Newspaper, reports and private telegrams having agreed that Wu Pei-fu has gained a decided victory in the north, the natural thing to expect. would be a cessation of nulitary. activities in this region, but the very opposite has been the ease and has raised in our minds the question of what it all might mean.
Six weeks ago there was unusual activity in the neighbouring camps and the natural supposition was that it was part of the great struggle west and north. Sweeping and radical changes were instituted, chief of which was the reduction of the "paper" camps to realities. _Nominally the Defence Commissioner, General Pei Pao-shan has under him 12 camps of a nominal strength of 500 men each, but these camps have never recruited to more than half this number, although they were fully officered. _Under ai sweeping order from the Nanking Tuchun they were merged into six full camps. There was great discontent over this move as it automatically deprived half the officers of their jobs. Half were retained and the' others had respectively to take the next rank lawer or be discharged altogether. The smaller officers took the reduction in grade but several of the more important did not, one of them expressing his feelings on the matter by sending an army revolver bullet through his owa abdomen. Incidentally he became a very interesting hospital case, for although Dr. Morgan succeeded in sewing up no less than eight intestinal perforations the case was apparently hopeless from the start. However, he made most remarkable progress towards recovery for several weeks, but about the time he was to be discharged took turn for the worse and died.
After the reorganization had been effected nothing at all was done towards joining up with either side and the soldiers themselves believed that the changes had nothing to do with the present ronflict in the north. But the present moment is marked by more military activity than any one here has €ver seen.
The writer passed the main artil-Jory camp yesterday, and horses were then being hurriedly hitched up to' their guns. Later in the day barrows were being impressed everywhere and one of. General Pei's lieutenants said that they had been ordered to rush soldiers to Rumours are abundant but the solid facts known to me are that there have been some very daring attacks by robber bands: on vil-Jages less than 15 miles distant to the east and that too, right under
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.