An Officer's Evidence of the Behaviour of Men Whom He Considers It a Compliment to Describe as Tufei Puow Rooney Grusexr, Peking, Dec. 8. month ago when the Shensi rabble under Hu Ching: yi's com: mand was still in the vicinity of Peking and Tientsin, a Tientsin paper, whenever reference was made to them, spoke of them as the "Shensi' bandits." This finally elicited from Hu Ching-yi's Peking: headquarters an indignant letter in which every charge made against the various Shensi units war repudiated. The reputation of these troops Unroughout all the other units of the northern army of course more than offsets anything that Hu Chingyi or his subordinates can say their favour. Everyone knows that the great majority of his officers and men wore recruited from among the bandits. Since 1922 they have been garrisoned in Honan, for the most part in towns north of the Yellow River and throughout this territory they established a reputa: tion as a criminal horde, to which scores of foreigners can bear witness. They were a good deal of a nuisance when they came up here, but, while they wore under Wu Pei-fu's eye Hu Ching-yi contrived to maintain fa certain degree of order, though this entailed the most liberal use of the executioners sword. Once he had joined Feng Vu-hsiang in the coup of October 28 and had broken away from Wu Pei-fu, there was less restraint and during the progress to jen tsin every village on the line of march was looted. Even with the amain body now removed to various posts well down the Kin-Han Ri way and with only a few remnants, of the Shensi forees about Peking and Tungchow, they have continued 4 be a menace to the peace of every community in which they have been Jedged.
An officer whom the writer has Known for some years and who served in some of China's best military organizations consented a few weeks ago to join the staff of tone of the Shensi brigades, with headquarters near Peking, and help to chape it into something resembling 'a military unit. He called upon the writer yesterday' to announce that this position had been a hopeless one and that he had quit in disgust.
}Mafet too Complimentary 2Rhey. boast: that they have been' utes", he said, "but ft; would -be-a compliment. to' them to call-them' tufei. The organization and discipline that are essential active body of robbers is entirely Taeking. They take liberties with their officers which no bandit leader would tolerate. They havn't the mutual reliance and confidence without which no band of robbers can hold' together. 'They rob each' other as readily as they rob-the out~ sider. No soldier or officer dares to go unarmed because if he did he would be stripped by his comrades. Even in the officers' quarters, weapons and gear are not hung up at night as they alway® are in a military barracks, but every officer puts all that he owns under his mattress and pillow and sleeps gripping loaded pistol for fear his colleagues attack and rob sleep. The sentries on guard, even. n the suburbs of Peking fire off their weapons from time to time all night long, not to frighten the people in the streets but to let the men within the barracks and one another know that they are awake and are not to be looted unawares.
Drawing their Pay "My nominal pay was $80 a month with an additional allowance of $40 month for expenses, T didn't expect to get all this, but I should not have agreed to join them at all Thad not expected to get at least forty or fifty dollars so that T could support my family. I discovered almost immediately, however, that no one got a salary, not even regimental commanders. Soldiers got a. food allowance of 30 coppers a day and oticers, Irrespective of rank, got 40 coppers. This means that at the present exchange my income. protnised to be less than $4.50 a month. The first night that I was established I discovered this and also learned hhow Iwas expected to draw my pay. 'After the evening meal, when it was dark, all-my. associates. who were quartered with me, got out of their uniforms, belted on Mauser Pistols and ammunition pouches and slipped into civilian gowns. 'They invited me' to go with them and 1 asked. what was to be done. They then explained quite frankly that they augmented their salaries. by highway robbery and by extorting money from shopkeepers. I dee fined fu. some fashion, but proved to be the regular-thing and I finally told them that I had never been 'a bandit, that I came of a decent family and that I had never served in a military unit where such things were countenanced. This did not make me popular and, since they gave me none of the work to do that had expected. I decided to resign. This they would not permit, so when they were all preparing to leave for new post down the Kin-Han line a few days ago, I simply rolled up my uniform and arms and put them on the k'ang and left a note saying' that Twas off. I want no more soldiering with the Shensi men. winner, Brown Arrow, was Dr. Lincoln the lucky owner doing Mr. Frank Green, of the 8. 0. Company.
The programme of the meeting was as follows:— ale "Commissioner's Cupe—Hale-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.