The other day a young soldier who has served for several years in Chang Chang-chang's Army 10 see me. T have known him ice he wax a boy in the neigh-douring school, 30 he talked freely of his experiences in the ebb and flow of last year's campaign the South, On the stock pretext of visiting an aged parent whom he represented to be dangerously ill, but who has been miraculously restored to rude health the lad returned, he has obtained ab: at Tainan Incidentally ides in the ranks, whose aged parents were similarly afflicted, accompanied him home to villages' in the vicinity, and they are quite 2x emphatic in their do-termination not to return, He states that the Chih-Lu (Chibli and Shantung) Armies are riddle ed with disaffection, and that there is no more fight in the troops. They fare war weary, utterly disillusion ed, and have lost all confidence both in- their ud their off cers, Whole ing place, official reorganization ani yuipment -—a euphemism that The Disastrous Yangtze Adventure This fact caucus no surprise when tone takes into account the heavy casualties incurred in that mad adventure ne cross the Yangtze and, the subsequent disaster. The young fellow gave me lurid picture of the horrible corn. age on the south bank at when one Tupan, who shall nameless, having' with his reached safety aboard launch, gave orders to his machine. gunners to mow down a frantic horde of their ove comrades, who were attempting to follow thei: leaders. My informant got across subsequently with the remnants of his own regiment, trampling on the bodies of hundreds of soldiers slaughtered in cold blood.
That; ghastly scene will never be forgotten by eye-witnesses, and there is no doubt but that the story has been told and repeated thousands of village homes all over the North tovillustrate the callous indifference of these des. mien. deserters. are saying, picable leaders to the fate of
"why "fight for such heartless wretches, who Tob us of our PAY, and whose only concern isto save their own skins in a.crisis, leaving us to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.