The "Manchuria Daily News" says:—Referring to an article appearing in a recent issue of the ''Niou'th-China Daily News," reflecting unenviably on the Japanese in South Manchuria, alleging for instance, that letters are all opened by the postal people, and that it takes from three to four days for a letter from Dairen to Port Arthur or vice versa, a local postal official positively denies the allegation and says:—Apart from the Customs matters which are outside our jurisdiction, the alleged tampering with the mail matter by the postal people has not a shadow of foundation to support it. However, the allegation that it takes a couple, of days to transmit mails between Dairen and Port Arthur proves often true. To cite an instance, such ies place in casa of mails arriving at Dairen the last train from Port Arthur when the addressee resides in the suburbs such as Hoshigaura (Star Beach) or Laohutan (Rokotan), both seaside resorts.
Again, the postal authorities have once refused to accept for transmission a package of shoe-laces be cause any article dutiable at the Chinese Customs has to be sent by parcel post, and not as ordinary mail matter. Without a knowledge of the Japanese Postal Regulations, a foreigner is liable to misunderstand.
Again, another grievance has been aired by the same informant against a very strict overhauling of the ecntents of visitors' baggage. It is possible that the above refers to the stipulated inspection of their baggage by the revenue officials of tha Kuangtung Government with a view to taxing the liquor and tobacco that may be imported to the Leased Territory by the incoming travellers. they only would eat more vegetables and more salt things, they would not be troubled like that; they would be like us, who do not need to go into the sea at all, and then they would never run the risk of drowning." Then he looked quite benevolently at me. Yes, had he not a right to? Had I not run to them on the night of the storm—run from a swaying house that was rapidly becoming minus its roof, and where the idols were all toppling over*each other; run on a road that was hardly discernible for the shower of tiles falling on it, the up-rooted trees across it the debris of the fences of both sides that were torn to smithereens and lying in heaps on it like snowdrifts? Had they not taken me in, housed me and fed me and now, thanks to their proper food, I had not been in the sea for four days; evidently I was rapidly recovering from the pore-clogging malady and gradually getting n of this distressing craze of running into the sea.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.