· June 16, 1902.1
HONGKONG.
The recognition of Mr. H. N. Mody as Acting Consul-General for Sism at Hongkong, during the absence of the Hon. C. P. Uhater, C.M.G., is notified in the Gazette.
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Mr E. F. Skertobly late editor of the Hongkong Telegraph, left this Colony on the 6th inst. to take up the editorship of the Pinang Gazette. Mr. Skertohly has been for five years engaged in editing the Telegraph, and his numerous friends in Hongkong, will wish him all success in his new appointment. His position on our evening contemporary's staff will be filled by Mr. E A. Snowin.
H.E. the General Offer Commanding having intimated bis intention to present the South African medal to Colour-Sergeant H. J. Morehouse on Saturday, the 21st inst., at Headquarters, there will be a parade of the Volunteer Corps on that date, instead of on Saturday last His Excellency will also present H.E. the Governor's Shield to "B" Machine Gun Company. Colour-Sergeant Morehouse a service in South Africa as a trooper in Lumsden's Horse.
The concert which took place on the 9th inst. in the hall of the Catholic Union was very successful. It is to be regretted that there was not a larger audience to appreciate the excellent programme enbimtted by Mr. L. A. Graça; yet though the andience, was small it was none the less appreciative, judging by the numerous encores which greeted each item on the programme. It is difficult to men- 'tion any one in particular, as every item was executed well. The string band, conducted by Mr. Graça gave two pieces which were received with acclamation. Messrs. A. Cunningham and W.J. Terrill, who sang for the first time in this hall, were also encored for their songs. The concert was enjoyable in spite of the oppressive heat. The following ladies acted as accom. panists: Mrs, M. F. da Silva, Miss Marques da Silva, and Miss Ley Kum; Mr. Emil Danenberg also gave his help as accompanist, besides playing a pianoforte solo.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
The controversy in the correspondence columns of the local Press over the question of Chinese representation on the Legislative Council, which started on the assumption that the Hon. Wei A Yuk did not intend to accept another term of office, is deprived of more than an academic interest for the present by the fact that Mr. Wei A Yuk has yielded to representations and allowed himself to be nominated again an Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council.
The following returns of the average amount of bank-notes in circulation and of specie in reserve in Hongkong during April, are certified by the managers of the respective banks:-
Banks,
Chartered Bank of India, Aus Hongkong and Shanghai Bank-
ing Corporation
tralia and China.....
National Bank of China, Limited
Average Specie in Amount. Reserve.
3,180,258 1,700,000
8,281,354 5,000,000 436,724 150,000
Total.... ..$11,898,536 $6,850,000 under the auspices of the Victoria Recreation A smoking concert was held on the 7th inst. Club, in the Club's gymnasium, Kowloon, which was specially fitted up for the occasion. The "Snowball" Minstrel Troupe supplied the first part of the programme very acceptably. Part II. contained four very good items-a baritone Mr. M. D. Silas, a clarionette and a cornet solo song by Mr. C. W. Marshall, a comic song by by R.W.F. bandsmen. The entertainment con- oluded with the sketch A Troublesome Servant. Mr. T. H. Reid was in the chair. Messrs. C. W. Marshall and M. D. Silas were the accompanists.
On the 6th inst, the German gunboat Luchs arrived from Nagasaki, while the same nation's gunboat Tiger left for Kiaochau.
The German transport Main, en route to Kiaochau, left the harbour early on the
10th inst.
The first-class cruiser Endymion, Capt. A. W. Paget, C.M.G., which arrived on Wednes day from Nagasaki, will leave next Wednesday for home on the expiry of her term on this station. The Endymion, we are informed, will take part in the Coronation celebrations at Singapore.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The Federated Malay States Public Works departmental report for 1901 has been published. The total expenditure in the department during the year was $3,792,787; and, exclusive of federal charges, the cost of the establishment. paid locally, was $248,187, being 6.41 per cent of the actual expenditure. The length of the roads taken in hand was over 2, 00 miles.
As was only to be looked for, numerous land- slips and small collapses, the result of the extremely heavy rain of 'the past three days, are reported in many parts of the Colony. In Seymour Road part of a retaining wall fell, and a bamboo fencing had to be erected on account of the danger to passengers. Traffic in Po Yan Street, near the Tung Wa Hospital, is stopped by a large hole, a trench almost, that has been scooped out in the roadway by the heavy wash, and this is also the case in Caine Road near the Hon. C. P. Chater's house. From the higher levels comes the report that a landslip has The typhoon announced by the weather docured at the junction of Peak and Robinson bureau struck the island Sunday afternoon, Roads, where also another retaining wall fell, says the Manila Times of the 2nd inst. After causing damage, which has since been repaired, a drenching downpour, which lasted all the to a street gas-lamp. In Queen's Road Central, latter half of the afternoou and well into the in the immediate vicinity of Peel Street, & evening, the rain ceased, to be followed towards dangerous excavation has been temporarily midnight by a high wind. Feveral o scos were covered by the police. Besides one or two-thrown upon the Luneta beach, as well as a small landslips at Victoria Peak, numerous similar happenings are reported from Kowloon of having been torn from some raft. aud the New Territory, but particulars →regarding them are not yet to hand.
