It appears that an over-zealous correspondent of a Chinese newspaper developed the theory that General Yang Sen of the 20th Army was combining his military activities for raising an army with his own personal responsibilities for raising a family. The result was that in June last, on the strength of this apparently respectable authority, a statement circulated to the foreign and Chinese press to the effect that General Yang's big family was due to his possessing a large number of wives and con-cubiness. In all good faith news agencies sponsored the story and "Sapajou" based on it one of his inimitable pictorial jests. It is regretted that this happened for, seeing the story in the "North-China Herald," the General, through his private secretary courteously protests, He recognizes that there was no deliberate intention to wrong the General but he feels that an apology is due to him. This apology is tendered herewith, so far as the "North-China Daily News" and the "North-China Herald" were betrayed into giving currency to that inacurracy. The letter from the General's private secretary concludes:
For your information, General Yang Sen's family consists of twenty-eight children—some of whom are abroad—while he has but six wives, This puts the situation in proper perspective.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.