280
PIRACY IN CHINESE WATERS.
While the Chinese junk No. 3 was proceeding on her way to Hongkong from Taishan, she fell in with pirates about six miles to the north of that place. It appears that at about 8 30 on the morning of the 16th September the master noticed an oyster junk approaching them. His suspicions were aroused and he hailed the boat, when they immediately commenced to fire at his junk. Arrangements were at once made to repel the attack, and a brisk fire was returned. This, however, only lasted for about five minutes, as the crew of the Chinese juok, some 4 men, were afraid, and discontinued their firing. The pirates at once drew closer, and finally twenty of the orew armed with rifles and revolver board d the junk. All the men on board were driven down into the hold, with the exception of the master, who when he saw the pirates preparing to board his vessel, hid himself under a heap of firewood, and there remained until the robbers had gone. One of the crew, named Cheung Ho, was wounded in the head with allow from the butt-end of a rifle, because he refused to hand over the keys to the thieves. The cannon was spiked, windlass and auchor thrown over- board, and the pirates, with their own boat alongside, sailed for Shacheng, four and a half miles north of Fukwing. Arriving at Sha- cheng, they rifled the ship and stole goods to the value of $4,170. The articles stolen include eighteen rifles, two breechloaders, two blunder- busses, fifty-six pounds of powder, eight boxes of percussion-caps, twenty rounds of ammuni- tion, $670 in money, $300 in banknotes, fire hundred pieces of cotton cloth, crepe silk and ponges, a quantity of firecrackers, paper and general cargo. The robbers then left in their boat and sailed away in the direction of the shore. The master of the junk, Fung Shi, says that he is unable to identify the pirate
boat.
ORDINATION AT THE CATHEDRAL,
ince 1879, when Bishop Bardon officiated' there has not been an ordination service in 8. John's Cathedral. On Sunday morning at eleven o'clock the first ordination for twenty-five years took place, the candidates being the Rev. John Hind, B.A. (Dublin), the Rev. Marcus Mackenzie, B.A. (Dublin), M. B. (Edin), both of the Dublin University Mission, stationed at Fuhning, Fahkien Province--and the Rev. F. Child (of C. M.8. Collège, Is'ington), Kweilin, Kwangsi Province.
The service opened with a processional hymn, on the conclusion of which the Rev. H. C. Hodges, M.A., Chaplain of Holy Trinity Cathedral, Shanghai, preached a sermon of exhortation, taking his text from 2 Corinthians, zii, 9. Following the address, the candidates were presented to the Right Rev. J. C. Hoare, D.D., Bishop of Victoria, by the Rev. Arch- -deacon W. Banister, of the Church Missionary Society. The remainder of the service was as in the Church of England Prarer Book, with the addition of an anthem, "How beautiful upon the mountains" (Stainer). Rev, F. Icely, M.A., R.N., monotoned the Litauy, to which the choir sang the Ferial responses. Assisting in the service were the Rev. W. J. Southam, B A., of the Y.M.C.A., and the Rev. F. T. Johnson M.A., Chaplain of 8. John's Cathedral, Stainer's setting in F of the Kyrie, Gloria, and Credo, was devotionally sung by the choir. The first two verses of Veni, Creator Spiritus were taken by Mrs. Hagen as a soprano solo to Attwood's setting, and the last two verses by the full choir, H.E. Sir Henry A. Blake, G.C.M.G., attended by Sir John Keane, A.D.C.,
was present.
The Shanghai Times publishes the following: -Peking, 15th September. Ex-Marshal Su denied the charge, made against him, of having appropriated a large sum of money, namely Tls. 130,000 odd, out of the war fand for his own uses. Su pleaded that there was no money in the freasury of Kwangsi at the time, and he could not have embezzled the sum of money mentioned above. The Board of Punishments has not yet been able to decide his case. In spite of what has been reported, it seems a formal sentence has never been passed on him.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
VOLUNTEER PROMENADE
CONCERT.
Two causes contributed to the fact that the number present at Saturday's concert was about the largest on record-weather conditious could scarcely have been more favourable for an open- air entertainment, and the programme, was
While it is not difficult exceedingly attractive.
in the cities of Europe to get a large gathering to listen to the most accomplished interpreters it must be taken 86 а of the masters,
advertised
[September 26, 1903
It is to be hoped that in the selection of the orchestral pieces for the next concert it will be borne in mind that the performance is to take place in the open air, and a programme suitable to the conditions arranged. Might we suggest that music of a more popular descriptic n be giveu a hearing: by "popular" we do not of course mean rubbish. It would not long hold the favour of the public were it without merit.
THEATRE ROYAL.
Pollard's Comedy Company re-opened on the 22nd inst in the Theatre Royal after a short visit to the Lyceum, Shanghai, where the me.pbers became great favourites and had an excellent season. A Gay Night in Paris has been described as being a "superfluity of. naughtiness," but for all that the funny situations and witty dialogue gloss over the riskiness of the piece and make it most enjoy. able. Mr. Edward Nable ws in his gayest mood as the old reprobate Pinglet; the charac ter study of this part being especially good. Next in order of merit was Misa rôle Lawrence in the
of Marcella,
Mathieu woman who sighs for a good time, - stammering old curmudgeon who con- stantly manages to be in the place where he is least wanted-at Mr. Harold Carr's hands received excellent interpretation. Victorine, a maid, to say the least is a trifle fast, and Miss Grace Gale made the most of the part-which is saying a good deal. As the much-imposed-on husband and wife
an
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Miss Blanch Clements and Mr. Wentworth
Watson made a hit. An extremely funny part was that of Mr. Merry Lynch, a waiter with experience of providing comfortable suppers for two.
