The Bandit Menace Still Serious From Oce OWN ConsesroxnEs, NAW, Anhui, Dec. 26.
The summer and autumn have been uneventful so far as matters of outside public interest are concerned. Our peace has been undisturbed, The years harvests have been fairly good and rice is very much cheaper than last year, and consequently business too is better.
But the present outlook is not 69 peaceful. For a fortnight or so we have been hearing of Red activities (he mountains to the south west of Luianchow. Then we heard of the people pouring out by families, ecing for refuge, by thousands, in many cases with nothing definite in mind as to where to flee to, like rofugees in time of famine. Than ter we heard of the Reds themselves emerging and marching on the city of Lulanchow, which they surrounded on the 18th instant. Bu: the soldiers in the ity put up a determined defence, kept up an neessant fire as long as any of the Reds could be seen and after a day, or two the latter retreated. parently they had expected an easy entrance into the city. Had they friends on the inside who would have betrayed i if they had been able to do so?
Chengyangkuan there has been much fear, and some of the wealthier citizens have moved their ing an advance' of the that city. Soldiers t10 ave again passing through, moving to be well guarded, Apparently China cannot be with out its civil war. The Reds have made so much progress during the time of the Governments occupation with the war in the north, that they are now a force to be reckoned with.
Last night a five year old boy was kidnapped from a poor family out side the east gate pf this city. The family makes a 1ielihood out small vegetable garden, and by other labours. They cannot pay But a in the small ones, and the hawk in kidnapping ther" are those who do the business on an ambitions scale, and those take whatever they can get however small,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.