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YOKOHAMA
INSURANCE OFFICES, Continued
Scottish Union and National Fire Insurance Co. Sea Insurance Company, Liverpool Second Colonial Sea and Fire Insce. Co. of Batavia... Singapore Insurance Company (Fire and Marine) South Australian Marine Insurance Company.... South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company Standard Life Assurance Company. Straits Fire Insurance Company Straits Insurance Company (Marine) Sun Fire Office
Sun Life Assurance Company, Canada
...
Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance Company Transatlantische Feuer Vers. Actien Ges., Hamburg Transatlantische Gueter Versicherungs Ges. Underwriting Agency Association, Limited Union Marine Insurance Company Union Assurance Society, 1714. Union Insurance Society of Canton... United Swiss Marine Insurance Companies Württembergische Transport Versicherungs Ges.
Yangtsze Insurance Association
Fraser, Farley & Co. Butterfield & Swire J. Ph. von Hemert Dodwell, Carlill & Co. Dodwell, Carlill & Co. Smith, Baker & Co. Fraser, Farley & Co. W. J. S. Shand W. J. S. Shand Robison & Co. W. J. S. Shand Mollison & Co. C. Illies & Co. Fr. Retz & Co. Cornes & Co.
Kingdon, Schwabe & Co. Flint Kilby & Co. C. W. Baird
Kingdon, Schwabe & Co. Carl Rohde & Co. Walsh, Hall & Co.
HAKODATE
This, the most northerly of the treaty ports of Japan, is situated in the south of Yezo on the Straits of Tsugaru, which divide that island from Honshiu. The port lies in latitude 41 deg. 47 min. 8 sec. N., and longitude 140 deg. 45 min. 34 sec. E., and the harbour is nearly land-locked. The town clusters at the foot and on the slope of a bold rock known to foreigners as Hakodate Head, 1,106 feet in height. The surrounding country is hilly, volcanic, and striking, but the town itself possesses few attractions. The foreign concession has never been built upon, the few foreign residents in the port having taken up their quarters in Japanese buildings. A row of fine temples, with lofty picturesque roofs, occupying higher ground than the rest of the town, are the most conspicuous buildings. There are some Public Gardens at the eastern end of the town, which contain a small but interesting Museum. Waterworks for supplying the town with pure water were completed in 1889. The climate of Hakodate is healthy and bracing. The hottest month is August, but the thermometer then rarely rises above 90 degrees Fahr.; in the winter it sometimes sinks to 18 degrees. The mean temperature throughout the year is about 48 degrees. The population of Hakodate in 1889 was 52,693. The number of foreign residents in 1889 was 69, of whom 36 were Europeans and Americans, and 33 Chinese; there are 16 more Europeans in other parts of Yezo.
The foreign trade of the port is small, but the import of railway iron last year swelled the value of the imports to a respectable total. The exports also show a bond fide increase. The value of the imports in 1890 amounted to $676,534, as compared with $117,706 in 1889. The exports for 1890 amounted to 8823,034, compared with 8781,447 in 1889. The agricultural resources of Yezo have been to some extent developed under the auspices of the Kaitakushi or Colonization Department. The rich pasture lands are well adapted for breeding cattle. In the valuable and extensive fisheries on the coast, however, the chief exports of the future from Hakodate are to be looked for. Increasing quantities of dried fish and seaweed are exported annually, mostly to China. The mineral resources of Yezo are large, and may also some day yield a valuable addition to the exports of this port. There are now three large coal mines in operation, one in Poronai, one at Ikushunbetsu, and a third at Sorachi. Hakodate is connected with the capital by telegraph. A railway from Otaru to Sapporo, 22 miles long, was opened to public traffic on the 28th November, 1880, and has since been carried on to Poronai, where are some large coal mines, the total length of the line being 56 miles. A branch to Ikushun- betsu, seven miles, has since been made, and another line is being carried from the coal mines to Mororan, a port on the south-east of the island, a distance of 143 miles. One section of this line 33 miles in length has been completed.