The bandit activities reported 1 cently to have been of such a serious jure near this city really were out southwest of Siyang on nhui border. The writer has neither seen nor heard of the peoples of that district rus ing to this city for protection, It is true that bandits have been very active in Siyang county recently and last week Government troops, part of the 45th brigade, were sent to fight the bandits, the result being that they were driven over into Anhui, having suffered heavy loss. The soldiers themselves lost 16 killed, including a captain, and 82 others were wounded.
North -of here, in the Shuyan sector the country is unusually free of bandits, due it is said, to the activity against them in that section two years ago. Three days ago Twas in that district and one of the ergest landowners there told me we fought them'so hard then they' do not dare come back". Let us hope his optimism is justified.
Taking it as a whole, the wheat looks better than it has for years at this time and, if good weather prevails until harvest, there should be a bumper crop. There are some low-lying sections which have been drowned ott, but taking the country as a whole the crops are unusually fine.
The Grand Canal looks like August flood tide now and we are hoping that the water will not rise much more.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.