October 26, 1901.]
assistant, a chief mechanic and three assistants, two janitors and two messengers. There will be a chief observer and an asssistant at each first-class station, and a single observer at each station in the remaining classes,
As the service for years has been performed by members of the Jesuit Order, or by persons of their selection, the familiarity with the work thus acquired naturally inclined those in charge to hold the men whose training had given them special fi ness for what was to be done. The law subjects all employees of the Bureau to the pro- visions of the Civil Service Act. Under the circumstances there was really nothing in this clause over which the old employees needed to take alarm, for natives could not stand beside them in competitions for the places which they had held, and there were no Americans here
who wished for places, even if they were quali- fied for them. If the employees had refused to submit themselves to this test it is doubtful if the authorities could have insisted upon it with out causing a suspension of the work of the Bureau. Instead of protesting, the men who had become expert in compiling weather data, who had prepared maps of the Islands which in completeness and accuracy were far beyond the capacity of any of the officials whom Spain sent here, disposing of such tasks for years for about 30 pesos per month, equal to half that amount of gold dollars, quaked and trembled lest them. examinations might disqualify the This fear pervaded the entire establishment. One of the rules which Civil Service examiners take pains to make clear to applicants is that no papers having any possible bearing on the subjects in hand shall be carried to the examina- tion room. When the examination at the Bureau was in progress, the examiner in charge found one of the candidates looking through some papers, which turned out to contain the very questions of that examination,
and the answers to them. It appeared that the Director of the Bureau had been requested by the Civil Service Board to prepare a set of questions which would test the fitness of candi- dates for places nuder him. In complying with the request, he had seen no impropriety in letting the men whom he had and hoped to keep have a copy of the questions thus prepared. When the papers had been taken away and the candidate informed that he need not remain for further examination, the entire directing force of the Bureau lost heart. Excuses came hard in the face of the stringent and repeated regulation which excluded prompt. ing papers from the examination room, bnt several of the Fathers did not hesitate to urge very earnestly that the affair be overlooked as of small importance, especially as the candidat were all experts in the lines proposed fort It all resulted in a fresh examination, which every candidate passed acceptably; but it served to strengthen none the less the conten- tion that old ways in the Philippines have become so ingrained as to obliterate from the native or Spanish conscience, or from any variation or admixture of the two, regardless of character, education, or general probity, the scruple touching things official which commonly rules Anglo-Saxon practice.
Service preparatory to the installation of the service as contemplated in the law consists of daily forecasts, as heretofore, based on telegra- phic advices from Iloilo and Cebu in the south and from Dagupan and Vigan in the north. Captains of ports elsewhere are expected to send advices, and in this way within telegraphic limits the Bureau gathers inaterial of consider able value for daily use. Mission and military stations furnish data for less frequent use, which the experience and skill of those in charge turn to the best account. Results in other years have put beyond question the fine ability of those engaged in the direction of this work. When these men shall be aided, as presently they will be, with appliances suited to modern progress and with money sufficient for the adequate maintenance of the best service they are capable of giving, it is probably not to much to expect that they will keep pace with the opportunities afforded them.
The Universal Gazette states that Dr. Mac- Gowan, of the London Mission, who has preached for over thirty years in Amoy, is about to start a newspaper there, which will be a bi-monthly.
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
SWATOW.
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Swatow, 21st October. ·
THE HOUSE-TAX,
The Cheng Hai Shien arrived here a few days ago and convened a meeting at the Taotai's temporary Yamen, with a view to fixing a date when the much talked of house-tax is to be levied. At his invitation five principal repre- sentatives of the local gentry and of the largest merchant borgs appeared, and after a lengthy consultation it was decided that the tax, which is to amount to 5 per cont. of the rental, is to be collected quarterly and to commence from the 9th Chinese Moon. I am informed that those present at the meeting were of opinion that as the houses here are mainly occupied by merchants no difficulty would be experienced in collecting the tax, but they averred that the imposition would not be so easily accomplished ut Chowchowfu and elsewhere in this province.
HOUSE-JOBBING.
Two powerful syndicates, consisting of native bankers, have been formed, which are buying up as many houses as they can possibly get hold of, and, when once in possession. doubling the existing rents without even intimating their intentions to the occupants of the houses.
BRIGANDAGE.
At Weichow, a large village to the south of Swatow, bands of brigands have been infest- in the place for a considerable time and com- mitted several outrages. The Magistrate of the place has appealed to the Taotai at Chow- chowin for assistance and asked for the despatch of soldiers.
FAILURE OF CROPN.
Owing to a continued scarcity of rain the sugar-cane and orange crops have turned out
very unfavourably,
VLADIVOSTOCK NOTES.
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.
Vladivostock, Sth October
IMPROVING PORT ARTHUR.
