January 7, 1899.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
27th-Concert and Christmas Tree at Govern- | GERMAN_SCHOOL AT KIAOCHAU-
ment Civil Hospital.
28th-Annual meeting of the Hongkong
Branch of the Navy League. 29th. Steamer Glenavon struck a rook off Lin-
ting and foundered.
THE BONIN MISSION,
Spee. His Royal Highness expressed his great satisfaction with the results and himself ques- tioned several young Chinese, who replied with out embarassment in good German. The writ ing especially commanded the approbation of the Prince, who jokingly remarked that in that respect he acknowledged himself beaten by the Chinese.
HONGKONG.
During a smoking concert at the Warrant Officers' Club on Monday evening Lord Charles Beresford made his appearance, the whole com- pany rising on his entrance and singing For he's a jolly good fellow." His Lordship, in acknowledging some complimentary remarks made by Mr. E. Banyard, described the warrant officers as the back-bone of the Navy.
The revised table of postage rates is published in the Gazette. In a foot-note attention is specially called to the changes in the rates for correspondence to the United Kingdom and certain British colonies and also to the increase
in
the fees for return receipts and for registra
tion of local letters and those addressed, to Macao and China. The rate of postage to the United Kingdom and the colonies is 4 cents, which sum is taken as the local equivalent of Id. The rate for registration is now 10 cents in all cases, even on correspondence for local delivery.
H.M.S. Powerful left Hongkong on 2nd Jan; for Amoy, the date of her departure having A German school has been established at been postponed from previous day. The blue- Tsintan, Kiaochau, since the 2nd May last, of jackets of this big cruiser performed a good which some particulars are published in a recent coaling feat on Friday, taking in 800 tons of number of the Asiatische Deutschland Warte, coal in eight hours, averaging 100 tons per hour. The school was established by the Government The remaining six subscription griffens with the object of teaching the Chinese Gerhaving arrived by the Wingsang, the same were man, more particularly for the purpose of pro- drawn for at Kennedy's Town depot on Thurs curing a supply of interpreters, who will serve day with the following result-28, Mr. R. M. mostly with the army. At the head of the Gray; 29, Mr. A. P. McEwen; 30, Mr. P. de [Translated for the “DÁILY press."] school is the Missionary Kunze, who was sta- C. Morriss; 31, the Hon. Captain Lambton; We have received news of the Bonin Mission. tioned for ten years near Canton, whence he 32, Mr. R. H. Bruce, Amoy, 93, Mr. H. N. After a favourable voyage up the Yangteze to
was transferred to Tsintau. At the present | Mody. Chungking, where it was received with all the time the school has thirty-five pupils, of ages honours by the Chinese authorities and the ranging from twelve to twenty-seven, thirteen of Foreign Consuls, the Mission divided itself, the whom are intended for the interpreting service. arger party with all the baggage, under Cap Two or three are to be attached to each military ain de Vaulserre, second of the Mission, continu- division, their pay being $5 a month. Those ing the ascent of the river in juuks as far who display special aptitude are to be rewarded as Suifa, while Resident Bonin with a few with a bonus of a dollar a quarter and in extra- men proceeded by land to Kiating, following ordinary cases may have their pay raised two the route by which Father Fleury was carried
or three dollars. The scholars are divided into off a few days later. A petty theft having been two classes, of which the first attends from committed, the delinquent was arrested and eight to nine in the morning and the second handed over to the authorities by M. Bonin, from nine to ten. An examination takes and no other disagreeable incident happened on place every quarter presided over by the Civil the route. From Kiating the Resident pro- Commissioner, Dr. Schraumeir, Captain Wil- ceeded to Mount Omi, the famous shrine of the kin, and the Treasurer. At the second ex. Chinese and Thibetan Buddhists, where the amination, which. took place on the 25th Octo- "Shadow of God" is seen. Descending to Sui-ber, Prince Henry was present with Baron v. fn the second part of the Mission was found, having arrived all well. At his own request M. de Vaulserre was commissioned to continue the exploration of the Yangtsze as far 88 Tali, the ascent of the river not having hitherto been attempted beyond Saifu. M. Bonin accompanied him for several days, then, after rather a long stay at Suifu, where he was detained by fever aggravated by the exceptional heat of the summer, he set out for Yunnan. Leaving at Tongchuan the habitual route of the caravans he struck north-west for the unexplored Leangshan range of mountains, which serves as a refuge for the aboriginal tribes incorrectly termed Lolos and by the Chinese Mantse or I-jen (savages). He was fortunate in making the passage with- out trouble until he was within two days' journey of the Kienchang Valley, when he was attacked at the village of Tumuku, not by the Mantse, but by the Chinese, at the instigation of two military mandarins and with the assistance of their soldiers. He had sent on in advance the greater part of his escort and followers, but, thanks to the coolness of a few Annamites who remained with him, he was able to repel the attack and wait, barricaded in a house of the village for two days and two nights, the arrival of the mandarins from Kienchangfu. These, hastily warned, came up with a hundred rifles, apparently with the object of protecting M. Bonin, but, as Chinese prudence never for-phreys and Son, general managers of Queen gets itself, they halted in a fortified town some three leagues from the spot to await events. M. Bonin was, however, able to go to them, again narrowly escaping attack at the village gate, and on arriving at the town of Kienchang- fu he made his complaint to the mandarins in due form. These, secretly stirring up the population, who twice made an attempt on the foreigners' lives, tried by all means in their power to induce him to abandon the complaint, but this he refused with the utmost energy. After an excited stay of ten days be again set out for the North, passing through another unexplored region inhabited by inde pendent aboriginal tribes who offer many points of interest. He arrived then at the gate of Thibet, Tatsienlu, whence he had counted on being able to communicate by telegraph with the French Consul at Chungking, but he found that the line had been cut by the Szechnen rebels and that the province was in a state of anarchy, of which the attack at Tamanku and the incidents at Kienchangfu had been only one of the mani-
festations..
