A366
CHANGSHA
second memorial temple to Tso Tsung-t'ang, one of the most famous lieutenants of Tseng Kuo-fan. There is also a temple on one of the western streets to Chia I, the most celebrated scholar of his day, who died in Changsha, B.C. 165. In the temple is a marble settee which is alleged to have been used by Chia I.
Outside the city there is a very fine hospital, which was erected at a cost of $185,000 by a former Yale graduate for the use of the Hunan-Yale Medical College The direction of the hospital is in the hands of a board, composed equally of repre- sentatives of the Hunan gentry and the Yale Mission. The Yale School and College buildings are in the immediate neighbourhood. These are all outside the north gate. Outside the south gate are the famed antimony works of the Huachang Company, which has branch offices in the Woodworth Building, New York. There are two electric-lighting companies.
On the island are to be found the British Consulate and the residences of the indoor Customs and Post Office staffs and of the managers of the Standard Oil, Asiatic Petroleum, British-American Tobacco Companies, Butterfield & Swire and many other mercantile firms.
Many new roads have been built and motor buses now run daily direct to Ning- siang, Yiyang, Changteh and Taoyuan to the Northwest, Hengchowfu, Leiyang. Chenchow and Ichang to the South and to Siangtan and Paoking to the Southwest from Changsha. The Changsha-Kweichow road, which runs via Changten, Taoyuan, Shenchow (Yuanling), Ch'enhsi and Yuanchow (Chihkiang), to Hwanghsien on the Kweichow border-a distance of about 835 kilometres- has been completed and opened to traffic. From Hwanghsien it is necessary to travel for two days by chair before the journey can be continued by road to Kweiyang. The Changsha-Szechwan road, branches off from the Changsha- Kweichow road at Shenchow (Yuanling), whence it runs via Luhsi, Ch'ien- ch'eng, Yungsui and Ch'at'ung, to Hsiushan-a distance of 220 kilometres. The road-bed has been laid as far as Ch'at'ung. It is hoped that the surfacing with stone and gravel will be completed and the road be opened to through traffic by November this year. The Changsha-Changteh-Lichow-Tungyomiao has been extended and opened to traffic as far as Shasi on the Yangtze. The Changsha-Hankow road, via P'ingkiang, T'ungch'eng and Tsungyang is complete except for a distance of 25 kilometres between P'ingkiang and T'ungch'eng. Progress is being made with this section, however, and through traffic between Changsha and Hankow is now under discussion. The Changsha- Kwangsi road, via Siangtan, Hengchow, Hungch'iao, Ch'iyang and Yungchow (Lingling, to Lishanp'u on the Kwangsi border, has been completed and opened to traffic. From the border it is necessary to travel by chair for half a day to Hwangshaho, whence the road has been completed as far as Kweilin. The Changsha-Kwantung road, via Siangtan, Hengchow and Leiyang, to Pingshek was completed and opened to traffic two years ago.
TRADE IN 1939
The year 1939 was probably the worst in the history of the port of Changsha, the entire city having been destroyed by a fire which started on the 13th November 1938 and raged for three days, 12 square miles of houses being reduced to ashes. The city, what remains of it, still remains in total darkness at night owing to the destruction of the power plant, and even at the close of 1939 the population hardly numbered 150,000 in what was once one of the finest cities in China. Fighting was hardly ever more than 50 miles distant, the rivers were mined, roads and railways cut, Changsha and adjacent cities were constantly bombed from the air, the dollar fell to a record low level, while new regulations were imposed to control foreign exchange. Fortunately, the best crop of paddy in 10 years was harvested and, since communications were so abnormal, much of the rice had to be sold locally thus reducing to some extent the cost of living for the poorer classes. For foreigners, Changsha almost ceased to exist as a trade mart. Conditions were comparatively peaceful during the first quarter of 1939, but in April the situation became worse with Nanchang falling and it being feared that Changsha would become the centre of the war zone.
As recorded by the Customs, the value statistics of the trade of the port were:direct foreign imports, $242,000 as compared with $617,000; coastwise importations of Chinese