THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
HONGKONG.
are not conclusive, inasmuch as 'some of the testimony is negative, and negative testi- mony cannot possess much weight as against The Sanitary Board met on the 3rd inst, and positive. But they show. at all events, appointed a committee to draw up by-laws under that the stories bitherto, circulated must be re- the Insanitary Dwellings Ordinance. At the ceived with caution, and that the public should Police Court on the 3rd inst an assistant at the be careful about attaching implicit credence to Hongkong Dispensary was fined $5 for supplying the allegations of writers, some of whom are pro-morphia to the Iste Baron de “Grandinaisou verbially disposed to take the harshest possible contrary to the provisions of the Morphine Or- view of every offence charged against the Japan-dinance, but the case is to be rahoard; the do- exo, and one seems to be deliberately resolved to fence is that the morphia had been prescribed, work up this affair into a sensation of wh ch' he ||although no prescription was actually produced himself will be the central figurē.”
The Taipingshan Arbitration Board is proceed ing with the claims for compensation for the resumption of the property in the closed aren by the Crown. The annual fea ́meeting of the Seamen's Mission was held at the Sailor's Home
C
on the 4th inst
Early on hursday morning a German of the crew of the steamer Lawang, at the Kowloon Wharves, while emptying refuse matter, lost his balance and fell into the harbour, where, not knowing how to swim, he was carried under by the strong current and drowned. His body hus not thus far been found.
The steamer Loosok, which arrived from Bangkok on Sunday, re orts that on Saturday evening she sighted, five miles from Ladrons Island, a junk which had apparently been out through by collision and abandoned. It appears that the teamer Aganiem ön, which arrived on Friday from the North, ran into a junk outside Hongkong." The junk sighted by the Loosoh is no doubt the same, Several of the junk's crew are reported to have boon drowned in the colli- sion.
Subs quently the editor of the Mail was ne- oused of having made unauthorised use of a private conversation, and in an article written in reply he said that he had, as he supposed, obtained direct authorisation to publish the state- ments made, but it appeared there had been a
There were 1,020 visitors to the City Hall Mu misunderstanding, that such authorization was
seum last week, of whom 112 were Europeans. not intended, and that publication ›should have
It is notified in the Gazette that owners of been contingent upon conditions not yet satisfied. houses, outside the Taipingshan area, closed by
But, the article proceeds. "it was a mis-order of the Permanent Committee of the Sani understanding as to the point of publication tary Board, may now obtain possession of their only, not a misunderstanding as to the facts property on application to the Captain Superin- published. The question whether publication tendent of Police. was authorized or was not authorized cannot in any way affect the validity of the statements themselves. What appeared in the Japan Mail was, in all essentials, an accurate reproduction of the facts embodied in the conversation. We were careful to explain at the time that the testimony | thur furnished being, for the most part, négative, could not ressive the weight properly belonging to positive evidence. That reservation should have obviated any suspicion that the attache's 'state ments were advanced in contradiction of the asser- tions of persons who avowed that they had seen things not observed by him. On the other hand, in so far as there was question of general judgments on the conduct of the soldiers, there can be ho doubt that the views of a military attaché sbonld carry more weight than those of an ordinary newspaper correspondent. Wo claimed, and properly claimed, such weight for them. Put it was never our intention to suggest that our informant's evidence should be taken as invali- dating the emphatic narratives given by other observers of things actually falling under, their own notice. These reservations made, the fact remains that we have now credible testimony tending to impart a less heinons character to the conduct, of the Japanese troops, and it is certainly in the interests of truth and justice that such testimony should be published.” it would appear that the editor of the Jpan Mail does not attach much value to the testimony, for, in the course of his reply to the comments of other journals. he claims that the Japan Mail was the first paper to refer editorially to the atrocities atę Port Arthur and he quotes the conclusion of his first, article on the subject, which was as follows:-"Already infuriated by a passion for vengeance and now deprived of reason by the fumes of alcohol, these coolies and the soldiers, whether many or few, that participated in their crime, have inflicted lasting injury on their country's reputation. It is something to know that order was restored in the morning, and that thenceforth the kind treatment enjoined by Japanese military regu lations was extended to all the inhabitants of the place. It is also something to remember how different had been the conduct of the troops at Chiu obow a few days previously, when the tak- ing of the town, far from bringing ruin and death to the people, inaugurated a season of charitable suoconr. The ferocity shown ut Port Arthur was evidently due to the brutal cruelty previously ex hibited by the Chinese themselves. But the dali- rium of vengeance, whatever its exciting cause, always disgraces humanity. So far from the negat ve evidence of the military attaché having modified this judgement, the editor says:
Even these word, strongly condemntory as they ar, must now be held inadequate, siuo- fur. ther testimony shows that the undisciplined slanghter continued through at least three con-
cutive days.
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January 9, 1895,
The following returns of the average amount of Bank notes in circulation and of spécie in reserve in Hongkong, during the month ended 3 st December, 1994, as certified by the Mana- gers of the respective Banks, are published -
Banks.
Average Specie in Amou..t.
$ 1,448,767
4,896,871
$6,255,638 $4,200,000
Chartered Bank of India,
Australia, and China Hongkong and Shanghai
Banking Corporation
Reserve.
