Chinkiang, Sept. 1.
This year the Chinese calendar proved correct, for on the eve of "Li-chin" we had a perfect deluge of rain which lasted the greater part of the night. Up till that time the heat had been very oppress sive, and it was almost impossible to keep dry day or night. With the autumn came cooler nights, and although it has been hot some days yet it has been quite possible to carry on without undue—inconvenience.
The weather has been excellent for the farmers and the prospects for the rice harvest are good. A recent visit to the "shipping hulks revealed something of the prosperity of this part of the country. One hulk was loaded up to the roof with sacks of wheat ready for export. On another hulk bags of flour filled much of the space, and one steamer alone stayed here for six hours loading flour for Shanghai. Although wheat and flour are so plentiful, the price of these goods at the stores is higher than formerly. One could not but be struck with the contrast between now and the conditions of 1910-11. Then famine stalked through this fertile land, and instead of the steamers loading flour for export, they had to unload flour sent Western philanthropists for the benefit of the poor starving people.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.