TIENTSIN
703
shoaled up so as to be unfit for carriage in bulk. The trade of the city was imperilled by the silting up of the Pei-ho, but a river improvement scheme of some magnitude was inaugurated in 1898 under Mr. A. de Linde, and the Peace Protocol of 1901 contains clauses which constitute a Board of Conservancy (now in existence) and the provision of fairly liberal funds for the maintenance of the work. It is, however, generally believed that no lasting success will attend the remedial measures until steps are taken to deal with the Taku Bar by permanent dredging; meanwhile by closing the canals and creeks which take off most of the flood tide, by giving a larger radius of curvature to the bends, and by widening the Reach, and making three cuttings to straighten the river, its navigability has been greatly ameliorated. Unhappily in 1912 a break was made by floods in the East bank of the Pei Ho at Li Shu Chen (above Tungchow), which caused the deflection of the waters of the Pei Ho, the main tributary of the Hai Ho, to the Pei Tang River, which enters the Gulf further North. This was attended with grave consequences, and enormously increased the burden of the Hai Ho Conservancy Board, whose dredgers were thereafter employed ceaselessly in the endeavour to keep the river open for steamship navigation to Tientsin. There are five dredgers at work at the present time. It was hoped that the breach at Li Shu Chen would be repaired by December, 1916, after which all the silt would be scoured out again. The mud obtained from the river-bed has been usefully and remuneratively employed in the filling-in of the foreign Concessions, which work began in 1910. The whole of the German Concession below the Canal has been filled in, and portions of the French, Japanese and British Extra-Mural Concessions have also been filled in. The total dredged in 1915 was 235,406 fang, of which 193,371 fang was pumped ashore and 40,035 fong dumped. The revenue acquired in this manner by the Board amounted, in 1915, to Tls. 100,000, which was very useful in view of the great increase in expenditure occasioned by the extra work. The deepening of the Bar Channel has progressed satisfactorily, the powerful suction-dredger Chung Hua having been engaged per- manently on this work since 1914. The Bar dredging-plant was in 1915 improved by the addition of two hopper barges built especially for this work.
In the winter of 1914-15 ice-breakers were utilised in the Hai Ho, and there are now four such vessels the property of the Conservancy. Work on the bar was commenced during 1906, the Shipping Companies and British Municipality having come to terms in regard to financing the work. A channel of some depth has been made with lakes and is now being used by vessels, as it offers an additional 14 inches depth of water. In January, 1909, a conservancy scheme received the sanction of the Diplomatic Body at Peking and the Chinese Government involving the raising of a loan of Tls. 870,000 to cover initial expenditure on tugs for raking the bar, a complete dredging plant for the bar, and a second dredger for making a fourth cutting in the river. The service of the loan and the annual running expenses will be met by an increased levy of river dues on cargo and by a shipping tax. The trade of the city no longer depends entirely on this route, however. The railway now carries nearly 50 per cent. of the city's trade with the interior, and railway development generally in the district promises to make the trade less dependent upon the river. Chinwangtao makes an excellent winter jetty.
The expeditions of the allies in 1858-61 greatly enhanced the importance of the city, as it then proved to be the military key of the capital and an excellent base. It was here on June 26th, 1858, that Lord Elgin signed the treaty which was to conclude the war, but which unhappily led to its prolongation. The famous temple in which the treaty was signed, about a mile distant from the West gate, was destroyed by British shells in July, 1900.
During the long satrapy of Li Hung-chang the trade and importance of the city developed exceedingly. Li, by the vigour of his rule, soon quelled the rowdyism for which the Tientsinese were notorious throughout the empire, and as he made the city his chief residence and the centre of his many experiments in military and naval education, it came to be regarded as the focus of the new learning and national. reform. The foreign affairs of China were practically directed from Tientsin during the two decades 1874-94.
The city will ever be infamous to Europeans from the massacre of the French Sisters of Mercy and other foreigners on June 21st, 1870, in which the most appalling brutality was exhibited. The Roman Catholic Cathedral, which was destroyed on that occasion, was rebuilt, and the new building was consecrated in 1897, only to again fall a victim to Boxer fury in 1900. Tientsin also played a great part in the history of China during the momentous year of the Boxer outbreak in 1900.