The Lung-hai_ Railway is already in operation 50 or 60 miles east of Hsuchoufu and had already crossed the Grand Canal Diverting it to a port on the lower Yangtze would have been to parallel both that stream and the Grand Canal, which for all of its neglected condition is still probably the—greatest inland waterway of the world. The imy late passenger traffic over a line diverted to the south would of course has been greater than can be ceted at once over the deform line, but such a trivial gain cannot be_ measured t the benefits of a read ight to the sea across a terri-for y where there can be no other competition.
DIANOND CUT DIAMOND, Incidentally it cuts through the very heart of the bandit region that in late years has_ excelled even trou Tsaochoufa in deeds of dev vy. The coming of rich and influential foreigners will be a boon to these gentry, ours: well-informed of all the lars of the Lincheng affair for the country has eyn well combed of men who are able to pay fancy ransoms. Some new bandits are entering the ranks now and their figures are far more reasonable than the thousands and tens of thousands of dollars that have in former years been extracted from the wealthier fami-1 We hear of ransoms of less than a thousand dollars these days. It stands to ransom that this smaller business is much safer and profitable in every way. Banditry is not all success, howe Only a few days ago at a village in the west one was caught and found mercy as scarce an article with his captors as it had been in his own life—he was fixed up when alive! Horrible as such retaliations are, they are far less than the total of misery that they have perpetrated on others. Only last week was told by a Chinese, friend that the negotiations for the release of his father had. proceeded! to the point where the family had actually paid over 5,000, only to get back the message that his father was dead. Whether he died of disease or was murdered, the young man does net yet know.
Your readers are doubtless tired of robber stories, but there is one general feature that many will receive as a surprise. It often happens that the kidnappers take their victim—less than two miles from his home for the whole time of his durance.
His situation is known accurately by his family, but as they know any attempt at rescue will probably be fatal to the prisoner, they do nothing except make frantic efforts to raise the ran-ransom. I have yet to learn of retaliation after the release. Can an American or an Englishman conceive of such a condition without a rainstorm of endless queries as to the how and why?
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.