Canton, Jan. 21.
A few days ago, the people of Chekhom, a populous town some little distance from Canton, gathered to do honour to the Sage of China, by celebrating his birthday, and a big theatrical show was arranged. At such times the natives are easily moved, and require careful handling. I do not quite know how the rejoicings ended in tearg but somehow the people became threatening, and the soldiers, who had been sent to keep order, lost their heads and fired upon the crowd, killing several innocent people. In the olden days this might probably have been hushed up by paying a few dollars to the relatives of the deceased, but different opinions obtain to-day. The influential people of the town met together, and after some consultation determined to bring the matter to the notice of the Governor General at Canton and at the same time demand that the guilty men should be arrested and examined. 2
There were many who were ready to come forward as witnesses, and after some three days, the ten soldiers who were brought to book were compelled to admit that they had fired upon the mob, and so the sad results followed. The Governor General took a little time to decide what punishment should follow. At last he concluded that four containing a sergeant and a cor poral should suffer the death penalty, and the remaining six should be banished for a term of years,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.