Visitors Reported From Oz Onx Contssronoest Feo Oct OWN ConnesronpeNT
Kuling, June 25, Kuling this summer should be well patronised judging by the numbers ihe are daily arriving, Hotels and boarding houses are filing up, and there are already over 500 foreign-Jers here.
Te is pleasant to reach the high mountain top, which is particularly attractive after the damp ea, 0 ithe plains. The light greens. of Spring are giving way to. darker Jshades and the hills are looking cool Jand luxuriant, while all over the sally day-lilies, and banks of yellow coreopsis, give unexpected patches of colour.
The trip up the hill took just over two and a half hours, Arrangements jate much facilitated by the China Travel Service, through whom the journey may be arranged. Steam-lers are met on arrival at Kiuk'ang ey: coolies who. will conduct pas: sengers to the Rest' House and Ofice on the Bund. Here, English-speaking staff is ready to Jadvise and undertake through trans-por: of passengers and luggage.
Chairs are ordered by telephone lat the Rest House, for the t the hill from Lien Hwa Tung.
tervening distance across plains may be covered Uy car, ric! shaw, or chair, The first is recom firended, and takes" only about. 20 minuies_on the new route. which passes round the native city Kiukiang instead of through i-, a: formerly, For the first 400 yards Jor 30 this road appears to be a series of unavoidable ruts and minor earthquakes. This, however, should not deter the traveller as level Jeround is soon reached jand the rest lof the way is quite straight-forward, At Lien Hwa Tung ticcers should purchased in advance for roth coolies and luggage: on, arrival at destination these ticket: are signed jby the owner and returned to. the coolies. "This. method eliminates the formalities and exorbitant demands for extra payment, though the coolies are as a whole well behaved and anxious for work Light luggage to accompany. the chair may he delivered to a special cartier as Express luggage.
The estate have planted. many hundreds of trees to replace those broken down by the heavy. storms lof winter. Numbers have deen placed around the tennis courts, among other places, the baseball jxrourd, and the Cemetery at the Jextreme ead of the valley.
The roads also have received mand are in good order, while in many places reconstruction. work is still going on.
The estate tennis courts and recreation grounds are expected to very popular this season. The Russian swimming pools, which are ithe finest in Kuling, ave already lapon to the public, and in addition {there are smaller" pools scattered out the valley. A programme of emo shows ud concerts is being planned to take place at the Audiim_a little later in the season.
The Librazy, with over 7,000 books land a free reading room, containing the latest papers and magazines, is, already well patronized. There have been. many additions, and a small elusive fee is charged for member ship during the season, At a recent meeting of the Coun-Dr, Goldie was appointed Health 'Officer. There is a Western trained [Chinese doctor on the Hill, Dr. Wu, jin charge of the Chinese' Hospital, land the Community Hospital expected to open very shortly.
in the Gap, tradesmen and shoplieepers look forward to a full season. The Bank of China has Jopened a branch office at Kuling, Inext door to the Post Office, which jill greatly f citers bring-jing up foreign bank notes. For the present the bank pays ovt Shanghai notes only.
The A.P.C. Office from Kivkiang has been on the since the beginning of May.
Among this season's visitors, ive in a day or two Kai-shels, who has rented the Kuling General' Hospital Jas a summer residence, Extensive grounds, and a central situate the valley make this one of the most attractive sites in Kuling.
The Chinese Officials talk of taking over control of Kuling, and Jnotices to that effect have already beea issued. Attempts. inv this Kashing, June 25.
The gradual increase of banditry on all "sides of Kashing caused many of the large landowners to move into cities and larger towns for personal safety, The small groups of robbers combined 30. a to be able to disarm local police the small market towns by superior numbers and loot at will, Almost always successful in such raids, they became bolder, better organi: sd, and actually invaded large, pros perous places like Puyuan "and Hsinhuang.
Local provincial and water police are usually out-numbers and out-manoeuvres, In a general way these larger bands operate from the shores of Taichu (lake) or Hangchow Bay. Several arrests have been made, tracing the leaders or brains of' the organization to Shanghai where much of the loot is distributed an? the money spent A citizen c Puyuan reports that in order to revenge the death of a der (killed in the 1 and head hung up by soldi followers are threatening to come again, not for plunder, but to burn This for business. The houses and slaughter' the peopl
Kashing hospitals are constantly taking in the people wounded in these raids, There are occasional evidence of torture.
Local papers report_a mutiny of the Provincial police at Hain-Tsang fon the Hangchow Bay, Claiming back-pay, they bound their officers, demanded money from the gentry, and then looted the town, retiring towards Chapu along the sea-wall.
Inquiry fails to discover any connection with communism; there may be secret understandings, but the opinion most: expressed is that fon account of hard times.and political uncertainties banditry in the sometimes the only way iving for the unemployed can be found. and ordinary labour red by bandits, it would seem that loot is the main objective of these assorted robbers, The city merchants and landowners deplore the increase of lawlessness, ricesplanters are now very market places less active,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.