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Road, the occupation of the upper storeys of which for residential purposes brings thein within the definition of domestic buildings. But no healthier floor can be devised than one of boards, where European notions of cleanliness prevail, and although in building! new houses it may be theoretically desirable to have a layer of impervious material underneath the boards, on account of the miasma supposed to arise from newly dis- turbed earth, in the case of old houses what- ever danger or ill-effects there may originally have been from this cause have disap peared with the lapse of time. Moreover, the object in view at the time of the passing of the Ordinance was not interference with houses of this class, but simply the substitu- tion of impermeable floors for the ordinary earthen floors in Chinese houses, the reason being that owing to the uncleanly habits of the Chinese earthen floors become sodden"
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
THE WAR:
4.
THE OPERATIONS AT WELAIWEI, SPECIAL TELEGRAMS TO THE DAILY PRESS "
SHANGHAI, 1st February, 847 p.m. The report of the taking of Weihaiwei by the Japans is believed to be unfounded, as the telegraph line is still open. The three eastern forts have been taken.
SHANGHAI, 4th February.
All the mainland forts at Weihaiwei have been
captured by the Japanese, The guns were de. stroyed.]
The Japanese fleet is bombarding Liukunglao. There was a strong ga'e yesterday and it is believe that some torpedo boats were lost.
REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.
LONDON, 30th January. It is stated in Yokohim that twenty-five Chingo warships are shut up in Weihaiwei Harbour.
A Chinese loan of £3,000,000 bearing interest
at 6 per cent, has been issued in London.
The Times correspondent at Shanghai wires that the combined foreign feets have prevented the Japanese from attacking the Chofoo forts.
LONDON, 31st January.
[February 6, 1895;
of tending the light, They were placed on the same pay and allowances as before, and directed to continue in the discharge of their functions. The Satsuma Maru arrived at Ujina on the afternoon on the 23rd, carrying the above intel- ligence, which was subsequently confirmed by a telegram from Port Arthur, sent thither by Count Oyama himself.
The Mail of the next day gives the follow. ing-Naturally the news from Shantung is still limited to details of the landing. It appears that the first detachment of the expeditionary force, embarking in 19 transports and convoyed by the Yayayama and other ships of war, steamed out of Talien Bay at 1 p.m. on the 19th instant. The distance to Yungcheng Bay, the place of debarkation, was 115 miles, and before daylight on the 20th the flotilla was off the Shao- tung Promontory. Before the transports en. tered the bay the men-of-war went in, and lowering some boats despatched a party to effect a landing, The probability of Yung. cheng Bay being chosen had ovidently occurred to the Chinese, for they had constructed near the shore a sand battery mounting four guns. On the approach of the Japanese boats fire was opened from this battery, which was manned by
about 400 men. The boats rowed back a little way, and the ships at ouca began to fire shrapnel at the battery. A few well directed rounds settled the business. Tho Chinese, throw-
The Times correspondent in Shanghai wires that the Chinese flest at Weihiwe has driven off the Japines fleet, and that Jand attacking away their rifles, disparding their uniforms,
from Ninghai has been repulsed.
The Chinese Envoys have arrived at Koba, A Japanese despatch states that their advance
in Manchuria has checked the activity of the
Chines?.
LONDON. 1st February. Japnose infantry have diptured the Eastern fort at Weihaiwei.
and abandoning the cannon. took to their heels, leaving four of their number dead. After 6 a.m. all resistance fras at an end, and the landing of the troops commenced. Only one house on the shore was destroyed by tho shells, though the Japanese vessels considered it necessary to continue desultory firing until about 9 a.m. in order to deter any LONDON 2nd February.
advance of Chiu se troops from the direction of The Japanese have cpture Weihaiwoi, Yungcheng. l'he water in the bay was found after two days' skirmishing, The Chinese to be very deep and the transports had no dif- bolted when the assialt was mids. The Chines Goalty in taking up excellent berths. Moreover, still hold the island of Lin kungtau.
when the boats containing the troops rowed. All the Chinese war-ships esciped from Weishoreward, they were able to get so close that haiwei undamaged.
The Japanese Ministers are conferring with the Chiaeso Envoys.
4
LONDON. 4th February. The nows that tho Chinese foot had left. Wei- haiwei was incorrect. The fast took shelter under;
the guas of the forts on the island of Liukung tao, and up to Friday the flet and the forts were unsubduel.
