SHANGHAI
713
cases, the average number of cases amongst foreigners has been slightly over three per annum during the last twenty years. The average number of deaths of foreign residents from small-pox during the last twenty years has been 15 per annum. Amongst the shore population the death rate was 15.4 per thousand in 1915, 14 in 1916, 20.7 in 1917, 16.5 in 1918 (including Japanese), 20.6 in 1919, 15.2 in 1920, 18.2 in 1921 and 19.3 in 1922. These rates compare favourably with those of many large towns in Europe and America.
There were reported 9,663 deaths amongst the natives in the "Anglo-American Settlement" in 1912, 8,062 in 1913, 8,198 in 1916, 9,612 in 1917, 8,441 in 1918, 9,646 in 1919, 8,546 in 1920, 8,610 in 1921 and 9,517 in 1922, which make the rate 19.3, 15.8, 13, 14.9, 12.8, 14.3, 11.2, 11.0 and 11.7 per thousand. The ther- mometer ranges from 25 deg. to 103 deg. F., the mean of ten years having been 59 19 deg., the average being 41′13, 64.99, 7791 and 52.49 for first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively. Shanghai approaches nearest to Rome in mean temperature, while the winter temperatures of London and Shanghai are almost identical. In October and November there is generally dry, clear, and delight- ful weather, equal to that found in any part of the world; but when the winter has fairly set in the north-east winds are extremely cold and biting. On Janu- ary 17th, 1878, the river was frozen over at Woosung. The heat during July and August is sometimes excessive, but generally lasts only a few days at a time. In late years very severe gales have become more frequent. On 27th and 28th July, 1915, a typhoon of extraordinary violence visited the district doing much damage. The mean of the barometer is from 29.769 in the third to 30°245 inches in the first quarter. The annual average of rainy days in Shanghai during eight years was 124; 55 wet days occurred in winter, and 69 in summer; the annual rainfall averages 49.57 inches, about 15 in winter and 30'2 in summer. The mean degree of humidity is from 786 in the winter to 826 in the summer months.
DESCRIPTION
The streets of the British and French Settlements all run north and south and east and west, mostly for the whole length of both, crossing each other at right angles. They were when first laid out twenty-two feet wide, but have since at very great expense been mostly made much wider. In spite of this, however, and the more stringent regulations, the traffic problem is becoming increasingly acute. Under the new Regula- tions power to compel the sale of land required for public purposes has been secured. Notwithstanding the soft nature of the soil the roads are kept in remarkably good order, despite the heavy motor traffic. With the introduction of trams the whole track of the Maloo, one mile in length, was laid with Jarrah hardwood blocks, and the section of Nanking Road between Kiangse Road and the Bund was paved with the same material. Owing to the nature of the ground, expensive piling or concrete foundations are necessary before any building over one storey in height can be erected, and al stone has to be brought from a long distance. The Soochow Creek, between the British Settlement and Hongkew, is now crossed by nine bridges, seven of which are adapted for carriage traffic. The scheme for filling in the Yang-king-pang was passed by the land-renters in 1914, the area thus gained being converted into a fine boulevard. The first tube of the Yang-king-pang culvert to be put under the Bund Bridge was laid in March, 1916, and the Avenue Edward VII., as the new thoroughfare is named, was finished in the same year. The Bund Bridge, which was carefully removed for re-erection elsewhere, and the levelling of the road surface at this point saw the com- pletion of the work, and the International Settlement trams now run the full length of the French and International Bunds. The whole work of turning what was a foul- smelling creek into what promises to be one of the finest boulevards in the Far East, was one of the biggest single jobs undertaken by the local Public Works Department. Avenue Edward VII., from The Bund to Thibet Road, is a thoroughfare of consider- able width, with spacious foot paths. All the roads leading off the new avenue on both sides have rounded corners with a wide sweep, and the engineers, in planning the road, have made every arrangement possible for the accommodation of extensive traffic. In the straightening of the road the windings of the former creek are abolished. It may be mentioned that there is no tram line on Avenue Edward VII., the French tramway company having removed the loop section which ran from the French Bund along the old Quai de Yang-king-pang and through Rue Montauban to Rue du Consulat. Instead, a double line is run from the Rue du Montauban corner down Rue du Consulat to The Bund. A new delimita- tion of the French Settlement was also undertaken during 1914, and the French author- ities were given full control of the roads that have been built beyond the old
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