[English] A PEACEFUL FESTIVAL. CANTON BOY SCOUTS CONTROL TRAFFIC.

A PEACEFUL FESTIVAL.

CANTON BOY SCOUTS CONTROL TRAFFIC.

MOTOR BUS PASSENGERS KIDNAPPED.

[FROM OUR CHINESE CORRESPONDENT.]

Canton, March 29th.

From early morning to late in the afternoon to-day, the roads leading to the Yellow Flower Hill were filled with the processions of organized bodies going to pay their respects to the 72 heroes who died in the First Revolution some 17 years ago. At the same time, many took this opportunity to visit the cemetery of the late Dr. Wu Ting Fang, a veteran Chinese diplomat and statesman who died in Canton several years ago while filling the post of acting Governor of Kwangtung. Despite the thousands making the pilgrimage there was perfect order, and the control of the traffic was mostly done by boys - the boy scouts of Sun Yat Sen University under Scout Commissioner Huang Hsin Chao. Colonel Lui Ting Kuo, commanding the Military Police, was also there on duty with a strong company of police to prevent any distribution of "Red" or seditious literature. Nothing of the kind was attempted.

Early in the morning, members of the Canton Administrative Council, the Provincial and City Kuomintang Committee, and other political or official representatives, presided over by Mr. Lin Sun, a former president of the Chinese Senate, offered sacrifices to the dead, and following them, hundreds of other government and civic organizations of Canton. The band of the General Headquarters was in attendance, and there were scores of other military and school bands accompanying the paraders to the cemetery.

Compared with previous years, the attendance was not so large, as many labour unions have been prohibited and were no longer able to join in the day's festivity.

Hundreds of wreaths were laid before the monument, and many were sent by relatives of the dead.

People in Canton have been very prone of late to scare one another with stories of coup d'etat and the like. At present Canton is very quiet, and big gatherings have taken place without any accident. If there are any "Reds" in Canton, they are afraid to show themselves.

Canton was quite excited last Wednesday evening when the Lingnan and the Sun Yat Sen University basket ball teams contested for the City Championship and the Mayor Cup. Long before the game started, youngsters supporting the respective schools, professors, and city officials lined the gymnasium, and there was a great shouting all through the game until the Mayor handed his cup to Lingnan (formerly known as the Canton Christian College) whose team won the championship.

During the next few days Canton will welcome the football team from Singapore, now at Hong Kong, and there are plenty of people more interested in the arrival of the team than in the date when Marshal Li Tsai Hsin will return from Nanking. The campus of Sun Yat Sen University will be the scene of several games between the Singapore Chinese athletes and the local players.

A bus robbery occurred just outside the City last Wednesday night, when a bus belonging to a local company was on the way to Whampoa by the Chung Shan Road. Four robbers entered the bus as passengers and forced the driver to drive eastward. Practically all the 14 or more passengers were captured for ransom. The conductor and one passenger managed to get away, and so far no arrest has been made. Some village constables on duty along the Chung Shan Road realized what was going on but failed to stop the bus.

PROSPEROUS KWANGSI.

Mr. Tang Chik Yi, formerly dean of the College of Agriculture of Sun Yat Sen University and at present director of the Kwangsi Institute for Industrial Developments, is now in Canton, having returned from Liuchow, Kwangsi, where much progress has been made in road building and other public improvements. He mentioned that a period of peace in that Province has enabled the Government and the people to give their time to industrial developments. Soon there will be a cement works and Kwangsi has now more than 2,000 lis of public highways. Mr. Tang is returning to Kwangsi in a few days.

Source:

1. Page 5, "Hong Kong Daily Press", Friday, 30th March, 17th Year of the Republic of China

   • 9th Day, Leap 2nd Lunar Month, Wu-chen Year

   • Friday, 30th March, 1928 Common Era