School Teachers and Pupils Attacked by Bandits: Military Escorts for Missionaries From Our Own Correspondent.
Sianiu, Oct. 2.
It is many years since the autumn crops in this area gave such promise as they do this one. At present the - fields are just loaded, with every kind of autumn grain, and rejoicing 1S general. And well 1 1s that it should be so, for not-only did the mullet fail last antum, but the wheat reaped this summer was only about one-eign us of the usual yield. The present price of flour 4s 240 cash per catty. Happily reasonable rains prevail and farmers who are not reaping millet are busy sowing wheat.
Recently there has been a good deal of unrest amongst the people owing t" prevailing rumours of coming calamity. It was _said that after the 15th of the eighth moon there would be three days and nights of darkness, and people were instructed to make provision for this period, and many did obey the injunction. Again it was announced that at midnight on the 20th of the same moon a great earthquake was to take place and people were advised to build straw houses outside the city, but fortunately we are now past these -dates without anything unusual having happened. It is to the great credit of the Governor that he has dealt summarily with these prophets of woe, and by putting several of them in gaol and deporting others, less excitement has prevailed than might otherwise have been the case.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.