700,000
2,500,000
About eight o'clock on Sunkay night an alarm of fire was rung, which was instantly responded to by the Fire Brigade; bat, despite their prompt- ness they found No 20. Queen's Road Central, already fiercely attacked by a hot fire, which was rapidly consuming the two upper floors With energetic and persistent attention the fire was, however, confined to these two floors, and the adjoining buildings practically escaped nain. jure. The basement was unscathed by the fire, but was well flooded by the heavy streams thrown on the flors above. We understand the place was insured for $10.000. A strange coincidence is that about four months ago No. 228, next door was on fire and is now also insured for $10,000. The Fire Brigado deserves commendation for the prompt and business-like manner in which the fire of Sunday night was extinguished.
Mr. Jerome Dyer, who visited the colony in May last ́ns correspondent for the Melbourne. Argas and Australasian accompanying the Victorian Groyo, naent Commercial Commission, arrived here by the Taiyuen and proceeded to Japan. As mentioned in our issue of Mon- day. Mr. Dyer is now visiting China and Japan on behalf of a syndicate of the leading mer chants and producers of Victoria, and he informs us that on his return from the North in a few weeks he will hold an exhibition hero of Austra tion products on a much larger scale than be- fore. These food products seem to have rapidly established a reputation here, so much so that would-be buyers found a diffinity in obtaining supplies. This has now been remedied and all the leading storekeepers have now fall stocks. and have made arrangements for regular ship- mouts. Our Australian neighbours have achieved success because they des rve it. We un- derstand that their wines are now likely to come largely into consumption here;
11.
Three privates of the Hongkong Regiment, named M. Selman, Rambus, and Mokarba Kan, were charged before Commisuder Hastings on Thursday in the Police Court with highway rob- bery. It is alleged they took by force from nue J. F. Abrahanı $47 worth of personal property, including $25 in money that he had won that night gambling at Kowkdon, ile missed the last launch and had to walk home and permitted. himself to b guided by one of the Pathans who,
At the mesting of the “ Odd Volumes But had watched him make his winnings. On the
on Fri way they met other Indians and they set upon control of the liquor traff in Hongkong, ad- ay night Mr. W. E, Crow open-it a debate on the him, gagged him, and robbed him. P.C. Find vocating that steps should be taken to prevent ley, stationed at Hungham, testified that he had the sale of certain spirits sold as brandy, met with Sikhs on the highway just prior to etc., but which were really distilled from potatoes whisky, meeting the complainant. At the request of the and other roots, and the consumption of which Police the case was adjourned.
by the soldiers and sailors was a cause of anxiety to military and naval offisers, as it was believed the men committed crimes which they would that under the influence of the e spurions liquors
never commit under the fufluence of more wholesome spirits. He produced a bottle of
The Sea Swallow, we learn from the N. C. Daily News, was abandoned having lost her masis during bid weather off Formosa. The captain, chief officer, and crew were picked up by the Contest and taken to Moji and then sent to Nagasaki by the Cathay, which stemmer brought them on to Shanghai,
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We have received the first number of the Hongkong Philatelic Journal, published by Mr E. J. de Figueiredo, and which is to appear monthly I co taius a large quantity of mat- ter interesting to stamp collectors and will no doubt secure a wide circulation. There is an article on the Fonoliow Post Office, by Mr. J. Mencarini, The office was to be opened on the about the 1st March; in the meantime a " paid ' 1st January and the new stamps will be for sale stamp together with the cancelling stamp with date will be used. Mr. Mencarini is the designer of the new stamp. Twelve designs were advertised consultation with Messus. Waterlow & Sous, in for and accepted by the Committee, but after whose hands the printing of the stamps was placed, it was decided that the twelve values should have only one desigu.
Un New Years' Day the body of a Chinaman was found stretched out on the public highway a short distance beyond the point where the road tarns from Wanchai towards Causeway Bay He had evidently been dead for some hours, but there seemed to be no trace of any wound or violence that could have caused his death. It is believed that probably the man was a mendi- cant who had come in from Chins and been taken ill and died, and had been left there either by some vehicle or been carried from a boat. It was singular to note the complete indifference with which the many Chinese passed by this lifeless body, scarcely seeing it, and paying less attention to it than if it were a log of wood. Nothing was spread over it and it lay there in the glare and heat of the sun till paat midday, a very startling spectacle to holiday pleasure svokers.
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Pure Lighland whisky made in Germany which he had purchased through the compradore for forty five cents and a bottle of brandy purchased in the same way for thirty cents. He tests sufficiently close to detect the deleterious explained that chemical analysis did not give ingredients in these spirits, although by the smell and by common seuse one could tell at once fore advocated that some control should be exer- that the liquors were not genuine. He there- cised over the sale of Equor. An interesting debate ensued in the course of which one g ntle. man, after enumerating a number of other articles which might be used for distillation, said that in America, after suitable preparation, very ood whisky was made from old clothes. The saine gentleman also threw some doubt on the nuwholesomeness of the cheap liquors, referred to by the opener of the debate, and, granting that they made men drunk sooner, and that of two evils it was desirable to choose the lesser. he asked whether it was better that a man should get drunk having taken only a small quantity of cheap stuff into his stomach or should have to take a much larger quantity of more expensive liquor. At the close of the debate a resolution was carried to the effect that the question of the control of the liquor traffio demanded serious consideration and a secoud resolution calling for taxation of spirits and direct control by the Government. Commander W. C. B. Hastings presided,