Directory_and_Chronicle_1931

NEWCHWANG

619

at present a sub-office of the Newchwang Customs. The Anshan Steel Works were expected to become an important addition to local industry, but up to the present they have not realised the hopes of their promoters. The mining zone covers about 10 square miles, and borings have proved the existence of 100,000,000 tons of ore with a purity of from 40 to 60 per cent.

The greater part of the export trade here is with Japan and the southern Chinese ports, but some direct shipments of beans and beancake have been made to Europe. Details of a scheme for the improvement of the Upper Reaches of the Liao River and the deepening of the Bar at its mouth were under consideration for over two years, and a preliminary agreement-embodying regulations for the financing and operation of the scheme-signed in July, 1911, by the Consular Body and Taotai, was for some time afterwards the subject of negotiations between the Diplomatic Body at Peping and the Chinese Central and Provincial Authorities. The scheme was eventually ratified in the course of 1914, and Conservancy works were begun in 1915. The patch of 13,000 feet having a depth of only 6 feet at low water ordinary springs, which existed in 1913, has been very considerably reduced as the result of the construction of the east training wall which is now 74 miles in length. With the aid of a powerful suction dredger at work on the bar, in conjunction with the training walls, it is hoped to obtain a depth of 26 feet across the bar at ordinary high water, and thus make the port of Newchwang accessible to ocean shipping. During the open season of 1930 the dredger has proved the efficacy of its introduction. A channel of nearly 12 feet has been obtained at low water over the Bar and it is hoped that this depth may even be exceeded.

Share This Page