During this time Captain de Vaulserre had arrived at Tali, having successfully led his ex- ploring party through a region beset with difficul- ties. He again set out to rejoin the head of the mission. It is probable that when they meet the two explorers will return from the Thibet frontier to Shanghai to record the results of their journey. if the rebellion allows them to traverse the disturbed region which still separ- ates them from Chungking and the Yangtsze.
-L'Echo de Chine.
|
There were 1,562 visitors to the City Hall Museum last week, of whom 129 were Europeans.
The only case of communicable disease re- ported as occurring in the colony last week was one of enteric fever on the steamer Activ.
At the Magistracy on 4th January four chair coolies employed by Mr. E. S. Kelley, of Rich mond Road, were each fined $10 for le ving his service without reasonable notice.
Amongst the New Year honours Major General Gascoigne has been made a C.M.G. This fact was mentioned by Mr. Fraucis, Q C., in proposing the toast of the Services at the Navy League dinner on Tuesday night.
At the regular meeting of Eothen Mark Lodge, No. 264, E.C., held on 31st December, Bro. D. Macdonald was unanimously elected W.M. for the ensuing year. Wor. Bro. A. O'D. Gourdin was re-elected Treasurer.
We are informed by Messrs. John D. Hum-
Mines, Limited, that they have received a telegram from the mines as follows:-" Have struck reef at a depth of 400 feet, West cross cut, width of reef is 3 feet showing gold. not sufficient development yet to estimate the value."
Mr. Clifford, the Resident of Pahang, in his report for November, says:-The Manager at Punjom is adopting an evergetic policy, and is making vigorous attempts to ascertain the value of the Company's property. He proposes to construct a cart road from the Jelai River at Batu Buxong to the Bukit Sarang mines, aud has entered into negotiations with Government upon the subject.
We are informed by Messrs. John D. Hum- phreys and Scn, general maungers of Olivers Freehold Mines, Limited, that they have received a telegram from the Mines as follows:-"A crushing of 590 tons has yielded 23: ozs. gold, water plentiful." The general managers fur- ther inform us that as the last clean up was on the 3rd inst and the Xmas holidays have inter- vened it is calculated the mill ran 22 days.
Prince Henry gave a ball on board his flag ship on the 29th December the invitations being issued in the name of "Der Chef der II. Divi- sion des Krensergeschwaders an Bord S. M. S. Deutschland" The deck had been covered in with flags and the whole ship was beautifully decorated with flowers, foliage, and the electric light. There was a large number of guests, both German and English, who were received on their arrival by the Prince and Princess on the quarter-deck.
The staff of the Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company celebrated New Year's Eve by holding a dance at Kowloon, some 300 persons being present. The joiners shop at the Dooks had been cleared out and made into an admirable ball room. The floor had been care- fully prepared and the room decorated with ex- ceptional taste. At each end was an illuminated device-at the far end "A guid new year to ane an a, "and over the door "For auld lang syne." The band of the Hongkong Regiment supplied. the music. Supper was provided in an adjoin- ing room, where on the hour of 12 being struck neighbour greeted neighbour and amidst oheers the illuminated date "* 1898 gave place to "1899." The affair was on all hands voted to; have been a great success.
MISCELLANEOUS,
The Chungking correspondent of the N. C. Daily News writes, under date the 12th Decem- ber:-"Seven brigands, among them two chiefs, were captured at Yangchuan and exe- cuted a few days ago. The unofficial Chinese are in great fear that Yü Man-tze will defeat the Imperial troops, in which case matters will be decidedly serious." Another Chungking dis patch reports that a confidential secretary of H.E. Wang Chih-chun, the new Provincial Treasurer of Szechuan, has been captured-and detained by Yu Man-tze as a hostage. It ap- pears that the secretary boasted to the Treasurer that he would be able to persuade the rebel Yü to lay down his arms after half an hour's talk, and that although strenuously entreated by his employer not to be too rash, he left the Treasurer's temporary yamen in Chungking one night on horseback, alone, for Yu's camp. The secretary arrived there, but was thrown into prison without the honour of the coveted
interview.
A shooting fracas took place on board of the China Merchants' steamer Fetching at Shang hai on Christmas evening. It appears the se- cond engineer, Mr C. Turney, had been drinking and whilst under the influence of liquor became exceedingly quarrelsome. On going to dinner words ensued between him and a lad called Eve-. leigh, a dock apprentice who was acting as third engineer. The second refused to sit at the table and wout to his room for his revolver. He then returned to the saloon and fired two shots at Eveleigh, one of which hit the lad
on the body but was fortunately deflected by a button. The second officer, Mr. A. N. Barrier, and Mr. L. Foncéca, a guest and friend of Eveleigh, attempted to take away the weapon and io so were woanded, the former receiving a
• a sovere scalp wound on the back of the head and the latter bullet in the left thigh. Both were conveyed to