Peking, Aug. 6.
Organized gangs of robbers have again penetrated to districts almost in sight of the high wally of Peking, have looted and burned vil-
Tages, fought successfully with government troops and carried off hundreds of Chinese for ransom, Encouraged by the withdrawal of Shansi troops to the south to meet the offensive of the Nanking government's troops, the bandits have become more daring than in several years, They have made a specialty of robbing motor buses, and earrying off passengers for ransom, One of the most daring gangs set jup headquarters at Yangfan, not far from Tangshan, betiveen Peking and Tientsin. Shansi soldiers made surprise attack upon Yangfan and raided their den, The robbers escaped, and avenged themselves by murdering a large number of captives they held for ransom, according to the Chinese press here, Local militia have been organized in a number of districts to assist the reduced government troops to fight off bandits, but the gangs are growing in size and audacity, and rave succeeded in capturing a number of villages, which they effective: ly Fain, Farmers also are suffering from bandit raids. Crops have been better than usual this year in the vicinity of Peking,, but. tax. collec tors are'more importunate and ban-its are more.common, so that the farmers probably will not be much Detter off—United Press,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.