Recruits for the Anchingpang: in Kiangsu Kites and Rumours Haichow, Ku. Apr. 18.
These windy days, the sky is full of kites of every. description—big Kites, little kites, basket Kites, cat Kites, flower kites, red kites, blue Kites, green kites, home-made kites, ought kites, stolen kites, tailless Kites and led_ kites, cheap ites, ex ites, minute. rat ites, and massive centipede kites fig up and about'at the varied and CEE Ata a mee BERG nace cun See tance, when they attacked ige in the west country, with view to occupying it, a neighbouring village sent local soldiers to help hold them off. Some of these mili-la were surrounded, and one of the men thus surrounded was cut to pieces and the parts of his body distributed all around the neighbour hood, an arm here, a leg there, the Bead' yonder. The popple of one west country villages report that they saw this same band of
whom they had no hope of getting bandits take a litle child, for a ransom, and with one stroke. of a sharp axe cut off a sapling lea' ing about three feet of ith a sharp point, on which aled the child, then stood by and Taughed with loud guffaws and activities, more hardened and vicious' they, seem to become.
There is an element in the situa tion here which is probably true of other. places, which should furnish jeonsiderable food for thought for those who are trying to get some the clan or the fraternity, is now me on what is in store. for. the future in this troubled land. What, fear anywhere and everywhere, Not T have in mind is the phenomena al growth of the Anchingpang, the great nation-wide fraternity, Which, all regular bandits are' said belong, which also numbers: on rolls many officials and military yen and also many of the rich of the land, some of whom go-in for 'a share of the spoils, others of whom go in for protection to themselves and to their property.
Strange and fantastic schemes are The members are bound, under the heaviest penalty. of curses, to, secrecy and to nmutizal protection and to mutual aid. Former, m bers of this fraternity have report ment plan, One of the rumours ed from time to time, that the original basic idea of the order is the: which has, gained currency here is that Wu Pel-fu, Sun Chuan-fang, Testoration of the monarchy. Whe-Feng Vu-hsiang, Han Fu-chu, and ther this idea is paramount others of the old line type have not, is hard to tell, In many' Feady got support from somewhere where formerly' there: were 1d have about perfected their plans only two or three in the Anching-
for North China, completely separate establishing' a new, government pang, there are' now hundreds. where there were hundreds there' are now thousands. 'The very from the present. Nanking, regime, recent and some say in ce-operation with wth of this organisation Canton and others say entirely inde-Place recently Pendent of the other governments in soup ot"the' members of th hina and Manchuria, One of the stories that is, going the rounds in this connection is that
Poi-fu was invited to a feast, by the pot Jong. ayo, in, Peking, Gen. Wa members of the Tangpu, and that when he entered the place where he was to be entertained, and saw the picture of Dr, San Yat-sen in its a hgnoar, he poi Who is that 'One of the hosts replied: "Don't you know, who that is, the founder' of our Party and the saviour of hi country?" 'The reply that the Get gral is reported to have made is, "Yes, he is the one, who, with the 'Tangpus, is, responsible' for the terrible condition in China nove".
When this supposed incident quoted in various circles, the of the eye and the curve of the lip and the inclination of the head i dieatgy the query: "If that isnot a declaration of war, what ig it?" So the rumours go and so the talk 008 in discussion of them, and the country around here still groans un-the burdens of - mill Dandit, and official corruption, and the people contintie to eat their one. day, ing to the degree of their poverty.
'Haichow continues to be flooded! with soldiers, only more so. Ina Gition to. the 'Twenty-filth Route Army units who have been station. ed here' for some the Twenty-sixth organised into the Fitty-eighth Di sion, have come in, Nobody seems to know just what the reason for such concentration of military. for here means. Before, when the increased numbers of the Twenty-fifth Route Army began to come in, the reason given was that Haichow port had to be protected against the Japanese. There does not seem to be any clear idea as to what the reason for the present influx is.
Up to this time it seems clear that they have not come for bandit suppression. In. the section west of Haichow. and also to the south, tthe bandits seem to be much worse than they have been for some time, They occupy first one village after another, and operate in the ter tory near by till they have made a clean sweep of looting and kidnap: ping. The villages in which these bandits take shelter are well known and the extent of their operations is well known, but nothing is done to stop their ravages.
Some of these robbers seem: be of an especially exude and viol ous type. The reports that come in of their activities shows this. For tem la Tikely to. be executed. a robber. "From time to time fave seth him going' about" his work ay an ordinary citizen. He 8 Brad been pelnbed out to. me one of the tecruts for the camp of ite "Anchingpang, "Some of "his neighbours rho have also." been Taken into the fellowship, are wee ting uneasy Do seems that is much easier] to than it is to get. out ott camp. TI have a very good friend who has for years been trying to get out, and he has used many methods to prove that he is now' completely free from any entanglement. with the fraterni but so, far the only result is that he is in danger from his old asso: lates and also in danger from the ies, although he is. perfect-deere in trying to completely sever himself from his old eonnection with the Anching.
Many man who might. other wise have gone on through his life free from the blood of his fellow found himself caught In the Anching with whom ignorance, attempt to free. him: Felt from nis ndetabie"comee: ion, has been put under suspicion and' been forced to go out as a Tegular robber, as his only. hope. of escape from urrest and probable execution. "Aman in stch'a posts ion as" ihat i "in a far" more state of "lawlessness" than in the dangerous position in. the present
regular bandit, who has his whole band ready to rally' to his sup: port. 'So the robber game goes on, And' so the ranks i the bandit camps" are' replenished from time to'time, Inthe mean time the Anchingpang. goes from strength, in"'strengths preparing for-cwieat The continued drought i now taking ona serious "aspect. The farmers allover the country are shaking their heads and whistling their brows and. the worry, which due to the coming of a drought Fight on top of the flood of last! year, is weighing on them" The almost daily" high winds make the fe round that much dryer and hard fr, and the dust is something fearfui.""A day or two-ago T heard. farmer say he was going ahead with his planting in spite of the drought, and'on being atked "haw he could Possibily do that with the ground the condition it is, he sail' that was having water carried and Poured on the land in front of the Ploughers, and was thus supplying
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.