A correspondent writes:While on a walking expedition in the New Territory on the 8th inst. I was grieved to see that there had been wanton destruction done among the young piues in the mountain-side facing Hongkong. Unfortun- ately I cannot tell the name of the particular locality where their destruction seemed to have been most rife. But on coming down the hill I discovered where the saplings had been taken to. This was a little village) situated among paddy fields and (so far as I could understand the native of whom I made enquiry) called Kowloon Tax or Tsun. It has a direct com- munication-off the New Road with Yaumati) from which it is distant about twenty-five minutes' walk. Here I saw to my astonishment some 200 young, freshly-out fir-trees exposed on threshing-floors, apparently to dry. mixed with shrubs and grasses as It is no doubt a dificult matter for in such outlying districts to entirely dations, but I am sure they be told of the matter to do
stop to this painful spolia forestation Department's young and to mitably punish the offenders.
they
number of logs which had the appearance
The accident to the Hongkong cable, it is believed, may be due to some ship dragging its anchor on account of the violence of the gale, The break was discovered Saturday night. There are two cable boats in Oriental waters, but just at present it is not known exactly where they are. The cable company was also incommunicade yesterday on account of the telephone wire being down.
Baigon is now suffering from an epidemic of, cholera and cores of deaths are reported daily. Some of the districts are, of course, affected much worse than others, but it is said that no part of the town or its immediate suburbs is free. Smallpox also rife, and this, together with recurrent visitations of dengue fever, make the place none too pleasant to reside in. When the French cruiser Pascal returned to Saigon with cholera cass on board, the old battleship Bayard, the corvette Vipere, and several small gunboats were rapidly onverted into floating hospitals. Up to 28th May one hundred and eleven cases had been reported, according to ous account, the captain of the Pascal finding himself so short-handed as not to be able to proceed to Pulo Condor, as suggested by Admiral Marechal, whilst up to the evening of the 27th ult, there had been 26 deaths.
A telegram has been received in Bhanghai from Chungking, dispatched by the Chung Ling Trading Co., to the effect that the " Kinsha arrived on the 31st May, and the chief engineer reports on 100 tons of Chungking coal that it is fully equal to 150 tons of best Japanese."
The Tientsin Je Je reports that, owing to the strong opposition on the part of the Russian and German Ministers at Peking, Sir E. Satow has been obliged to agree to an amendment of the third article of the Peking-Shanhaikwan Rafi- way Agreement that a British Military Officer be appointed as co-irector of the railway,
The East Asiatic Trading Co. has courteously informed na that they received on the 10th inst. the following telegram from Saigon -- 'The 8.8. Picciola has been in collision with the 8.8;| Sirius. The Picciola was at anchor at the time of collision, was struck about midships, very severly damaged and commenced to leak; the damage is not ascertained yet; she will be obliged to dook."
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Mr. G. T. Hare, Secretary for Chinese from Weihaiwei, and will resume his work at Aff. irs, Federated Malay States, has returned Kuala Lumpor. An opinion pretty generally expressed at Singapore is that Mr. Hare would be exceedingly valuable in the Straits Police and Chinese Protectorate, as a permanent official fighting against Chinese criminals. received very quietly in Singapore. The flag-
The news of the conclusion of peace was
staffs were decked, and the men-of-wer ran flags ap to the mast-head. One or two godowns displayed flags, as did the flagstaff of Fort Canning, but the general feeling was that the actual conclusion of what had been seen to be for some days a certainty did not call for any great demonstration.
Count von Bülow, in answer to a question of a representative of the Paris Figaro (which is very busy interviewing just now); asking if Germany would join either the Franco-Russian or the British-Japanese Com- bination in East Asia or would create herself a new combination with America, said: "For what purpose? Peace assured, and we shall have all the profit therefrom. We shall be always on the side of those who will defend the peace against any peace-breaker.".
The Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovitch visited Admiral Mareobal on the Redoutable at Saigon on the 2nd inst. After this si luncheon at the official residence of Cochin-China was held, at which were present the Lieutenant- Governor, the Grand Duke and suite, and the officers of the Siamese gunboat Mong-Kut Baja-Kumar. After lunch and a visit to the hospital and barracks, the Grand Duke saw off the Siamese gunboat, which returned to Bangkok. After a few more days' stay the Russian visitor left Saigon on the 9th by the Kersaint for Haiphong and Hanoi. After his visit to the these places he will come on to Hongkong on the Kersaint.
It is feared that the Siamese despatch-boat Cha mroen has foundered in the Gulf of Sism on the voyage from Singors to Bangkok. There were forty-seven persons on board all told, and it is believed that the vessel has gone down with all hands. It appears that, the Chamroen wai bringing to Bangkok from Singotá a cargo of roofing-tiles! She left Fingors on the 3rd ult.. and should have accomplished the passage in about 2 days. As a despatch boat, fifteen years of age, she was scarcely fitted for carrying files, and it is probable that they went through her bottom. The lost vessel was a twin-sor sloop of 418 registered tons, built at Leith, bad repair, and had no European 'officer on board at the time of the calamity.
In the 1902 edition of the Naval Annual, the writer of the chapter on Gunnery says — There can be no doubt of the pre-eminence of the Terrible. Her 9-2in. guns, being on mountings special to her particular type of ship; cannot be compared as regards rate of fire with any other gun, but one round per minute was cons good when these guns were first tried ; been increased by 75 per cent.. of hits is the highest for heayy 6in. Q.-F. guns, the Terrible' hits per minute is ■ times the average other ship. fired 11 rounds in
the average for the service, about five times the usual number,