It is reported from Yokohama that the credentials of the Chines Envoys despatched to Tokyo were found imperfect, that parloying was refusal, that the Euroys have been told to de- part, and that they procsad to Nagasaki under
with sewage matter. But it does not appear clear that the Sanitary Board, which is au thorised to make by-laws "for prescribing the material and the nature and thickness "thereof to be used for covering over the ground surface of all buildings," has power to make any exception in the case of houses with boarded floors. Section 4 gives the Board power to extend the period within which impermeable floors must be provided, und to give permission for the occupation of domestic buildings within such extended period, after the 1st July, but that does not give power to waive altogether the re- quirement as to the provision of impermeable floors. There is also a groviso that the shall not apply to any domestic section
building, cookhouse, latrine, privy, or back yard which has been paved to the satisfaction of the Sanitary Board in accordance with any existing law or by-law and which is so maintained;" but in the cases referred to, namely, houses with boarded floors, over earth, there is no paving at all, so that this exemption would not apply. A committo of the Sanitary Board is at present engaged in drafting the by-laws to be made under the Insanitary D sellings Ordinance and as the decision of the Board in respect to impermeable floors is awaited with some anxiety it is desirable there should be no unnecessary delay in the matter. It is said to be possible to drive a coach and four -through any
Act of Parliament and perhaps some way may be found by which the Board may be able to exempt European houses from the operation of the section in question, but a mistake seems to have been made when drafting the Ordinance in not expressly excluding from the, provisions of this section houses' with boarded floors and a reasonable space between the earth and the boards. According to section 14 the provisions of section 4 are to apply to all domestic buildings hereafter erected and to all such domestic buildings as are situated within the boundaries of the city of Victoria as defined ja Ordin- ance 15 of 1888, and within such other districts or places in this colony as may from time to time be defined by the “Governor in Council and notified in the Gazette." Houses in the Hill District and in Kowloon will therefore be exempt, in the absence of any notification to the contrary, but according to our own reading of the Ordinance every house within the limits of the city, whether European or Chinese,quently remained nothing to obstruct the de mast be provided with impermeable floors.
Ths Hyogo News says:Among exports cot- ton-flannel has obtained the highest rise in price of late. The import of flannel last year was un usually small, and the demands at home and both in China and Korea by the soldiers have been sɔ great that it costs at present 50 per cent higher than usual.
protection.
The British, French, al Rissian Ministers at Peking and Tokyo have received instructions to advise Japan and China to arrange peace.
THE LANDING OF THE JAPANESE
FORCES IN SHANTUNG. The Japan Mail of the 25th January gives the following details of the landing of the forces for the attack on Weihaiwei :—
Official intelligence of the landing of the third
expeditionary force on the Shantung promontory was foceived yesterday morning. The delay seems to have been caused by an interruption of the telegraph to the north of Phyongyang, and the consequent necessity of communicating via The Ujina instead of from Port Arthur. Satsuma Mayu carried the news to Ujina, She reported having left Talion Bay at p.in. ou the 19th in company with other transports, and reaching Yungchang at daybreak on the 20th. The Yayeyama Kan and other vessels of war had preceded the trans: ports for the purpose of clearing away any re- sistance, and finding earthworks with four guns mounted and some 300 artillorymen had silenced the former and dispersed the latter. Marines were then landed, and without incurring auy loss they took possession of the four guns and transferred them to the Yayeyuma. The conse.
barkation of the troops. It was commenced at once, and at 3.40 p.m., when the Satsuma Maru left for Ujina, nearly the whole of the first batch of troops had landed, and an advance toward the town of Yungehang hal commenced. The second flotilla of transports arrived on the 21st, and the troops carried by them landed with equal celerity, the weather being most favourable. In the Shantung lighthouse were found two Eng lishmen and a German, charged with the duty of
the planks carried by them-planks 9ft. long by 2ft. broad-proved sufficient to allow of the troops' landing without a man wetting his feet. Numbers of Chinese boats were drawn up on the shore, but the facilities for landing were so good that done of these had to be used, the boats and launches of the fleet proving amply sufficient. In a very short time the Engineers succeeded in constructing a landing stage with lighters, and the landing of horses and guns took place without difficulty, so that at au early hour in the afternoon the advance guard was able to start for the town of Yuugcheng, 7 miles distant, which place it occupied the same night without encountering any resistance. The artillory, however, were obliged to bivouac for the night on the sea-shore, whence they set out on the 21st at daylight. That same morning (21st) the second batch of 20 transports arrived and began to land the troops they carried, the whole of the combatants getting ashore without accident in the afternoon, Our latest intelligence from Yangcheng is dated at 5 p.m. on the 22nd. It is an official message dis- patched by the Staff, and as it says nothing about any third batch of transports, we presume that all the expeditionary forces were carried in the two flotillas of 39 transports mentioned above, though some of our vernacular contemporaries seem to think that the trausports arrived in thres detachments, namely, 19 on the 20th, 12 on the 21st, and 8 on the 22nd. Another message sent. by the chief of the Commissariat Staff from Lungshui island at 10 p.m. the same night (22nd) says that about 1,000 of the enemy were posted at Paliu-tsun, a small town some s x miles distant from Yongcheng in a south-westerly direction, but that the Japanese scouts had driven them out, and pushed on to Tienye-cheng. It does not appear that the Chinese have attempted to mass any troops in the vicinity of Yungcheng, for another telegram says that Shihobia-ho and Shakoch-wang (hamlets on the coast road from Yungcheng to Weilaiwei) are unprotected Most of the troops in the district are reported to be volunteers recently raised. The military staff report that no difficulty whatever was experienced in getting the field guns to Yung. cheng, and that from thence to Tienye cheug there is a road that can be made fit to pass the guns over by a little repairs, upon which the Engineers are already engaged,
It would seem that a naval fight of some sort took place at Weihaiwei on the 21st. Lieut-