202
THE NINGPO JOSS HOUSE DIS- PUTE AT SHANGHAI,
PROSPECT OF A SETTLEMENT.
We understand that the discussions in Pek- ing between the French Minister and the Taungli-yamen respecting the recent troubles in the French Concession over the Ningpo Joss House, are approaching their final stages, and that a settlement is now in sight. The proposed terms of the agreement are naturally kept a
profound secret, as have been the rest of the negotiations; but we believe that the French will give up all their claims to the Joss House and Cemetery in return for a large extension of the existing Concession to Sicawei in one direction, and to the line of the proj osed bound-
ary extension of the English Settlement on the
north side.-China Gazette,
THE HÔNGKONG AND SILANGAI BANK ANDMHE NORTHER V
RAILWAY LOAN.
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September 3, 1898.
BIG ROBBERY ON BOARD A CRUISER.
A DESTROYER IN PURSUIT. By the last batch of newspapers received from Hongkong this reference to a rather mysterious incident appears :—
The Chinzei states that a sum of money was stolen from one of the safes on H.M.S. Narcissus when she was about to leave here for Kobe a few days ago. The robbery was, the paper also states, committed by forcing the locks of the safe. No clue to the thieves has as yet been obtained. The money stoleu is reported to be upwards of 10,000 yen. We doubt if the above is authentic, for had the robbery in question occurred, the naval authorities would at once have notified the British Consulate, and from enquiries made at the latter place we learn that no information of the above nature has been received there.— Nagasaki Presa.”-
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
boatload of sailers and chased the Chinese gar rison out. No foreign building have been pat up. except a small, plaiuly constructed honse for the German Bank, and very little sign of auy business is visible. Whatever trade there is at the place does not fall into the bands of the two or three German merchants who have opened agencies there, but is given almost ex- elusively to Chinese by the Naval and Military authorities, whose weakness for the pigtailed traders furnishes a matter of unpleasant com- ment by the half-dozen civilians who hang about Kiaochan. No work is yet begun in the harbour, and it is the general opinion that no- thing can be done before a mole or breakwater is constructed; and as this work is estimated to cost anything between three million and five million pounds sterling, it does not seem likely to be rapidly taken in hand. Considering the flourish of trumpets that followed the ac- | high hopes held out of its rapid development as quisition of Kisochan by the Germans, and the
From private information we since hear that a great trade centre, that was going to knock sach an incident did take place, though there Hongkong, Shanghai, and all the rest of the
seems to be some uncertainty as to whe- ports into a cocked hat, we must confess that
ther it referred to the Narcissus
or the place have not been realised. No trade beyond blue-jackets or marines, did get into the the expectations we
Centurion. Any way a party of four men, the mere supply of the German marines and sailors has gravitated in its direction, and at
strong-room and cleared out of the ship present it looks as if the new port would turn
with a large sum of money. It was dis- covered by and by that the missing men had out a dismal failure, unless the Germau au- thorities in Berlin make up their minds to find hama. The torpedo boat destroyer Whiting got away on a Japanese steamer for Yoko- the money to tackle the extensive works re
was ordered at once to get up steam and pro- quired in earnest, At present all is in a hope-ceed in chase; with the result that eventually less muddio-China Gazette.
From information which has reached us from a most reliable source, Renter appears to have been all wrong in his recent telegram about the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank b ing put ont of the field over the Newchwang.Sanliaikwan rail way loan. by China's acceding to the terms of the proposed Russian loau. for at the present moment negotiations are still actively in pro- gress in Peking respecting the Hongkong aud Shanghai Bank's loan. So that the widespread belief that Great Britain had finally abandoned that important point in face of Russian opposi- tion seems to be unfounded, though Mr. Bal- four appears to have coincided in that view in his late speech in the House of Commons.-China Garette.
FOREIGN CAPITAL IN JAPAN,
RUMOURED LOAN BY TINE NIPPON YUSEN
KAISHA.
According to the vernacular papers, two foreign loans are being negotiated with great secrecy. One is by the Nippon Yusen Kaisha, which proposes to raise a loan of 10 million yen and then reduce its capital from 22 million yen to 12 million gen, with a view to improving the standing of its shares. Mr. Kondo, the pre- sident, is said to be negotiating with a foreigu firm in this matter. The other loan of which mention is made is an attempt by the One Hundredth Bank to borrow 100 million yen from German financiers, with a view to ad- vancing the money t railway companies and other industrial businesses. Mr. Ikeda, the manager of the Bank, is said to be conducting the negotiatious. Nothing is said as to the security offered.-Kobe Chronicle.
were urged to form of the
HONGKONG CLUB-HOUSE,
SOME HINTS FOR SINGAPORE. Writing to the Straits Times from the mouth of the Yangisze-kiang on the 10th August, Mr. Arnot Reid says:-As we are fast in the sbal- lows here, unable even to get to Woosung-un- able even to deliver the mail within P. & 0. contract time and as grumbling at typhoons and pilots palls after a while. I ask leave to pass the time by writing a few words in praise of the Hongkong Club. Six years ago, on my way to London by America. I wrote that the Club of Shanghai was worthy to rank with the palaces of Pall Mall. How then shall I find a comparison to illustrate the newer glories of the Club-house at Hongkong? From basement to roof-tree, the new Club-house seems all that could be desired. In beanty of situation I know of none other so happily placed.. In luxury of space of opportunity for companionship, and of facility for solitude, it would not be possible to surpass the merits of Hongkong's Club-house.
