A situation exists at present in South Chibli that calls for immediate action on the part of the military authorities in the Province.
To the horrors of famine due to a complete failure of both harvests this year over more than half of this county, the absence of adequate police protection, with its inevitable concomitant—insecurity of life and property, is now added ruthless plunder and barbara ity on the part of the defeated and disgruntled force of Lung Chi-kuang, which driven from his camp at Hsiatsan, south of Tientsin, in] ki Tuly has now quartered itself upon the unhappy people of this region.
This band of defeated soldiery, after their dispersal by Chang Tso-lin's men two months ago, fled south Jeaving behind them a trail of suffering and a tale of woe in the villages en route. The force was re-emited by Lung Chi-kuang Yunnan in the early days of the Republic, and had seen active service in several provinces before coming north. The numerable strength of the rabble has been estimated at between two and three thousand, under the command of a senior officer named Huang, with the rank of " Hsu ling." Officers are greatly in excess of the number required by such a small army and in the circumstances it is not surprising to find that there is not the semblance of discipline among the men.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.