Ugly Adventure of Christmas Party of Sportsmen on the Taihu: Saved by the Laodah's Smartness Thiviy or forty pirates opened fire} on a party of four Shanghai residents houseboating on the Taihu last "Their houseboat was riddled with bullets, but the occupants escaped unhurt, he houseboat left Shanghai few days before Christm: in tow of fa small Munch, taking its party four men, how, for a cruise and some possible shooting on the Taihu Lake. The houseboat was a the engineer tried to get the two oats clear, but found that his speed was reduced to but a knot or two to grass fouling the propeller. Stopping the engine, he shouted to the bandits that he was coming in shore with both boats, and being tunder the lee of- the houseboat motioned to one of the crew to drop] over and clear the propeller.
By this time, many of the bandits had boarded the large junk moored near the landing place, and were Brit Mr.
h Trade Prospect LIH, Fox Pessimistic Optimists who believe that the new China that has arisen out. the turmoil of a prolonged war offers a wide and lucrative market for British goods will find some of their hopes dashed to the ground in the annual report of the Commercial Counsellor of the Belt Ratio Away ish Legation at Peking, states the "Financial Times." Mr. I. Lil. Fox, while supplying a vast mass of information which is reassuring, if not even positively encouraging, is, frankly pessimistic regarding the immediate future. He is convinced that until the country settles down. to amore or less uninterrupted period of peace and good govern. ment the chanees of any considerable development of British trade China are "of the very slight: Gxt" Still, it is some consolation to learn that when the long-looked for trade revival does come British traders are in as good a position fas any of their rivals to take a vantage of it.
Our main strength in China still lies in old-established British firn working in close ce-operation British banks, shipping and_insueance institutions, and having, branches at all the principal treaty ports and good Chinese connections. in the interior, They constitute an efficient selling organization which has successfully withstood the shocks of the past fow years, and they are an asset which will enable British Empire manufacturers. to secure the full benefit of trade opportunities in China when the time comes. Mr. Fox warns home manus facturers that competition is likely. to be of the Keonest, and that if they are to succeed it ix essential that they should bring down their costs of production to the lowest possible level, Country's Potentialities
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.