One of the favourite tricks of the underlings in a Chinese yamen is to lock up everyone concerned with a lawsuit, whether civil or criminal so that when the case comes to be tried plaintiff, witnesses and defendant may all be within easy reach. It is also the Chinese custom in civil suits to arrest the defendant and to lock him up or hold him for bail, the process of arrest being accompanied by the roping or handcuffing of the prisoner. Owing to the limited accommodation in Chinese gaols it is not at all uncommon for plaintiff, defendant and witnesses to be locked in one compartment for an indefinite period pending the die-position of the case. It is also a pleasant practice of the Chinese authorities to look up suspicious personages pending the discovery of something which wil] constitute evidence against them.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.