Tachienlu, Dec, 24.
During the past few years, Ta-chien lu has suffered considerably from the frequent occurrence of fires, and on Monday, December 7, the town was subject to another disastrous outbreak, which destroyed the wealthiest and most important business section of the town, rendering hundreds of families homeless and involving loss in' property and goods to the extent of several million taels, The natural features of Tachienlu lend themselves to the easy spread of a fire, for the narrow valley, shut in by steep mountains, partakes somewhat of the nature of an air-shaft, through which there is always strong current passing. Joined to this is man's handiwork, in the form of houses chiefly built of wood, closely ranged along: narrow streets, so that once a fire gets a firm hold, there is every-probability of it spreading extensively.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.