Exactions on the Town of A letter just received in Shanghai from Changteh, Hunan, under date December 23° describes the! situation there in the following; terms:
'The town and vicinity are oe-_ cupied by Szechuanese troops, who say they are out to overthrow all' the Tuchuns. When they arrived at Changteh they had neither proper clothes nor ammunition, but! through squeezing the town they have armed and clothed themselves at the expense of the tradespeople.
The soldiers called upon th Chamber of Commerce to pay the sum of $1,000,000 for the upkeep of] the troops, but this sum has been} commuted for $600,000 cash down. A levy of $10,000 n day is made on the merchants of the town who are graded for taxation according to the wealth of their shops. Those merchants whose business does not tie! them down to the place, have all left] for Hankow, there is not one of the principal members of the Chamber of Commerce left. There are abou:'
40,000 troops in the town, who, though they do not rob the shops take whatever they fancy and pay whatever they think fit.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.