384
lay hands on and take away goods belonging to an old established British tirm of high reputation. Should the British authorities, contrary to expectations, fil to obtain full r-drass for the wrong dous to the firm in question and have once and for all the con- tinuance of the Kwong Hing Co. prohibited the prestige of Britain would be greatly lowered in the eyes of the Chinese, who alread consider Messrs Bradley & Co.'s affair as a case of losing fac.."
THE CASE FOR THE COMPANY,
·
En passant, I would like to refer to the leiding articles, obvious'y in pired, that ppeared in the Hongkong Telegraph a short time back. The author, who leads oue to believe that he holds a brief for China or the Kwong Hig Co., falls into many errors which I find it undeo-ssary to touch upon. Nor are the rezulati ns of the K. H. Co., as published in your junior evening contemporary. in exict acco dance with the ep oanket diere The salient point which the Viceroy in his despatch to the British Consul-Gveral at Cantpo dwelt upon is that the now tax is only to be collected when the opium his passed fr in the importer to the retailer. How then can this statem ut b. reconciled with the abore des ribad actiou of the Kwong Hing Co? It now reming for the British authorities to take very energetic measures and aw ken China from ber lethargy to a sause of duty and resp nsibility. avoid a repetition of such a contretemps, fall redress should be exacted for the wrong aud insult done to Messrs. Bradley & Co.
THE NEW TARIFF.
To
By a notification issued by the I. M. Customs the F ublic was informel that the Keris d Import Tarif* was to come into operation on the 31st October.
THE BICYCLE CRAZ 3.
The Chinese here seem to be stricken with the bicycle mania. There are many natives who own bicycles, and there are also two repair ing shops in the city. Every day the votaries of the wheel may be seen out riding and exbibiting all sorts of puerit- tricks on their bicycles, to the great astonishment of vast crow 8 of spectators. The other day siw a Chin man scorching at a great speed, when lo! he stood in a erect position with his feet on the saddle whilst his bicycle was still in motion. Such deportment is certainly uot decorous nor safe in a public thoroughfare, and forcibly reminds one of a cert un advertis-meht where a monke is shown dieporting on a bicycle.
5 h November.
THE OPIUM TROUBLE.
Messrs. Bradley & Co. took delivery of three more chests of opium from the Customs Gadown yeste day, one of which was aga'n seizd by the Kwong Hing Co 's runners. I hear from good authority that the British Consul ere tele- graphically instructed the Cousul-Gueral at Cantou of the occurrenc2, and the latter's action is now anxiously awa ted.
MAIL-CLOSING FOR COAST PORIS
Since my letter aveut above appeared in your columns I notice an improvement in the desired direction, for mails are now notified as closing at 8 and 9 a.m. on the day of the vessels sailing, instead of as previously at 5 p m. the day previous.
Swatow,,12th November.
THE OPIUM FARM.
I hear from a most trustworthy source that as soon as the Viceroy at Canton was juformed by the British Consul-General there of the events here which I have reported in my last letter, he and the Governor both wired, without loss of time to the local Taotai, Foreign Deputy, and Cheng Hai Shien ordering them immediately to get the two chests of opium which had been seized from Messrs. Bradley & Co, released. Furthermore, the two managers, Chao and Hü, of the Kwong Hing Co.'s local office, were ordered to proceed at once to Cantou to be present at an investigation to be held there It is noteworthy that both the Viceroy aud Governor, in their despatch to the Swatow officials, maintained that as long as a ball of opiam is covered by a customs label, indicating the payment of duty and lekin, it is to be freed from any further charge or tax, and the seizure of Bradley & Co.'s opium is hence a breach" of the Chefoo Convention.
The Wai Wu-pu, du hearing from the Viceroy of Kwangtung of the affair here, ordered that
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
耋
|
|
a fiting sad to the opium affair bere it would b⋅ as well to insist on the absolute aboli ion of the Kwong Hing Co.'s offices everywhere
|
November 17, 1902;
the office of the Kwong Hing Co. be closed, as and Kausu in a private despatch to Peking, their rules and regulations for the collection of | and as ย matter of course is immediately the new opium tax were not properly drawu up. published. Tung is described as being at They are, however, later on, to devise better Hochentz, round which place he has built a ways and means to levy the fax on opium. But strong wall ant also deepened the moat. He the opium tax office has not cl sed its doors yet, bas gathered most of his old troops around him and the two managers are still here.
and his force is estimated at some 6 battalions well armel aud supplied with ammunition. A Prefect of Shensi had some private intercour e with the general at the Governors' request, and Tung informed him that before he would dream of giving up his position he should r quire foar thi gs
1. That the Court be given to under- stand that whatever he did iɑ 1910 was by Prince Tuan's ord ·r. 2. —That all his adber. nts civil) be given positions to keep them cont⚫nted. 3.-7b ta curtain Ma Um-l'ing, his suemy, be sout to li 4.-That the soldiers who have refuel t be disbanded by Imperial order be paid in full. We should say that, the above conditious are # Chinese equivalent for a
AMOY.
FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Amoy, 13 h November. The U. S. S Monterey has been with us a mouth. The Wilm ngton arrived last week and we har that several more are coming soon. This should make our little port lively during the win er season.
