The total value of the loot taken by the insurgents is impossible accurately to determine. Immediarely upon seizing the mint Chou began turning out copper cash by the million, and when he finally withdrew, he took with him all the uncoined metal in the place, together with every other portable object of value. His raid on the mint alone is said to have netted more than $100,000 and the other materials collected, including munitions, must have brought the grand total to nearly $250,000. That the loot was suffcient to establish the young and ambitious general as a respectable citizen in any part of West China is certain.
The present whereabouts of the insurgents is not known, though a pursuit force despatched to capture them, one day after their departure, presumes that they have taken to the hills to the south of C'hichianghsien, on the Kueichow border. It is generally admitted, that Chou has put himself beyond reach of the northern forces. Many of tha pursuit troops are already returning from the chase.
That Chou will unite with the other Kueichow troops, who are assisting the First Army along the river to the west and south in its operations against Yang Sen, is rumoured, but is regarded as unlikely, inasmuch as he is said to have personal interests which made independence preferable. it is even reported on good authority here that he is planning to attack the First Army alone with the design of taking from them additional munitions and supplies. Should he maintain his independence, he will add another patch to the crazy-quilt of the military situation here, which 1s already so complex as to be impossible to comprehend.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.