Yangchow, Oct. 14.
Apropos of the vigilance against Bolshevism which was mentioned in our last letter from Yangchow, aa amusing incident occurred last week. A foreign resident of the city, who had lent his gun to a Chinese friend, desired to use it himself, and sent his coolie to bring home the borrowed fowling piece. The Chinese friend, having a number of spare cartridges, sent them in a "Bu pao" along with the gun, and the coolie went merrily on his homeward way, which led through the city gate. At the gate, however, was standing the guardian of the vity's peace, with an eye skinned these many months for the detection of Bolshevists, and now behold firearms and munitions entering the cloy in the hands of 2 "vaggedy man" with a pigtail. Specdily the culprit is dragged to the nearest police station where he tells his straight tale in fear and trembling of his country soul.
'A messenger is despatched to the supposed owner of the gun to verify the story, and a head servant armed with a foreign visiting card accompanies him back to the police station to effect the release of the captured minion, but the task is easier said than done. The police officer rust telephone to the chief-of-police, and he in turn to the Magistrate, and so on to General Huang, for the matter under discussion is of grave import. Stil the release order fails to arriv>, and the foreigner must write a letter, whereupon the coolie is at! last given his freedom, but the firearms are deserving of another signed epistle before being handed over to the servant.
Finally, after the owner and his gun have been once more united. and sleep has settled over the household, a pair of officers with! clanking swords arrive at the gate to ask of the blinking householder face to face, verbal confirmation that the gun is really his possession, intended for peaceful purposes only, and that he has safely received it into his own hands. Such informa tion being forthcoming, the military gentlemen make vehement protestations of having sinned, and_ the incident is closed. Who said life in an inland city was dull?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.