Anking, Aug. 27.
We are still under military law here, though not as rigidly as in former times. Rumour again has it that the Tuchun is dead, but there is no official confirmation to band yet. His death has been so often reported that people will not believe it when it does actually happen, When Wu Pei-fu seemed to be sweeping all the Anfuites into oblivian it was expected that this province would sce a great dis persal of officials, It has not come to pass, and instead of signs of decay, the party of Anfu seems to have taken a new lease of life. There is great talk of disbanding troops, but they are doing the opposite here. Troops are being enrolled almost every day. Where 100 men used to be sufficient, 300 is now the minimum, and these new troops are not all strangers to the goose step. Where have they come from? And why are so many being enrolled at present? Many of them have no rifles, but they can mostly bugle, which reminds one of the Macphersons:—
Macpherson swore a feud Against the clan Mactavish, Marched into hia land To murder and to ravish. For firm wag his resolve To extirpate the vipers, With four and twenty men And five and thirty pipers, Cuearer Rice.
Rice is considerably cheaper since the new crop came on the market, #4 now purchasing one tan instead of 87 as before. A well-meaning official in one of the country towns had compassion on the poor people during the time of high prices, and sent to Kiangsi for some rice. The people were in great hopes of getting ong or two good square meals out of the deal. Alas for theghopes of the poor! When the rie@ came, it was sold at the prevailing market price. Somebody made money on i Matricide is such an uncommon crime that a case in the Northern section of the city caused a feeling of horror all over the city, A yang man had come home from ten years' soldiering in Hunan, and expected to have no difficulty in getting some of the money had periodically remitted. His mother was evidently the family banker. and refused to give him any. There was something of a row, and the man stabbed the woman twice with a bayonet that he had evidently brought home with him. (Only ordinary people are searched at the city gates, not soldiers). There was no hope of the woman recovering from her wounds, in spite of immediate medical attention. The man in former days would certainly have been executed by the instalment process, but he has been sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, which shows considerable advance in the humanity of Chinese law.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.