Ominous reports are in circulation to the effect that the Manchurian War Lord has something up his sleeves and that this year the Three Eastern Provinces "will be far from peaceful. During the Chinese New Year holiday; shal Chang "was very wary of receiving callers and for this reason it was reported that he had become very ill, The fact of the matter, however, is that he has been taking great precautions against assassination, and only a chosen few are allowed to hover anywhere near his august person, OF course, it is a well-known fact that rumours ure a product of China more than anywhere else on earth, but there seems to: be nothing" fantastic in one to the effect that the chief cook of the War Lord's household is made to eve a mouthful out of each dish he has prepared for his Excellency's table.
The business hongs have one by one opened their doors and the public at large have almost for~ rotten the advent of the new lunar year. As already reported, there kas not been much jubilation, for the merchants have been losing both ways. At first the hope was expressed that the new year would bring better times to the community, but now, what with the depreciation of the fengpiao and the eaverness with which the authorities are working the printing press, it looks as though the proper thing to do would be to lower the fage to half-mast,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.