Some days later, another encounter between a unit of the Civil Governor's troops and bandits was reported. from Sankuanmiao and Lissutao in Yenshanhsien. Here the robbers were dispersed, but, following their usual. custom, they fled in~= body to Nanpihsien, where subsequently they were located by troops in the village of Yehchukaochia. A. pitched battle took place last month in which the regulars lost two officers, and six men killed, and suffered several casualties wounded. It was a splendid chance of capturing the whois band, as the village was completely surrounded by 23rd Division and local troops, anda number of irregulars. But once again treachery on the part of the worthless local troops allowed the robbers to make their escape without loss. This unfortunate result produced another crop of recriminations—this time on the part of the trained soldiers against their cowardly allies, who were manifestly in league with "Liu, the Earless'' and his men, These miserable toy soldiers are recruited from the ragtag and bobtail of the country districts and are employed as garrison troops in the smaller towns. They are under the command of a military chief in Tientsin, known as the Chen Shou-ssu, and are a public nuisance and danger wherever they are station-ea, because of their affinities with
hood. This particular ying.' al lawless folk in the ar ant who were responsible for the. agee at Yehchukaochia, have recently been doing garrison duty in Ching-where they failed to make the slightest impression during the generad anarchy prevailing in that unhappy region. In fact, there is a good deal of evidence to prove ikat they abetted the roving bands that preyed upon the countryside.
there is a large concentration The latest news to hand is hvigands on the Shantung border, to the east of Yensharhsien, where severe fighting has taken place between the ge volustcer defence ies and their oppressors, The principal headquarters of the banditti are at the notorious village of Wnying in Haifens, across the border, but there are bands in occupation of the villages of tuan (Yenshan). Tsuangko, and Tochiatsuanz (Chingyun), from which they are ravaging and plundering the s rounding hamlets. So far, there AS been no response to the urgent speals for help to the military authorities: Indeed, the troops bard settled down in their winter m appear to
quarters with no intention of risk-
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.