The Athletic Sports pcstponed from the Coronation festiviti-s were held on the 8th just. in honour of the King's B rthday. The pro- . gramme consisted of 15 items, some of which were keenly cont stel, The recreation ground was decorated wit. V netiau poles and bunting. and, with the pretty dre ses of the ladies, the whole lawn presented a gay scane. The baud of the Wilming'oa played during the afternoon, and TAK much appreciated by the old and young. Refreshments were provided, and I think everybody enjoyed themselves.
Training for the Races is now in full swing. The 12 subscription griffins were obta ned direct from Tientsin this year instead of Shaugbai. Whether this new departure is an improvement remains to be seen.
The Chinese houses destroyed by the lata fire are now being rebu 1 and the prices of build- ing materials have gone up cons derably.
Last week the popular agent of Butterfield and Swire, Mr. A. Cumming, left for Swatow to which port ne has been transferred heen replaced by Mr. H. Purton.
NORTHERN NOTES.
Times of the 3 st ult: -
He has
Manchuriau
¦
declaration of defiance,
PUNJOM MINING CO., LD.
་
An extraordinary general meeting of share- hold rs in the above 11th inst, at the offien, 13, Beaconsfield Arcade, ompany was held on the
for the purpose of confirm ng & special resolution passed at a priva'e nee ing held on the 23rd nit. Mr. R. C Wilcox (chairman) presided, and the others present were Mesirs T. Howard, W. K. Hughes, A. R. Ezekiel, S. A. Joseph, E. J. Mus 8, E. W. Terray. Mix ichtel, W. Parlane. B. J. Barlow, E. J. de Figueiredo, J. Lex, A. H. Meyer, M. H. Baptista, A. N. L. Soares, and S. J. Micha 1.
The notice convening the nesting having been read by the SEC ETARY,
The CHAIRMAN sail-Gentlem 'n, as you are aware, this meeting has be 'n called in pursuanco of a decisiou come to at a private meeting of shareholders held on the 3rd ult. At that meeting we had a shorth nd rèpirtir present and a full note was taken of whit took placa, The re ort of those pro welings has been cir- culate I, and I hope it has reached every share- holder of the Company. As far as po sible at any rate, it has been so circulated and I The following items are from the P. & T. hope you are all well acquicted with the
objects of this meeting in consequence.
I do not think there is much to add to what was said on that occasion, becanse a thing further has occurred ither at the mines or elsewhere beyond the fact that we have had another crushing reported, and that was fairly satisfactory, though not so spisfactory as we could have wished. Still, it brought as in a considerable addition to our funds, and if we go on at the same rate we shall be paying working expenses at the mines at any rate. Still, the necessity for an addition to our cipital remains, and I am sorry to say we cal not hold out any hope that AD addition to our cspital wil not be wanted. it will be wanted, because we shall have to pay for the survey of the concession, and we shall have to do more prospecting even than we have done in the
Attention is drawn to the Revival" which the Empress Dowager is undertaking under the advice of Yung Lu.
The S. Andrew's Society at Tientsin has been organised and will give a ball on the 28th inst. A volunteer fire brigade is b ing organised
at Tientsin.
The Governor of Shantung objects to foreign consuls at Chinanfu as it is not an open port.
The premium on foreign cheques touched 29 per cent. on the 30th.
Over 15,000 tous of mining gear and railway sock have been sent up to the Peking yndi.
cate's works in Houan.
A 700-ton lighter. the Sazon, was safely launched at the Taku Tug and Lighter Co.'s yard ou the 28th alt.
Kang Yu-wei denies all complicity with the Kwangsi rebellion.
The Russians are fortifying the city of Harbin,
We grieve to say that at the very last another of those lamentable fatalities which have so frequently befallen the men of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers during their residence in North China, occurred at Taku Bar. The lighter taking on board the baggage at the Bar had to drop astern in consequence of the heavy sea: one of the men in charge at 11 p.m. jumped overboard, and though his comrades made every attempt to save him, he was not seen again. He belonged to the Peking detachment. His name was Williams,
Rumours are current in Peking that the Board of Revenue has found the funds for a small branch line from Kaopei-t en on the Lu-han line to Hsiling, which is a township up on the Kalgau road and not far from the well-known Western Ming Tombs. As far as we can discover, the new branch is chiefly for the Court's convenience, and is neither to be built nor administered by the Belgians of the Lu-han. There is a gaol deal of vagueness in official circles as to the object and management of the line.
The latest news curr nt about Tung Fu- hsiang is sent d wn by the Governor of Shensi
|
480
past. You se*, a mine cannot be opened up unless you have got a certain unmber of prospectors, and so we shall be compelled neces- sarily to add to our staff even before we do anything in the way of development. Of cours, we could go on in the same way as we Lave hither o done, and I should like to have gone on thus for a little time longer if we could without appealing to you. But we have been compelled to do it. and so there is nothing more to be said. The decision is really in your hinds, and I should like to hear if anyone has any question to put or suggestion to make, further than was made at the last meeting, before I propose this resolution.
If our
Mr. S. B. Jos«PH-Mr. Chairman, in view of the remark you made just now, I want to know whether is absolutely necessary that a call of fifty cents should be made in January ? crushings should give satisfactory results, do you think it is likely-or rather will you find it covennient to postpone the call of fifty cen s till some time after the Chinese New Year?
The CHAIRMAN-I wish I could answer you in the affirmative. Mr. Joseph, but I am sorry to say there is too much unosrtainty in the matter to admit of my pledging myself or the Board to any statement 04 to time, because, yoa 8de, it takes time go raisa this money, and it takes time to get it in. You
Page 10Page 11