The Business of Passing Likin Stations in the Interior From Our Own Correspondent, Kanchow, Ki., Jan. 28, On a recent trip down the River it happened that on the boat on which we were, there was a considerable quantity of salt. This. southern salt is not allowed to pass a certain place about 40 miles north of Kanchow, but any boats. with a cargo, large or small, which aye found south of that mark have only to declare that their cargo is. for that town and all is O. K. It was so on this occasion, and all passed off well, but further down there was another likin—station where they were so busy doing it" that they really came on board to search, not content with the usual report of "empty." In their inspection they came across the fated article, and immediately there was loud talk and a thunderous. protestation that this was government business and that such could not be tolerated (This was in answer to a few dollars which found their way into the searchers' hands).
The boatman was taken to the office and more of the office people visited the boat, just to see, but they incidentally took away some money; just a present. The outcome was that a sum of some ten odd dollars was passed to other hands and all was merry again. But be it noted that at that very town where this station is, there are several dozen shops and__all sell this southern salt openly. How comes it there, and how does it pass so many salt barriers?
Episope or THe Honest Mencuanr..
Some weeks ago there was gentleman in this city who was taking a boat load of fruit to the north of the province for sale. He was not used to the ways of these.' likin folks, and so arranged all his. cargo in baskets, each one weighed and the weight written on it. So all was easy at the beginning, but as there has never been known a merchant who registered much more than half his cargo at any of these likin places, when he came to the one above named he was told that. he would have to pay over again.
New I. C. Steamer Hongkong, Feb. 14.
This dumbfounded him, and of course he refused. He offered to leave the whole cargo with the The Indo-China Steam Naviga-official and appeal to the higher tion Company's new Yangtze powers, this overnight. I presume steamer Kun Wo, left for Shanghai his coolness brought them to their this morning.—Reuter. senses, for next day they proposed to weigh the baskets, being sure of finding some extra to pay them Tom Tiddler's Ground for their trouble. As, however, they did not they allowed him to Tokio, Feb. 4. pass. It is possible that the off-According to official returns, cial in question never once got a money lost in the streets of Tokio just and true paper of cargo beduring the past year aggregated fore, and so it comes to this that t Yen 90,000, of which only Yen 16,000 if merchants weve more honest, the {has so far been recovered.—officials would probably be so too.
Reuter.
So after all which side is to blame?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.