Shanghai, July 20.
Although the rainfall of recent days has appeared to be only light showers the countryside around Shanghai re~ ceived some beneficial effect and the price of rice has dropped forty cents plout, according to Chinese reports.
Farther afield, however, the rain feame too late' to save the crops Hangchow reports state That only fourstenths of the rice fields Chekiang have been cultivated, and out of this about half have been dried up. Conditions are worse in western Chekiang where the farmers are pumping water into the fields the various canals in a last tempt to save the crops. Inland igation between Wuhsin and Kahsin has been suspended owing to the shallowness of inland waterways while the river between Hangchow and Haining has completely been drived up. Water in the river between Hangchow and Kabsin is only two Inches deep while the river between' Hangchow and Wuhsin is less than 20 inches deep. Although the Hangchow municipal authorities are doing their best to pump in water from the lake, the water all flows into' different half-dried rivers and ttle or no benefit has been done to the folds,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.