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Chinese press.
The result is this very admirable report,
to which there is practically nothing to add.
The only other town in the province where serious
fighting took place was Fatshan, the inhabitants of which
do not at any time enjoy a high reputation for obedience
to law and order. Taking advantage of the outbreak in the
Capital, the local bad characters, assisted perhaps by a
few revolutionaries, proceeded to attack the Yamens on the
evening of the 30th instant and 500 soldiers were despatch-
ed from here to quell the disturbance. An all night fight
ensued until early on the following morning the rising was
suppressed. A partial recrudescence occurred the day after,
but now all is quiet. As showing the efficacy of the bombs
in the hands of the revolutionaries, the fact may be cited,
that one, thrown into a bivouac of 50 soldiers at Fatshan,
killed and wounded no less than 47 men.
The reported trouble at Samshui had nothing to do with
the revolutionary movement. It was a protest against in-
creased taxation recently introduced.
As I telegraphed to you yesterday afternoon, the
Governor General sent one of his Secretaries to inform
me officially on his behalf that complete order had
been restored in the city and throughout the province.
Late at night I received your instructions to furnish
an account of the existing situation for purposes of
supplying an answer to a question in the House of
Commons. Seeing how exaggerated were the rumours
which have been current, I considered that a simple
denial of their truth would suffice, more especially
as you were by that time already in possession of my
previous telegram. There was at no time any danger to
foreign life or property. The only British subjects
whom I advised to leave for Hongkong were the wives
and children of the staff of the Canton-Kowloon Railway
as the DirectorGeneral had officially informed the
Engineer in charge that he could not guarantee the
customary protection. The landing of the naval picket
on Shamien and the steamer wharf, to which reference
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