SHIPPING AGENTS—Continued
Cook & Son, Thos. Forbes & Co., William Jardine, Matheson & Co. Nippon Yusen Kaisha Osaka Shosen Kaisha Robert Dollar Co. Shevan, Tomes & Co. Taku Pilot Co.
Taku Tug & Lighter Co., Ld. Whitamore & Commons SHIPPING OFFICES
Butterfield & Swire
China Merchants' S N. Co Jardine, Matheson & Co. Nippon Yusen Kaisha Osaka Shosen Kaisha SOAP MANUFACTURERS
Lever Bros. (China), Ld. STOREKEEPERS
Aux Noveautes E. Lee Hall & Holtz, Ld.
Talati Bros. & Co.
Universal Stores
TIENTSIN-TAKU
645
TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE COMPANIES
Chinese Government Telephone Adınn. Chinese Telegraph Administration Eastern Extension, A. & C. Tel. Co. Great Northern Telegraph Co.
TOBACCO, CIGAR & CIGARETTE MERCHANTS
British-American Tobacco Co. Tientsin Tobacco Co.
TOURISTS AGENCY
Cook & Son, Thos.
TRAMWAY AND LIGHTING CO.
Compagnie de Tramways et d'Eclairage
de Tientsin
WATCHMAKERS AND JEWELLERS
Ullmann & Co., J.
WATER COMPANIES
Tientsin Water Works Co., Ld. WHARF AND GODOWN COMPANIES
Tientsin Wharf and Godown Co. Tongku Land & Wharf Co. WINE AND SPIRIT MERCHANTS
Caldbeck, MacGregor & Co., Ld. Hall & Holtz, Ld.
Watson & Co., Ld., A. S.
TAKU
沽大 Ta-ku
This village is situated at the mouth of the Pci-ho, on the southern side of the river about 6 miles from Tientsin. The land is so flat at Taku that it is difficult for a stranger to detect the entrance to the river. There are two anchorages, an outer and inner. The former extends from the Customs Junks to three miles outside the Bar, scaward; the latter from Liang-kia-yuan on the south to the Customs Jetty, Tz'chu-lin, on the north. The village is a poor one, and possesses few shops and no buildings of interest except the forts, now demolished. The only foreign residents are the employés of the Lighter Company, the Customs, and the Pilot Corporation. A railway from the adjoining town of Tungku (two miles up the river) to Tientsin was completed in 1888.
Taku is memorable on account of the engagements that have taken place between its forts and the British and French naval forces. The first attack was made on the 20th May, 1858, by the British squadron under Sir Michael Seymour, when the forts were passed and Lord Elgin proceeded to Tientsin, where on the 26th June he signed the famous Treaty of Tientsin. The second attack, which was fatally unsuccessful, was made by the British forces in June, 1859. The third took place on the 21st August, 1860, when the forts were attacked from the land side and captured, the booms placed across the river destroyed, and the British ships sailed triumphantly up to Tientsin.
Taku and Tongku as naval bases have been very prominent in the history of China. In May, 1900, as the Boxer sedition came to a head, the European Powers assembled at Taku Bar, the greatest naval armament ever seen in the Eastern hemisphere. Sir Edward Seymour, K.C.B., as Senior Naval Officer, was in command. The Admirals were called upon to protect the Legations in Pcking and the foreign Settlements of Tientsin, and in the second week of June naval landing parties were sent ashore by the six European Powers, the United States and Japan. Russia, however, sent to Port Arthur for troops and landed very few sailors.