CHINESE & COMETS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10056, 30 May 1910, Page 5

CHINESE & COMETS.

THE FOREIGNER BLAMED. "A BLOODTHIRSTY PEOPLE." Received May 28, 10.30 a.m. United Press Association—By fiuectricTelegraph i Copyright. j PERTH, May 28. The Rev. Mr Sanders, a Perth missionary in one of the inland provinces of China, writing on 21st March, throws l ! ght on the recent rioting. He says—"A comet suddenly appeared, and remained for a few evenings, but was evidently not Haile.v's which is not due to the unaided vision for some weeks. The comet here is a sign of bloodshed and rebellion. Its appearance has greatly excited the populace and when Halley's is visible the feai-3 and unrest will become intensified. Secret societies and revolutionaries make the most of such things, and use them as opportunities to play on popular superstitions and stir up troubla. "China is honeycombed with such societies. Unfortunately, foreigners invariably come in for the first shock and brunt of any trouble whatsoever. Bo it comet, pestilence, or increased taxation, the blama is hid on us. Railways are being built, and common rumour in China point to them being sliced and divided amongst the Powers. " Yuan-Shi-Kai and Tuan Farg (China's two most able statesmen) have been summarily dismissed from office, and now comes tha unexpected comet and the promise of another one mora brilliant. What with these and other omens, coupled with the superstitions oi a bloodthirsty people, toruble is easily aroused We are in for a year which might bring anything; should popular ignorance prevail, and a panic arise, we shall hj. in dira peril."