TOPICS OF THE DAY

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 7949, 25 August 1891, Page 4

TOPICS OF THE DAY

Among thoEe who have Buffered by ti» late riots ia China is an ex-rosideat «jL Auckland, Mr P. T. Foituuo, now of ft, "tt'esleyan Mission, Hankow. This genu,, man, ia letters to some Auckland friemk reprinted ia the .tfeio Zealand a graphic account of the leading iucfdewtf which took place. According to this geatleman, the immediate cause of the break at Wusuch was brought about Jn somewhat simple manner. The Bo'mMf Catho ie missionaries in China, he telWtic devote almost all their strength to ia. fluencing the young, and have many Ten largo oiphanagc3 and schools. Hundred of children are annually rescued froavjlfcatiu by starvation or from lives of pov4Ma§ suffering, and shame, and fed,, clottad and cored for, with no worse result,tijflg that of exchanging heatbeaisia and idoU for Catholiciaiu. Some of the itraonutf Chinese have, & absurd rumors that the children in tht Orphanages were killed, that their eyes liver, and other parts may bk a&lMinta medicine. This idea, though only hall believed, in times of excitement'feie'&U&r < a strong power over the people, and always acta as a handle for plotters to tak£ httdi of. A man carrying; four children it) two baskets from Kwaugr-chi to Wueoch, on his way to the Catholic QrphanagejkfcKiu* Kiang, had occasion to oros3 a lake. While doing so he bandied some wowU.wita the boatmen. .The lafctty: the bearer of the children into Wuraoa, and raised a report that tho children were stolen. Tho reault (was that '&,< ( ;jelU§f| mob was soon assembled, the, usual ory of "foreign devils" was Hweedj; aad )th| orow.d attacked the Wealeyaa miagioa,^

Continuing hie narrative : M$ Fofr|one says that one of, the houeee wjm speedily fired, and the ladies and children.drivea into tho streets. Had the wob'noHaMa to the robbery of the household goods before they should be burnt* the ladies -would probably have been killed on own property. Mrs. Frofcherqe mjj. separated from the other ladies, and two «£

the children were lost. Mrs Wanbßtß<l

Mrs Boden gained tue shelter of a "jj. < k J mutt," bat ware turned out by theisb

Sarin, who, it is taid, will be executed fo? that kind office. After that ropnjpa narrowly escaped death, being eatedonSy

by the presence ot mind and bravery of Mrs Warren. Eventually, having slipped* unseen by the. mob, into a dark alley, they sought refuge in a hut, were concealed fey ite inmates, and 1 afterwards eScdrted to a "ya-raun," where they we*& frdfleoted* Mrs Frotheroe was already there, and soon after the missing childrea'we'r© brqoght Iα by the Chrifbiana. tbe whole party, including Mr Portane, re* iceived shelter on beard a passliig , steameßt The.narrator then,goes on to eay:-r- Ir j> "The most ehockiaij part of my e&a story has yet to Jap jtold. Mc Green, the Customs officer, noticed tad fire at the Mission premises soon fcftey it, f brok9 out* and afc once toM our mfsaioaayy. Mc , Argent, whttwaa waiting 1 f6r* an up. eteamer in a boat-office harj by, IgnoranS of the riot!, tady inatently; raa off U tho scene. They wero mot; while atill eomo distance away, by Mve' Warren's servant who tried to tittm them hoxM, feut, knowing little of the ' language, and being , excited, they did not ander« stand him; and so preswdl ■Oα! lo 'tint out the true state ot affaire onlj when surrounded by a | rabble. less than flvo minntes Ms \ Argent; was done for ever with this worli ■ Mr Green made hie eacap«from tho but being hotly pursued had to toko U\ Sage in » very large pond of wator. -There he remained for over an hour, the CMaeef being afraid to approach, him in the wates but, et last, fofoea perhaps by ftpp«&«k ing cramp, or lured liy false promiseSi b| left his place of safety, was attacked, &sc resisting desperately, he too, murdered. Tho bodies wove left intbt

streets, as if foreigners had removed theffl, } the Chinese officials would■Uav# i^slp denied all knowledge of the raurdora. *&• saddest thought to mc ie that Mr .ferges* was not at Wurach on hie own feostel \ having gone down to the Baag»W ft stay wttk mc for a wees or two, aJC&oogSS ; he came, or was sent, mnoh ; wiehei. Mr Green's tevm of «osf»l| Wusuch had juefc expired* and' both f|| \ waiting for a steamer, which, ovei 4mf j late, w'ftß hourly expected. •£#§& steamer which would have tfekoa e&mfw I safety, h&d passed op only four 2 hours before they met thoji , wiwWW ff death." ■ - - ,Jf||?, If the "sad story vividly. Ulaa&»sf j#ti || perils to which f | China are still subject from the fasfet&fe*, |t of the mob. • ' '•$ '•* j«| Mat QtiDSTowi, inhis reMufc &rt» w || the House of Mttoray expresses ifee opjtatea |»| that the £5 paid to Milton for P Loet" wee the flret regular payment m N literary work. This st&tomonfc || questioned by a 'contributor to tfci U*& I quary, who eenfc proofs of hie article §P *' \>\ Gladstone for his poraeal. The r^f^? f & I gentleman, however, rem&itteS eWRW I*

vinced, and in returning the es s&& wrote:— - . j "The incloeure and perhaps other works clearly show that in the eixtc-oath thore were author* in the pay gI bow , sellers. Milton, however, was bo joorfley* man. He sold a property, and X h&vc nc« yet obtained notice of any earlier case ia whioh a literary work woe made tbo 80> jeetofeale and purchase. Very pcssibSf some such ceae or cases may conK}to Itga^

Here is an interesting subject : f9f search to those who are fond of delving

into the " onrloaitiee of literature." < ■

A cubioub thing ie noted ia tba papers—namely, the coavewion of *"* | desert of Colorado into as inl»nd ■»*. j*& I Salton on the Southern Pacific r . ■ about 100 miles from Turn* and ISO f»® . hoa Angales, there i« a sort of basis, ?f fefrfe below the sea I«v«l. Then "iwj* very small coUeottoa o« «r**w ****

wo*s were established. Son* June 27th it was noticed that the pool was swelling to the dimensions ofalake until finally it formed a tract of >msAet twelve miles wide and from fifty to &to miles long. How it was formed was «t first a raystery. but it seenu now to be well established that it is caused f, the overflowing of the Colorado Stiver b y * new moutn ' Ifc " Btated it used to be a dream of the !?ri T pioneers that the desert might «i& advantage be turned into an inland How that Nature has obligingly •flftied out the project it will be interesting to watch what effect it has on the dftasie an* so forth. The inundation is rather a serious affair to the Southern Pacific Railway. Supposing it to remain nuanent, the main line it is stated will have to be shifted far to the north, and tjje root* will be made at least 100 miles 1 neer. Neither the pioneers nor Nature to ha» e taken the railway into their j