—links the place with Shanghai, but it is difficult to persuade a Shanghai chauffeur that at the moment the Liuho Road is nice one to travel upon. He simply docs'nt like it. One had to be circumspect and suggest that Markham Road, or perhaps a little beyond, was the destination, but the mittee more far" suggestion upset. him, and he insisted on a safety first device—appropriation of a Red Cross flag, "Flagga blong velly strong" said he, knowing nothing of the Geneva Convention but having 'a shrewd idea of its beneficence towards inoffensive chauffeurs, and the like. Great was his satisfac-ion when a Chinese doctor, in the uniform of the Red Cross, joined the party. The "coat master" ap-Peared to give him a decisive sense of security, and s0 he drove on. A flag, but not the Red Cross fag, appeared later. Its bearer was a humble postman whom we picked up on the edge of Chapel, a man il at Lohtien, the village next to Liuho. Though his flag hud no cross upon it, it was decorated with some fowl of the air symbolize ing the epeed of the service he 0 admirably served, and this pleased the chauffeur. Tt was a lagga," and! that was sufficient. We drove on, porting themselves and their more Valuable family possessions into the safety of the Settlement; and there were many more cars and one or two lorries bringing in. w from the scene of action, the ity apparently only slightly wound and others huddled" up or stretched at fall length upon. the heavy, Jolting lorry—an agonizing ride.
'A Scene of Contradictions, As most of us know from experience, the dominant note of scenes "behind the line" is anything but truly rural, Campa dotted about everywhere, great depots with vast quantities of stores, ammunition dumps, parks of artillery, aerodromes, troops everywhere con the move, fill the landscape and impress the beholder with the fact that war is. a mighty. business But appnvently vat war in Chinn where distinctly they have a fof thely owns To all the thirty miles between Shanghai and Liuho there was not a sign of military aetivity beyond the sight of the unfortunate wounded who might, from all other signs of battle one observ ed, have come merely from an one counter with w few desperadvcs of the Lincheng type. There were patroix on the road, no reserves of troops, no preparation for x accend Hine of defence should the troops holding Liuho be driven in. In ape pearance the country was as peace ful as it has been there many years since the Taipings rudely di turbed the neighbourhood. The country people wore going on with their' work as usual, though perhaps in somewhat depleted number; and a fine crop there will be to gather unless the Liuho braves trample it down, which is not likely.
The Peasant's Neutrality.
Incidentally, the peasant seems to ave developed an extraordin complete determination not to have anything to do with the military. He is a neutral in the most absolute sense, and, if one may judge by his demeanour, would be extremely pleased it the soldiers would take their quarrel away to some other neighbourhood. It was useless to try and get into conversation with any of these quiet tillers of the soil. [Phe sight of " military uniform meant possible conscription, or some other form of military exactions and thos it that—military uniforms on the Liuho Road do not engage much of the simple rustic's admiring attention. We had occasion to speak to tone, and our friend the Doctor thought it advisable to remove his military cap and coat, but even this expedient failed in' its intended effect: the countryman kept on the move while answering a question or two—looking: back over his shoulder as he did so—and was not to be drawn into anything approaching an intimate conversation. This. simple incident, which may indicate the nae Aive's for or caution oF both, docs serve to illustrate that, so far as the inhabitants of the district concerned, neither their heart nor, their interest is he war", They are a peaceful people, land the present trouble will but draw. slightly upon their inexhaustible patience, one imagines, So it was that, in the course of a Journey of some seventy li, the sign the plough shire was' more in evidence than that of the sword. The rumour of a retreat from Liuho was raved not to be correct both from information gathered by the way and by the fact that not a single straggler was found on the road: The place was still held by Chekiang troops, though whether they held their ground firmly or otherwise was Tot certain.
A Chinese "N.C.0." in
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.