January 28, 1899.J
The Journalist. By C. F. KEARY. London: Methuen & Co. 1898. (Hongkong: Kelly and Walsh, Limited). RICHARD VAUX is the name of the young journalist with whose fortunes the tale before as is concerned. The tale itself, how- ever, is perhaps of less consequence than its setting. We are given a very full picture of the modern literary life of London, with its hurry and turmoil, its jealousies, successes, and disappointments; and we have many pages of dialogue, smart and otherwise.
Hope the Hermit. A Novel. By EDNA LYALL. London: Longmans, Green, & Co. 1898. (Hongkong: Kelly & Walsh, Limited) MISS LYALL's hero is Michael Derwent, whose parentage for long remained a mystery, his mother having died in giving him birth at a farmhouse without disclosing her name, while the father afterwards carried off the infant and abandoned it. The child is found, however, and cared for by kind-hearted people, and when he grows up he is enabled by one or two clues to solve the mystery of his parentage and to establish his right to an estate. The period of the tale is at the end of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, and the political movements of the day are used to lend interest to the plot. The tale is a very pleasant one to read and will be found especially interest ing by those who are familiar with Keswick and its neighbourhood, where much of the action is laid. The book is dedicated to the Rev. Canon and Mrs. Rawnsley, in memory of pleasant hours spent at Crossthwaite.
The Intruders. By L. B. WALFORD. London: Longmans, Green & Co. 1898. (Hongkong: Kelly & Walsh, Limited). A NOVEL from Mrs. Walford's pen is always welcome. There is little that is-sensational in her tales, but her characters are mostly nice people whom the reader gets to like almost as though they were personal acquaintances, the narrative runs along easily and pleasantly, and it is with regret that the last page is reached, "The Intruders " are a brother and sister who, after the sister had had enough of relations' houses, London
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
SPELLING REFORM,
Mr. E. Robinson gave a very interesting ad- dress to the Odd Volumes Society on the 23rd January on the subject of spelling reform. His argument was that speech was the language and writing merely the representation of speech by symbols, and that we should have fixed sym- bols to represent the sounds. What the symbols might be was immaterial, but a particular sym- bol having been fixed upon to represent a parti- oular sound it ought to be adhered to. The lecturer gave illustrations of the defects of the Present system. Thus, the sound of the long 'a," as in "great," was represented by no fewer than fourteen different symbols, that is, by different combinations of letters. Each of these symbols, also, had numerous different | pronunciations, according to the connection in which they were used. Spelling reform did not involve any interference whatever with the language itself, writing being merely a me chanical device. In urging the advantages of reform the lecturer dwelt on the great amount of school time lost in learning to spell, an accomplishment which did not in any way enlarge the faculties or make a man wiser or better. The child at school in learning to spell had to rely on authority instead of using his reason. The loss of time involved in the study of this subject resulted in many children leaving school at a much lower standard than that which they would be able to reach were our system of spelling founded on rational prin- ciples. From this it followed that our work- men were not so well educated as they other wise would be, and an educated workman being a greater force than an uneducated one, our industrial army was proportionately weakened. Spelling reform was therefore a question of national importance from a purely utilitarian point of view. English was the worst spelt language in the world.
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I again referred to the matter in my annual report for 1892 mentioning an instance where an outbreak of rinderpest at Kobe once cut off the entire milk supply of that port, and here quote an extract:There is nothing to pre- vent & similar outbreak in Hongkong sooner or later unless something is done to provide a pro- per inspection lair to which all onitle should be driven directly upon landing there to remain at least 12 hours before being inspected and passed into the permanent depots or elsewhere. This is the method adopted in the United Kingdom and other countries, and even then occasional cases of disease escape detection and so canse wide-spreading outbreaks which are diflcult to check, hence it will be easy to understand the risk which is run here with no inspection lair at all."
During the early part of the year the pro- vinces of Kwangtung and Kwangsi were also over-run with rinderpest or cattle plague, which killed off large numbers of animals, and this, together with a rise in the value of rice, caused a scarcity of animals and higher prices; but the supply, though at times intermittent, was always equal to the demand.
It will be seen under the heading of “animal depôts "that the number of animals imported for slanghter during the year 1898 exceeded those for 1889 by 3,721 cattle, 5,846 sheep and goats, and 27,332 swine.
As most of these animals are brought from long distances to Hongkong it is desirable that an effort should be made to encourage the breeding of cattle and swine upon some parts of the extended territory when it is taken over, should suitable localities become available, though there might be many difficulties to contend with at first owing to the great reluctance of the Chinese to depart from the rigid rules of “ olo custom."
ANIMAL DEPOTS.
With the exception of the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the cattle depots the general health of the animals housed during the year was good.
The total number of cattle admitted into the depot at Kennedy Town was 21,611 and at the Hung Hom Depot 1,029.