NOTES FROM THE BOTANIC GARDENS.
high compliment to the musical taste of the colony that a classical programme such as the one submitted on Saturday could attract so numer. ous an audience from our small community To put it mildly, however, the promises of the
were programme
hardly realised in the selections of the orchestra. By all means give us compositions by the
individually great authors if those
and collectively concerned in the production have submit such not the musical ability to only correctly but with comprehension of the requirements of the composition. The latter was not shown by the Philharmonic Society orchestra on Saturday. We believe most of the members are proficient instrumentalists, but the faults lay in following their own inclinations instead of the markings on the copies in front of them, and also not looking more to the con- ductor. Take for instance the " Peer Gynt" Suite (Greig): the discords in that weirdly beautiful composition are most effective if strict time is observed; otherwise the coa- glomeration of sounds is abominable. It is far from our intention to discourage the amateurs the fact of their being members of the Orchestral Society shows they are trying to improve themselves musically-but only to point out defects so that they can be remedied ia future performances. Mr. Grimble is to be excused for his excitable exclamations, as it must have been annoying to find mistakes, which had been corrected at the rehearsals, time and again cropping up-"good old land-marks" is an apt description by a well-known local musician. The Iutermezzo from Cavalleria Rusticana secured the orchestra an eucore, it being as popular as it is beautiful; the effort, however, scarcely deserved such appreciation. Madame Blauche Arral's presence had beeu much looked forward to, and her non-appearance, on account of indisposition it was announced, occasioned great disappointment. "Lend me your aid" was cut out, Mr. C. H. Lammert being also indisposed; his place was filled by Mrs. Gordon making an extra sp.
A very useful plant for the garden and for pearance. The deep contralto voice of this producing cut flowers is Hedychium corcnarium lady was admirably suited to "Beloved, it is locally known as the white ginger." It is mora"; she sang in response to a recall
She very largely grown by the Chinese and may be wore a wreath of roses.* In the second part purchased when in season in Wyndham Street. Mrs. Gordon was again encored, and gave Lord The flowers are produced at the ends of the Henry Somerset's pathetic Hush
me, O shoots in succession and if all of them be sorrow." Mrs. Macgowan was the other lady allowed to open, instead of cutting the growths when the first flowers expand, the period of The flowers are flowering is greatly extended. white and very sweetly scented. At one time it was supposed to be a native of China but according to the Index Flora Sinensis it has, up to the present time, only been collected in a wild state in India and the M lay Peninsula.
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Gounod's
was
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vocalist her The Promise of Life" much enjoyed. A 'cello solo by Mr. P. L. Miller was correctly played; the mellow-toned instrument, however, is not suitable for solo work in the open, only the moderately loud Passages being audible at the back of the sitting area. This was not the case with Mr, F. C. Barlow's "Sonata in A" (Handel) for the violin, every note being distinct even at a distance. Au accomplished violinist, Mr. out of his instrument. Barlow knows how to get everything possible My Queen was very creditably rendered by Mr. G. H. Edwards, who pluckily went through his solo, though suffering from fever, we believe. The male quartettes were not so good as at the last con- cert; this was due to the first tenor, Mr. Wagner, having to be called in at the last minute-or at least on Saturday morning-to take the place of Mr. Mirow, who, we regret to state, is down with dysentery. Not getting a correct start, the quartette made a hash of Bunderslied" amends were made for this in their second appearance; and, being recalled, they again essayed Mozart's production, this time with considerable improvement. Messrs.
and Davidson
8 Stephenson introduced humorous variety into the programme; both came ou again. Of Mr. Grace's appearance it sufficient to say he did not tarnish his reputation. He is ever a most popular singer in Hongkong.
:
The Papyrus of the ancient Egyptians was obtained from the plant now known under the name of Cyperus Papyrus. It is a very handsome aquatic plant standing 6 or 7ft. out of the water. There are several specimens growing around the fountain in the old garden, It is supposed to be the bulrush in which the infant Moses was hidden and to anyone who has seen it growing in Egypt this can be readily believed. In the lagoons near the Suez Canal it forms particularly large and dense beds. In England, where it requires to be grown in glass-houses, it has been under oultivation for a hundred years.
L
A shrub which will be in flower in a few days in the new garden is Oxyanthus tubiflorus, a native of tropical Africa and belonging to the same family as the Gardenia. The flowers are whitish, trumpet-shaped, several inches long and produced in great abundance. They have been mistaken for lilies when cat, having a certain resemblance in form.
The rainfall since the 16th of September has been .58 of an inch only.
According to news by the last mail from Vladivostock, says the Kobe Chronicle, there were eleven Russian war-ships, two Italian, oue British, and one French warship in the harbour at the time the Kobe-maru left the Russian port. Trade still continued depressed. It was also reported that twenty-seven of the released captains and parsers of the Japanese schooners, which were seized at Kamschatka, left Vla di- vostock by the Aikoku-maru on the 4th inst. for Tsuruga. The Japanese Commercial Agent at Vladivostock expressed his doubts whether the Russian authorities would return the vessels
seized.
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