Foreign News: Lotus & Lead

Governor Liu Huan-yen of Kwangsi Province went out for a stroll in his garden one evening last week, followed as usual by his bodyguard. As the Governor stooped to admire the moonlike beauty of a lotus blossom, a shot rang out. Down he crumpled in the garden path mortally wounded, died later in hospital.

“The shot came from over the wall,” said the lotus-loving Governor’s bodyguard, but when it was pointed out that his rifle was warm and contained a discharged cartridge, he accepted the situation philosophically enough. “I shot the Governor,” he said simply, “because a man gave me money to shoot the Governor. I am a poor soldier. I needed the money.”