Hankow, Nov. 21, The situation for the past. few} [aays, since we have come under, the control of our now masters, "has been, to the surprise and relief of all concerned, almost entirely with-four incident. This has been duo partly to the extreme precautions: taken by the various police bodies anid partly t9 the fact that the people in general, labourers and merchants alike, are having the realisation Slowly but surely foreed upon them that the "Red" and anti-foreign activities of the early part of this year have had a decided reaction to their own disadvantage and have singularly failed to full their promises of benefits fostered by the agitators.
Not Friendly to Forel It must not be imagined, however, that the general feeling towards! foreigners is anything approaching the friendly.
One has to tread very carefully in these troubled times to avoid a clash of any kind with either Chinese civilians or military. The latter, while not openly hostile, yet contrive by miutterings and glares to manifest their dislike for our society, but the foreign dwellers of this port have come to regard that as all part of the day's work and simply go on their way unperturbed. There have eon one or two instances of for-feigners being rudely jostled by soldiers, but these are minor in-Jcidents and, while admittedly rather uncomfortable for.the individuals concerned, are of little or no importance in view of the possibility of major happenings.
Since the newcomers have come into occupation the Annamites who fare guarding the French barriers} have had one or two sharp tussles with armed soldiers endeavouring to pass through their Concession. These have ended with the armed braves getting short shrift and being ultimately handed over, protesting vigorously, to their own police authorities.
The Sorely Tried Merchants Prices of food and other commodities are considerably higher here than in Shanghai and many foreign residents are importing rupt plies direct from Shanghai. The high price of commodities is directly due to the exorbitant taxes levied on the storekeepers, who hav. alvrnative other than to jamp their] prices accordingly.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.