The Chronicle, Peiping's only English-language newspaper, was set by Chinese typesetters who knew no English, and written by Chinese editors who knew only a unique brand. The result was a four-page daily that contained little news but considerable delight for the old capital's foreign residents.
When two skaters fell through the ice on a Peiping lake, the Chronicle crisply reported: "They eyed ice angrily for some time before leaving in disgruntle." When a U.S. pilot dropped supplies to besieged Taiyuan and returned to Peiping, without encountering either Chinese Communist planes or ack-ack, the Chronicle reported his disappointment with crystal clarity (" 'Damn...
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