Refusal of Bandits to Obey Orders of Their Chief ding Mr. and Mrs. Porteous, the missionaries recently captured by bandits, indicate that proceedings for thei release have been held up by the disobedience of some of the bandits to their leader. Two weeks ago the prospect of the immediate release of the connie appeared bright, but it seems that they may not' be re-Jeased just yel.
As far as can be ascertained, Mr. and Mrs. Porteous are at Yuanghsin, some 70 miles south of Yuan-chow, the town where they were captured. Representatives of the Nationalist Government have got into touch with the leader of and of communists or bandits, man apparently now being at Ping-Kiang, some 70 miles to the north of Yuanchow, and therefore some distance away from his captives. He had sent orders to his men to release the missionaries."
The tand, however, appear still to have hopes of getting ransom for their captives, and have disregarded the orders of their chief. They had cunpelled Mr. Porteous, on May 3, a letter to the mission demanding $00,000 as ransom, and they are apparently waiting for reply to the letter. The bandits do ize, although their chief} tit is useless to hope for representa of she Hankow authorities are still working to secure the release of the' pai Jcolleague who is now being interviewed by a pastor from a populous valley 12 miles up the river, who] has come down with the news of raids on villages in his circuit in which many people lost everything. This man is on'his way to see the military commander about the danger to another village there, which it is feared will be attacked very short time. He tells of five Chinese Methodists in the place attacked who have been robbed this attack of all their belongings. against the country's safety, Lieutenant-Commander Y. Kusakari, jaw General Staff, commitcide early thir morning, by litting open his stomach in the traditional hara-kiri. manner, leer was 40 years of age and committed the act on a train in which he was travelling from Kobe to Osaka, The conductor of the train on which Lieateant-Commander Kusa-kari stabbed himself to death heard roans as of some one in dire agony Jcoming from one of the berths of a second-class sleeper. He drew the right hand. The rupted to take the fay, but the officer held tight to it and asked him to summon we connected with the Navy) al Sta, he news of the tragedy berth' where the unfortunate affeer was slowly and painfully dying. When asked why he whose at Kye The nearest hospital was at Nu-mau, city and the driver of the] ficers, who declared that, more than] once Lieutenant-Commander Kusa-hari had denounced its terms, praise ed the firm attitude of France, and shown great indignation over the Reed-Matsudaira pact.
The deceased belonged to a f mous fighting clan of old which was latened the Byakko-tai or White Tiger Band because of its members neither giving nor accepting quarter. The Byakko-tai was a branch of the Aizu clan of which the Matsudaira family were the feudal chi tains, Tt i a strange irony that ing representative to-day," should have taken lis life for the' alleged mistake of the descendant of former feudal lord. The Aizu Jat the po tion, the Byakko-tai disti themselves. for reckless any of its members, who were going against the Shogunat committing hara-kiri. rather th fall into the hands of the Imperial troops by, whom they were surrounded.
The deceased had a brilliant teer in the naval academy, was a wed man and devot-ime to the study of He was a total! leaves behind his wife, one son and three daughters.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.