Directory_and_Chronicle_1909

904

NINGPO

Portuguese, 800 were massacred. No further attempt at trade with this port was made till towards the close of the 17th century, when the East India Company established a factory at the island of Chusan, some forty miles from Ningpo. The attempt to found a trade mart there, however, proved unsatisfactory, and the factory was abandoned after a very few years' trial. The port was deserted by foreigners for many years after that. When hostilities broke out between Great Britain and China in 1839, the fleet moved north from Canton, and on the 13th October, 1841, occupied Ningpo, and an English garrison was stationed there for some time. In March, 1842, an attempt was made by the Chinese to retake the city, but the British artillery repulsed them with great slaughter. Ningpo was evacuated on May 7th, and, on the proclamation of peace in the following August, the port was thrown open to foreign trade,

Ningpo is built on a plain which stretches away to a considerable distance on either side. It is a walled city, the walls enclosing a space of some five miles in cir- cumference. The walls are built of brick, and are about twenty-five feet high. They are fifteen feet wide at the summit, and twenty-two at the base. Access is obtained to the town by six gates. A large moat commences at the north gate and runs along the foot of the wall for about three miles on the landward side, until it stops at what is called the Bridge Gate. The main street runs from east to west. Several of the streets are spanned by arches erected in memory of distinguished natives. Ningpo has been celebrated as possessing the fourth library of Chinese works, in point of numbers, which existed in the empire. It was owned by a family who resided near the south gate. The site occupied by the foreign residences is on the north bank of the river. The population of Ningpo is estimated at 255,000. The French opened a post office in

1905.

A cotton mill was established in 1896, and commenced work in June of that year. In 1905 it worked night and day, turning out 38,000 piculs. A rival Chinese company, with $600,000 capital, has erected another mill opposite the Settlement. They bought English machinery selected by a Japanese engineer, and the technical staff is composed of Japanese. The mill started with 10,000 spindles. Electric light is used in this mill, and the Company has been considering a scheme for lighting the city. A flour mill started work early in 1905, but the import of flour is steadily increasing. It was at Ningpo that the Chinese first experimented with a steam trawler. The fishing guilds, noticing that those in charge were ignorant of the fishing grounds, held their peace, and the experiment has so far proved unsuccessful! The Tea trade has fallen off owing to a diversion of the Foochow tea trade, which formerly passed throught this port, but is now forwarded to Shanghai vid Hangchow. In 1907, however, a larger business was done than in the three preceding years, the export amounting to 14,111,467 lbs. as compared with an average of 11,900,000 for the three preceding years. The net value of the trade of the port was Tls. 24,860,843 in 1907, Tls. 18,917,358 in 1906, Tls. 19,163,630 in 1905, and Tls. 12,297,412 in 1904.

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