June 5.
This provin®a is being treated with the special grace prepared in Loyang. Everybody will_remerber that last year, there was in Honan a great amount of bandit depredation and as per usual some of these outlaws were taken into the army. Since then they have been giving more or less satisfaction, and more not less, trouble to the different localities where they have been quartered. Well, the latest is that us the North have not enough real soldiers to send against the South, they are sending the ex-bandits, down, hoping, I am told on good authority, that they will never return, Of their doings I need hardly speak as your pages already bear witness. On their arrival in Nan-! chang I understand they were not! permitted to cross the river, but! for their safety and for the better preservation of the peace they were supplied with tents and kept across the water.
One day or night they thought it would be interesting to see what the mail hampers contained, which they found very interesting indeed, and helped themselves to a few hundred dollars worth of postal orders etc. As if to heap insult upon injury, next morning they presented themselves at the General Post Office and demanded to have these orders cashed. The official in charge, being a wee bit nonplussed as to what to do, telephoned to the Tuchun's yamen for soldiers. These arrived in a short time, but, instead of arresting the ex-bandits, as should have been done, they thought persuasion better than force and so exhorted them to go away. This the ruffians eventually did. But whether they succeeded in getting their -orders cashed, has not been revealed, or how much they had to get for the trouble in crossing the river no one} knows.
On their pilgrimage up stream they were well received everywhere, as I presume the best-way with such folks. At Kian they were met' with huge provisions of rice, oil,! salt, cigarettes, etc., and some huge gifts in money and were asked} not be to offended at the smallness! of the offerings, the donors pleadingi that they knew the gift was below what they ought to present inj return for the great debt they owed) to the troops for protection. Now the ex-bandits are practically at Kanchow and preparations have been made to try to eet them to take up positions outside the city. But this their representatives! refuse to do. The Chamber of; Commerce has prepared a good quantity of provisions, hoping that thereby the" outlaws may be
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.