April 6, 1901.1
Station. In making these sidings our people removed some of the Russian flags which have been freely planted all over the proposed Rus sian Concession; quits apart from the question of the Concession, they claimed that these flags had no business on Kailway ground-ground which had been acquired and paid for last spring before the outbreak of hostilities, and which is now urgently needed in the exigencies of military supply, for which the holders of the Railway are responsible to all the Allies. The Russians protested, maintaining that the ground in dispute had been bought by Mr. Batoueff and others; the British defended their action and maintained it by putting on guards, and so things went on for a few days. Early on Saturday, March 16th, when the siding had approached within sixty or saventy feet of the river, a party of Russians came along, placed a tent right across the head of the trench and, a flag in front of the tent, and an armed guard alongside to protect both; at the moment this was done our sappers had not come up, and when they appeared to resume work, lo! a Russian flag was the first shovelful to be re- moved... There was a great deal of excitement, and a large body of men of the Hongkong Regiment and Madras Sappers went over and took up a position alongside of the Russians. At one or two places the men were in actual contact, and in several not more than ten feet apart. Everybody went over to see this unique position of affairs. It was somewhat ludicrous, but fortunately the stoical stolidity of Punjabi and Slav or Tartar was equal to the strain; with excitable Celtic or Southern blood, a casualty could have been more likely than not. There was great confabulation, and the matter was of course referred to Peking: at nightfall the sensible course was followed of withdrawing all the men but one of each side. Indeed one cannot see why small guards of unarmed men would not have been as effective all through the
crisis.
THE QUESTION AT ISSUE.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
THE TROUBLE WITH THE FRENCH.
£87
The Provisional Government in Peking absolved the people from all taxation for three months because of their poverty, but it ap pears natives in the employ of the Provisional Government thought to make hay while the sun shone, and collected some on their own account.
in the selection of this particular site for the Concession. Why not have chosen another place? Because other places did not give the same chances for a grand coup. Lower down land could as easily have been got from the natives by compulsion or intimidation, but after purchase at values approximating to those of the prairie it could not have been sold withi We are very much interested and pleased a few months at Tls, 1,000 to 1,500 per mitto learn that a very handsome presentation Hence all these woes to Troy!
has been made by the officers and men of the China Squadron to Miss Bourgignon for hør devoted services to the naval force here during the siege. The acknowledgment of her skilful aad unwavering attention to the sick and wounded takes the form of a silver tea service, each piece bearing an inscription, the spoons representing the various British men-of-war here at the time. Needless to say the present has given Miss Bourgignon very great pleas sure, and all will be glad to know her service. have been so handsomely acknowledged.
AFFAIRS ON THE YANGTSZE.
Things along the river seem to be very quiet, sonal opinion on the situation, which in the albeit uncertain. Every one maintains his per- absence of official and reliable information is perhaps the best and only way. So far there is little that one hears that is different from the worthy of farther consideration. mass of received opinion and at the same time
Our second crisis is due to the conduct of our French allies and neighbours. For some weeks the soldiers have been giving trouble in the British Concession on Sunday and leave-days; representations and protests have been ineffec- tive, but things went too far when they cracked the head of the British General's orderly, and insulted English ladies in broad daylight in an English Settlement. Not that they call it insult; they only think it fun to stop a tady's ricksha, to walk six abreast and allow nobody to pass, and to address ladies with sham urbanity and in terms of endearment as if they belonged to the demi-monde. Then when our civilian folk make indignant complaints and they are shut out from the British Concession they take to chivveying Brit sh subjects and stoning British officers en passant through the French Concession. Yesterday two British officers were loudly hissed and "conspuez-ed" in passing into the French Consulate; a Sikh was badly mauled in the Takú Road on his way to or from the City, and Major Moclere, a British officer in uniform, had his hat knocked off and was personally hustled. Capt. Cleve land was not allowed by an angry mob to go to his rooms in the French Concession; stones were thrown at a tonga containing three artillery officers, and military rowdyism was rampant. in the good intentions of the Wuchang Viceroy, At Hankow general confidence is expressed There are just two things to be said in mitiga- who has admittedly a most difficult part to play. tion of all this-the great body of the men do To add to his other embarrassments he is now not know the cause of the British complaints-suffering from an attack of the prevailing in- the fact that ladies have been insulted by some fineuza, for which he appears to be taking a French men naworthy of the name, and the native cure, distrusting, apparently, the native other fact that the whole evil originates in low quacks and equally disinclined to the foreign grog-shops, which it is simply a disgrace that all the mi itary chiefs have not suppressed long ago. The tension yesterday was so acute that an accident might have preciptated civil (?) war in our streets. To obviate possibilities of rows our military authorities made the French Con- cession "out of bounds" to our men.
NORTHERN NOTES.
wards foreigners which, so far as the lower Yang- The people maintain their usual attitude to teze is concerned, has never been remarkable for its friendliness or concerned for the ultimate fate of the foreigners.
pharmacy.
