The presence of bandits in the surrounding country was responsible for a minor tragi-comic episode. The racing members of the Peking Club, with a certain lack of imagination or regard for other peoples' (Chinese) feeling, decided to hold their autumn meeting as usual at the Paomachang Race Course about three miles outside the city. The Japanese military authorities had already indicated their disapproval by refusing to open the Hsipienmen, the gate nearest the course, which has been kept permanently closed since the trouble started, on the somewhat ironical grounds that they would have to waste the services of ten soldiers as guard for the gate, if it was opened. Notwithstanding this fairly broad hint, members insisted on holding the meeting and on Saturday morning parties of enthusiasts went out by the cther west gate to the course.
Proceedings had hardly begun, when one of the Chinese police chiefs arrived on the ground and informed the members that the authorities could not countenance the meeting, as there was a band of bandits reported to be only a couple of miles away and they could not guarantee their safety. The meeting, therefore, had to be called off, and after running a few impromptu races, the racing fans returned in high indignation to the city, This whole incident is highly typical of the frame of mind of many foreigners here. They seem quite unable to realize that the land where they have been earning their living in ease and comfort for so long has now been overrun and conquered by a foreign foe, and they are quite annoyed that anything so real as a war should disturb the even tenor of the pleasant Peiping social round.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.