Mr. J. J. Francis, Q.C., in proposing a vote of thanks to the lecturer, mentioned what appeared to him to be some objections to the proposed reform, chief amongst which was the consideration that it would render all our present books practically useless unless a person were acquainted with both systems of visits, and spelling and made a special study for the pur animals were admitted, and at Hung Hom
pose of reading books printed according to had to make a special study to understand the old system, just as we in the present day
:: the usual routine of young lady-hood, and the brother had retired from the army, "agreed to see how they got on together." Accordingly they spend their time in travelling and enjoying themselves, until the brother suddenly conceives the idea that he would like a home. A suitable house in the country is therefore purchased and the pair settle down and become part of the society of the neighbourhood, Julian, the brother, al- though middle aged, bas love affairs. Amelis, the sister, remains an agreeable old maid. The book is altogether a pleasant one and well worth reading.
General View of Commerce and Industry in the Empire of Japan. Published by the Bureau of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and Commerce, Japan.
This little volume, giving brief outlines of the commercial and industrial state of the country, we are told in the preface, has been prepared mainly for the use of foreign visitors to Japan. It contains descriptions of the treaty ports and particulars of the principal commodi- ties exported. The visitor to lapan who is at all interested in the tradal condition of the country will find the book useful.
It is at present understood, though no official announcement has been publicly made, that the successor to H. E. Major-General H. J. Jones Vaughan in the Straits command has been selected. This officer is believed to be Colonel Allan Graeme Raper, Assistant-Quarter-Master- General at the War Office, previously from a Regimental District. Col. Raper joined the service in February, 1862, getting his company in 1870, and his majority ten years Later, Lt. Col. in 1885, and took command of the 2nd Battalion North Staffordshire (98th Prince of Wales's) in 1887. Col. Raper has served on the North-West frontier of India in the Zhob Valley expedition.—Singapore Free
Press
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Chaucer.
Mr. Robinson in acknowledging the vote of thanks briefly replied to Mr. Francis's objec- tions and said that persons who used a reformed read books printed according to the present system of spelling would be perfectly able to system, though they would think the spelling peculiar; just as an educated person could read a letter written by an illiterate person in which the spelling was very bad.
COLONIAL VETERINARY SUR- GEON'S REPOKT FOR 1898.
At the meeting of the Sanitary Board on the 19th January the following report for the year 1898 was submitted by Mr. C. V. Ladds, Colonial Veterinary Surgeon.
IMPORTATION OF LIVE STOCK. Since the autumn of 1897 foot and mouth disease has been raging over the whole of South China, and spreading rapidly from place to place invaded Tonquin, Cambodia and, I believe, the whole of Indo-China also. In the month of November, 1897, the disease appeared for the first time in eleven years in the colony and since then it has been impossible to stamp it out under the ordinary precautions which | would be taken elsewhere.
Dependent, as we are, entirely upon the main- land for supplies, it would be impossible to prohibit the importation of cattle altogether, or the meat supply of the colony would be cut off, and, as the disease still remains general over all the districts from whence our cattle are drawn, it naturally follows that from time to time a few infected animals are brought in.
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Therefore until the disease runs its course in the adjacent provinces it is impossible to pre- vent a few cases being landed occasionally in the colony, though much might be done to pre- vent its spread had we proper inspection fairs for cattle, of which I urged the necessity as far | back as 1888.
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In the swine depôt at Kennedytown 137,237
15,154.
At Kowloon there is great need of a small swine depôt, these animals at present being accommodated in part of the cattle depôt.:
24,686 sheep and goats were housed at the Kennedytown depôt during the year.
SLAUGHTER HOUSES.
Victoria and Kowloon.-These two buildings are both in a good state of repair and amend. ment and will meet all requirements for some time to come.
Shaukiwan and Aberdeen.—Both these places are still without a proper slaughter house al- though section 8 of Ordinance 17 of 1887 reads that "a sufficient number of fit and proper slaughter houses to meet the requirements of the colony shall be provided by the Government.”
I called the attention of the Sanitary Board to this matter as far back as 1890 in my annual report.
There is no doubt in my mind whatever that, in order to maintain a complete check upon the main source of the meat supply of the colony, the slaughter house at Kennedytown to be properly and efficiently managed should be under the immediate control of the Government and not leased out to a private individual as at present.
To prevent the slaughter of pigs in the roast pork shops of the colony, which at present pre- vails to a considerable extent, it is necessary to amend section 12 of Ordinance 17 of 1887 as pointed out to the Board in my letter dated 14th June, 1898.
The total number of animals slaughtered at Kennedytown, Kowloon, Shaukiwan, and Aber- deen for the year ending December 31st, 1898, was as follows-Cattle, 21,541; sheep and goats, 15,956, swine, 1533,485.
In order to show the large increase in the annual number of animals slaughtered I insert below a lst giving the total for the past ten years.
The decrease in the number of swine killed during the year 1894 I attribute to the plague epidemic of that year, and it will be seen that