↓
this year and navigation is consequently more The water in the river is exceptionally low
difficult and more uncertain; "The oldest in. habitant" is in request to furnish a parallel for the present year in which the watermark at Hankow is some two feet below zero. ela
Whenever the steamer gets near enough to shore for one to distinguish the words shouted at us, the ear is constantly assailed with shouts of "foreign devil, foreign devil," accompanied· ·
The following items are from the P. & T. by indecent gestures on the part of the children Times of the 23rd ult: -
The whole squabble turns on a detail of title. Whose is the ground? Surely this can be determined and acted on without reducing the position of Europe vis-à-vis the Chinese to ridi. cule. The affair will be sure to assume alto- gether wrong proportions in the Chinese mind, and may easily reach Hsian in such a form as to encourage the hope that the desired disagree. ment has begun in China's enemies. From the high political view such unseemly bickerings are criminal at this moment, and the party in the wrong is surely working detriment to our common civilisation. Many of us deprecated Russia's choice of this site for a Concession on the very ground now illustrated, viz., that quarrels were inevitable if one nationality made
A large portion of the Bund is now given up itself custodian of the approaches to the Rail-by the authorities for commercial require
ments. way. The extension or siding now being made was plotted out last spring, and land formally acquired; as ill lack may have it, it is extremely probable that the deeds perished in the total destruction of Railway Company's premises during the siege; still proof on oath is obtainable. There can also be no doubt that Mr. Batoneff, acting with an American and a Russian, also bought the land and got deeds of sorts. Duplicate sales with false deeds are as common as fleas in North China; it is of course equally possible that the second transaction was the legal one, but in that case the Russian Consular authorities will find it hard to circum-
vent their own proclamation that no sales of land in the said area subsequent to the 17th of June would be recognised. This somewhat hard and retrospective ukase was issued to check land-speculators, who were forestalling the Russian action and were buying up land cheap to sell dear. It has already been put in action against other purchasers, and it will be a very remarkable thing if Mr. Batoueff and his partners are allowed through the meshes that have caught others.
¿
THE REASON FOR RUSSIA'S CHOICE, Anonymous critics up here have in their own safe way challenged the St. Petersburg authori- ties to investigate the genesis of this concession idea, and the personality of the people who have gone în for land purchase in the area. They hint that high officials are in it, but well under cover. I have no gift of prophecy, but I venture the opinion that this is only the first of an endless series of troubles that will arise
soldiery has, we believe, been amicably settled The incident in connection with the French and the entente cordiale again restored.
indeed, many griffins having come down lately. A Race Meeting this spring is very likely The course is beginuing to assume a sporting like aspect during the early mornings.
has retired with all his large staff to Chungchao, The Tientsin Prefect appointed to Tientsin
as he finds his services are not required by the Provisional Government.
At Tungku und Hsiku, east and west of Taku, are the villages which are the headquarters of the brigands who are giving the neighbourhood
so much trouble now.
Many Chinese guns and shells have been ad- vantageously placed to decorate the Victoria which we trust may never occur again. Park and to commemorate the past experiences
The Treasurer of Chihli, Chou Fu, and the late Minister to Corea, are reported to be com- ing to Tientsin to consult with the military
authorities about the new Settlements.
P
A native boat fully loaded with export cargo. for the steamer Lienshing has been robbed down the river by Chinese brigands. The owners of the cargo were Chinese. This sort of thing the Chinese declare will be increasing. ly frequent.
Viceroy Chang has remonstrated with Li Hung-chang because the Manchus who com- mitted suicide on the fall of Peking have been rewarded and the Chinese have not, and he thinks it unjust that this distinction should be made.
and young people generally.
At Shasi we learn that the only way to save oneself from constant insult while walking in the country is to carry along some cash, and give one to the railers one meets and so buy off their lond mouthed reviling.
Shasi trade is said to be increasing in spite of the discrimination made against the 'port by the older steamship companies.
The Japanese are aiming to develop the trade of the port, and so far have done the bulk of
decent landing facilities for both passengers the carrying trade with a fair share of the passenger traffic. Given a hulk here, with
and freight, the trade of this important place notwithstanding. There is an agent for the should rise steadily, its proximity to Ieuang
German steamers living here in a hulk just off the customs landing, and it is probable that, will get more attention than has hitherto been between the German and Japanese lines, Shasi accorded to it-Mercury.
The Nugasıki Press says that a Japaneso fishing boat, on entering Chinhaiwan
Her recently This was warned off by a Russian man-of-war. - is regarded as very serious, since the incident seems to show Russian military occupation of that part of Corea. Annually some 6,000 boats from Tsushima and the coasts of Kyushu visit Chinhaiwan during the course of their fishing cruise. The industry of fish-curing is engaged in before the commodity is brought back to Japan. Should Russia's demand for the cession of Chinhaiwan be Corean authorities, a the Japanese, fishing, finn Government appears,
struck with amazement by the
the
deal
+