According to reports from Port Arthur, a number of dredging machines belonging to the Naval Department have commenced work there with the purpose of deepening and
the widening
western part of the Port Arthur harbour, at which place the depth is intended to be brought to such an extent as to allow anchorage for battleships and other warships. It had also been decided to con- struct a channel through the isthmus of the Tigre Peninsula: so that in the near fu ure Port Arthur will have direct communication to the sea, which will be of great significance for both military and commercial purposes.
CHINANFU
345
Chinanfu, 23rd September.
GERMAN ACTIVITY AT TSINGTAO.
Your correspondent has just returned from a trip to Tsingtao, coming back by way of Che- foo and the canal. The activity in building in the German port is immense, showing that the Germans-and also the Chinese, who are in- vesting large sums in buildings there-have great faith in the future of Tsingtao, a faith which seems bound to be justified by the out. come, provided the Germans show sufficient liberality in their management of the port and in the settling of tariffs on the new rail- road. At present there seems to be considerable complaint of the high charges on the railroad both for passengers-only third class carriages being run so far-and for freight.
A DESIRABLE INNOVATION. From Chefoo, Messrs. Butterfield and Swire are running a steamer once a week to Tang- chiakou, the native port at the month of the canal An excellent feature running up to Chinan. of the run is that the steamer not only rans in over the bar, but up the river to the town, 80 that freight can be transferred directly from the steamer to native boats, without being sub- ected to the long and tedious trip of ten milos from the bar to the town in cargo-boats or junks, an experience which the writer has had on every previous trip.
YELLOW RIVER FLOOD.
Wo found the canal flooded throughout fonr fifths of its length by water from the Yollow River, which broke through its south bank over a month ago, not very far north-east of Chi- nanfu. The very country for over a hundred wiles along the canal is one vast lake, the banks of the canal being in some places completaly washed away, and in others being covered out of sight by the high water. Only in one place, however, was the canal proper impassable owing to its having been silted up, it being necessary at this place to make a detour through the i fields to reach the navigable part farther up. In fact the canal, instead of being less usable on account of the flood. is-with the exception noted above-in better condition than usual for the passage
of heavy draft boats.
A COMMENDABLE SCHEME.
It has, occurred to your correspondent that this fact might give a hint as to a possible way of improving the canal from Chinan to Yang- chinkon. a scheme in which Governor Yuan, and his righthand man Tang Taotai, are deeply interested. The trouble with the canal is that it is too shallow. especially in its upper reaches for deeper draft vessels, and it is feared even for steam-launches. Why would it not be possiblo to divert part of the superfluous water of the Yellow River, which flows within twelve li of Chinan (and still nearer the canal) into the canal and thus maintain a good depth of water at all seasons throughout its length: This no A few days ago a band of Chinese marauders doubt would require a system of sluices at the Muren of outlet from the Yellow River to prevent con- appeared near the railway station the Chinese Eastern Railway and attacked the stant flooding of thnal, but it would seem a contractor of the above line, to be a comparative piece of engineering house of named Elijah Sokoloff, severely wounding the to carry ont, and would render the canal far more owner by gun shots, of which he has now died. useful. The murderers succeeded in escaping. The River is closed, it will be necessary to make very family of the deceased, consisting of his wife extensive repairs to the banks of the canal to and five children, will receive an insurance of fender it usable again,”
24th September. Rs. 10,000 from the St. Petersburg Insurance Co., where the life of the deceased contractor had been insured.
at
MURDEROUS CHINESE BRIGANDS.
near the station
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As soon as the break in the Yellow
GOVERNOR YUAN
took over the seals of office to day, his hundred On Sept. 27th; at the railroad junction "Lia- days of mourning for his mother being ended. Okche'
"Pogranitchna"It is not true, as was reported in the Peking of the Chinese Eastern Railway, an attack and Tientsin Times, that this was not his by a band of 200 Chinese marauders was Excellency's real mother. The lady who died one hundred days ago was Governor Yuan's made unexpectedly at 10 p.m. The residents
the junction were brutually treated real mother, but he is the adopted sun of his It was no doubt owing to this com- and their belongings devastated. Six persons uncle. were killed and a number wounded. One rail plicated relationship. so common in China, that road contractor was brought to the local the mistake was made in the Tientsin paper.
N.-C. Daily News. hospital with a wound in his head and two in one of his legs. His two litle daughters were fatally wounded; one received a bullet in her head and the other in the lower part of the abdomen. The nurse of these children was also killed.
The famous Chinese Genoral Li Dan-dzir. who during the Chinese troubles of last year. was the leader of 15,000 Chinese troops, and who was persistently acting against the pacifica- tion of the country, surrendered, says a Valdi- M. Klobukowski, the French Minister Pleni-rostock correspondent, not long ago to the potentiary at.Bangkok, was leaving for Saigon on the 10th inst. It is said that when he re- 'turns he will be accompanied by M. Doumer,
Governor-General of Indo-China.
Russian Colonel Manaeff and was brought, on September 16th, to Khabarovsk, where he was placed in an apartment prepared for him at the hotel "European Russia."