All around the outlying country the reign of terror increases. Armed robberies are the order of the day, and many and most pitiful are the' eases brought in, A. typical case is that of a man now dying of three gunshot wounds received last night, in defending his village from armed robbers.
The high price of rice is held to be largely responsible for these outrages, as every village which is knew to have a good supply of rice stored away becomes an object of violence to robbers.
'AX present there are 1,000 wounded or ill soldiers at Weisan. The' local medical association is assisting] in the treatment, and the worst, cases are being sent to St. Andrew's, where they range from the most un-july and undisciplined characters, to excellent and self respecting officers, With a view to placating the soldiers Weisan, the city government has voted a gift of $5 apiece to them, They are held in mach dread, although they are supposed to be, and actually are, to a large extent disarmed.
The pawn shops near Weisan have y|closed, due to such absurd incidents as the following: A soldier catches rat, shuts it up in a box and takes it to a pawn shop, where he demands $50 for the unknown treasure, The terrified—shop-keeper bargains down fo $30 which having been paid, he opens the box, and out comes the rat. The local people fare somewhat reassured by a recent promise from Nanking headquarters that any lawlessness on the part of the soldiers will be promptly punished.
'A patient at present in St. An:
Hospital had an unusual experience recently with robbers. This gentleman's village was robbed and he himself shot. While he was on a boat being brought to the hospital he met another boat being' rapidly towed by a small launch. ig|On it he recognized three young relatives, under the charge of the same gang of robbers, who were evidently taking the youths to be held for ransom. The gentleman notified the nearest police station, with the result that one robber was captured and the young men liber ated.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.