If it were bigger it would, in proportion to the membership, seem desolate, If it were smaller, it would lack the sense of elbow room that is desirable oven in a crowd The lighting arrangements--whether by day or bight--are particularly happy, giving neither the blaze of light that would suggest a café nor the sombreness that tends to melancholy. The A telegram has been received here from Chung-library and the reading-room are exactly as king, Szechuen, concerning Father Fleury, the French Priest of the Missions Etrangères, whose station was recently destroyed and whose native assistant priest was murdered by Kiang peh men. The message states that the reverend gentleman, although still a prisoner of the rebels, was perfectly safe. He is allowed to occasionally go out by day, but is then always strictly watched, and at night is locked up. The rebels demand a very heavy ransom ere they will release him. He states that he is very well treated indeed, except in the matter of personal liberty. Negotiations for his re- lease are in progress, but they are necessarily of a very delicate nature.-Mercury,
A CAPTIVE FRENCH PRIEST.
Shanghai, 22nd August,
PROGRESS AT KIAOÇHAV,
Shanghai, 25th Angust. We hear on the authority of a gentleman who has paid a visit of some days duration_to the now German naval station at Kjaochau, that
beyond the erection of a few very jerry-built structures for the accommodation of the force of occupation, no progress has been made in the public works of that place since it fell into the hands of the Germans,--now getting well on for a year ago. Things are just as they n when Admiral von Diedrichs landed his first
.were
Clab.
a series of
they should be-airy but not draughty, well excellent. While I hope I am one of the last lighted but not in a glare. The bed-rooms are
persous to encourage the vice of local patriotism." yet I must admit that it might J6 a desirable thing to get food photographs of the Hongkong Club house and exhibit them in the Singapore I am conscious that many of the coudi- Lions of life in Singapore the wide area ofered by the residential town, and the ab- ence of a cold season-tend to make club-life of less importance in Singapore, than in the orthern ports. Yet, on the other hand, the growth of Singapore and the increasing great
ess of the Malay States make it doubtful whe- ther we should much longer be content with a lub-house that was sufficient for its day but rose day seems to be passing. It may be, erhaps, that no one is eager to have in Siuga- pore a club-house whose luxuries might tempt en from their suburban homes. Or, more drives Singapore to pull down its pressut club- probably, it be that, till some accident house the need for a better will remain uncon sidered. Meanwhile, I seek leave to note that, in a course of travel that has led me to see the best clubs of Europe, America, and Asia, I have seen no finer, no wore comfortable club- house than that of Hongkong.
may
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the Japanese steamer was sighted and quickly overhauled, and the men wanted were taken out of her and back to the cruiser. The money, we presume, was also recovered.-Singapore Free Press.
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THE "PRINZ HEINRICH" IN A
TYPHOON.
Singapore, 23rd August. The homeward bound German, mail Prins Heinrich came in this morning from Hong- kong, having on board the late Governor Ge- neral of the Philippines, his wife and family, passengers from Hongkong for Madrid via Genoa. After leaving Hongkong the Prinz Heinrich fell in with a typhoon and experienced very rough weather aud high seas. The mail sailed from Hongkong on the morning of the 17th inst.. after the typhoon ball had been hois- ted, but it was expected that she would be able to steer clear of the centre of the typhoon. This, however, did not prove to be the case, and after passing Gap Rock the wind freshened into a gale and the barometer fell rapidly. At four o'clock the vessel was hove to, as it was seen that they were right in the track of the typhoon, the wind increasing in violence until it reached the max- imum of 12 as registered by the Beaufort scale, and the barometer reaching its lowest point, viz., 739.5 m.m. The storm lasted for about." ten hours, during which time the ship behaved well, although she rolled considerably and her wecks, high as they are, were constantly awash. stewards, who suffered from the fall of a lamp, The only accidents occurret to one of the
and to the wife of Governor General Augustin, who was thrown violently to the deck and broke her arm. The damage done to the ship did not provo very considerable, however. Several of the ventilators were damaged and a number of the stancheons in the cargo holds broken, the cargo shifting about a good deal. The boiler-room was also swamped, and the steam steering gear went wrong, the vessel drifting about for some time, although in no danger, until a full supply of steam could be obtained. Meanwhile the necessary repairs had been effected to the steering gear, and the vessel continued her journey to Singapore without further incident. The vessel, however, was further delayed by adverse currents and an indifferent supply of coal.-Free Press.
The latest Bunder is that the Committee of the Shanghai Club propose to divide off the bar, which is 40 feet in length, as follows-12 feet for the Quartier Latin, 12 feet for the Hause Burghers, 12 feet for the Slavonic Ele- ment, and what is left for the English-speaking races. Of course, itfis an international club,- N. §. Dail News.