Wheat crops afe à failure ili Honan and the Autumn seeds have not been only 18 li from this city. It is pro bably true that the they are at these planted. The city authorities have proclaimed season Gf fasting from meats, and the show of willow branches over the doors of homes. There is the roll of drums in awaking the gods to show mercy and send rain. In many country places the gods have been brought into the courts and streams of people have visited these places to intercede for rain.
For the past year this city has been enjoying a spirited trade. Quite a few stores have had a Boom in business. Besides native goods, China's nearest neighbour furnishes about all the rest of the commodities. Recently, however, trade on the streets here has not been so brisk as formerly. Kweiteh and the vicinity seems pi ful for the present. There are res fugees through the county and many poor people will feel the effects of hunger in the months ahead. own, Irritating Puzzle In trying to find the solution of this irritating, if comical puzzle, I find one sinister fact. When the fan-tactic statements, accompanied by badly taken photographs were first published in Shanghai, there was no mention of any identifying marks on the head of the original so-called "Mr. Boop": I had, as I have said before, all these pictures in my possession: now that Mrs. Bolton has returned to America and produced this book, the photograph of "Mr. Boop" shows an alleged white spot on the forehead as a natural "identification mark": "although Boop was not banded" says the authoress, "the natural identification mark on his forehead is far better, for not one bird in a million would have such a mark": quite true, but it is a pity that this mark was never mentioned before, and incidentally that it does not appear in any other photograph of the same bird Keep kissable. with
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.