Directory_and_Chronicle_1903

HAKODATE

The foreign trade of the port is small. The value of the imports declined from $676,534 in 1890 to $12,101 in 1892, but increased by an average of slightly over a hundred per cent. each year to Yen 1,744,181 in 1899 and Yen 3,009,284 in 1900. The imports for 1901 were Yen 2,415,024. The exports in 1901 amounted to Yen 2,336,63% against Yen 2,127,614 in 1900. 111 steamers of 73,505 tons and 125 sailing vessels (including junks) of 16,529 tons entered, and 136 steamers of 90,138 tons and 180 sailing vessels (including junks) of 22,766 tons cleared during the year 1901. 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 wel! 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 four large coal mines in operation, one in Poronai, one at Ikushumbetsu, one at Yuhari and a fourth at Sorachi. Washing for gold dust is being energetically carried on in Kitami and there is reason to believe with proper machinery the gold mines of Hokkaido may be worked with fair profit. Up till the summer of 1899 but little interest was taken by the public in the oi production of Hokkaido, but since then a great deal has been heard of the kerosene wealth of this district, and it is even stated the prospects are not inferior to those of Echigo. The places where oil is said to exist are numerous. At Nukimi-Mura on Soya Strait-in the extreme North-oil wells were discovered long ago, and have been worked by hand for some years. The oil, in fact, overflows into the sea, and in stormy weather boats take refuge at Nukimi Mura, as the sea is rendered smooth by the oil. Oil also exists at Nigori-Kawa, near Hakodate; at Kayamagori, near Shiribeshi; at Itaibetsu, on a tributary of the Urin River (output 800 gallons per day); at Kotamimura and Tsukisama Mura (Imperial property), near Sapporo; and near Abashiri, where the wells are considered rich. Hakodate is connected with_the_capital by telegraph, and the construction of a new line of railway between Hakodate and Otaru (157 miles) is being vigorously pushed forward. It is expected to be open for traffic in the spring of 1905. 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 Ikushumbetsu, seven miles, has since been made, and another line from the coal mines to Muroran, a port on the south-east of the island, a distance of 143 miles, was opened to traffic in July, 1892. At the station of Oiwake, from which point there is a branch line to Yubari (264 miles), the Tanko Tetsudo Kaisha have established ovens for the manufacture of coke. The aggregate mileage at the end of 1899 was 328 miles, nearly 200 of which belong to the Tanko Tetsudo Kaisha, or Mining and Railway Company. The Hakodate Harbour Improvement works were completed in 1900, and a patent slip capable of taking vessels up to 1,500 tons was also finished. There is also under construction a dry dock to accommodate ships up to 10,000 tons. Harbour improvements are also being carried on at Otaru, where a massive breakwater is under construction. Some 2,000 feet have already been built, and when completed, the breakwater is expected to be about 3,500 feet long.

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