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April 18, 1904.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
801'
the stage to the requirements of modern | KOWLOON LAND AND BUILDING searches was to solve the important question scenery, at a total cost of $5,392,27. The
tariff of rents was raised considerably from 1st January, 1903, in order to meet the fall in exchange, and the receipts show a than corresponding increase.
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THE LIBRARY.-110 books published in Hong kong were deposited in the Library: numerous newspapers and periodicals have been kindly presented by members of the Committee, by Mr. Barton, Mr. Bowley, Mr. H. E. Tomkins, the Hongkong Club, the proprietors of the local newspapers, and of the Government Gazette, and others. In December, 1902, the Hongkong Public Library was closed and its valuable collection of books was presented to the Lending Collection of the City Hall Library and amal- gamated with it. The joint collection has been catalogued by the Secretary, and now contains about 2,800 volumes of modern literature. The number of visitors to the Library during the 18 17.571 non-Chinese and 5.391 Chinese; the number of resident ticket-holders for the Lending Collection was 168 on 31st December, 1903, of whom 14 are Chinese. The free reading-room and lending collection are increasingly appreciated by many sections of the population.
months
was
MUSEUM. There have been no important additions to the Museum, which suffers from the lack of scientific supervision and from cli- matic influences. but it is still much appreciated by Chinese residents and visitors. The Museum was visited by many thousands of Chinese and a large number of Europeans during the 18 months under review.
ACCOUNTS.-The balance in the hands of the Hon. Treasurer when the accounts for 1903 were closed was $3.938.34. The reserve fund on fixed deposit in the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank has been increased by adding accrued interest and now amounts to $15,167.71. The expenditure exceeded the ordinary receipts (excluding amount brought forward and interest on fixed deposit) by $1.225.41; this excess is much more than accounted for by the improvements in the Theatre. It has been decided to close the accounts in future on 31st December instead of 30th June, and in order to effect this change the accounts cover a period of 18 months.
The CHAIRMAN said--Gentlemen, the report and accounts have been circulated, and I propose to take them as read. It will be noticed that they cover a period of eighteen months, ending 31st December last. In previous years the report and accounts have been brought up to the 30th June, but it is proposed in future to close them at the end of each calendar year. The committee regret the death of the old com- pradore Lau A. Yau, which occurred last sum- mer; his many years' experience was invaluable to the organisers of entertainments, and it will be difficult to fill his place. It will be noticed that the tariff of rents for the theatre and halls was increased considerably in January, 1903, and the result has been an increase of revenue. On the other hand, an extensive scheme of improvement was taken in hand last year, and completed during the off season at a heavy expense. The theatre has been much improved by the re-modelling of the dress circle in accordance with suggestions made by Mr. Robert Brough, and by the extension of the clectric light to the auditorium and the raising of the floor of the stalls; the lavatories. too, have been brought up to date, the total cost being over 86,500. The collection of books presented by the Hongkong Subscrip- tion Library, as mentioned at the last annual meeting, has been amalgamated with the existing lending collection and catalogued. The com- bined collection constitute a free-lending library on a small scale, which is increasingly appreciated; the library is also much used
as
& reading-room. It is to be regretted that the terms of the respective trusts preclude the amalgamation of the old City Library collections with the newer books. It is practi- cally impossible to improve the Museum, as there is no qualified maturalist or taxidermist on the staff, and, in the absence of any endowment, the committee are unable to engage one. The institution pays its way, but returns no interest on the original capital expended.
Hon. Mr. POLLOCK seconded, and the motion was agreed to
This was all the business.
CO., LD.
EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.
An extraordinary general meeting of the Kowloon Land and Building Co., Ld., was held on the 9th inst. in the Company's office, Queen's Road. Mr. J. Goosmann presided and there were also present-Messrs. W. H. Gaskell, T. H. Reid. A. Shelton Hooper, J. R. Michael, S. J. Michael, M. S. Northcote, T. F. Hough. J. C. Peter, and E. B. Shepherd.
The SECRETARY read the notice convening the meeting.
The CHAIRMAN said,--Gentlemen, you are met here to-day to consider three resolutions altering our articles of association, one resolution increasing the fes payable to Directors from $150 to $500 per annum, the other resolutions making it only necessary that the accounts should be audited by one instead of two Auditors. When the Company was started the amount of fees allowed to the directors was $1.500, but at the suggestion of some of the shareholders the Articles were altered and the fees reduced to $150, the reason then being that it was not a dividend paying concern, and the late Mr. H. J. Holmes in proposing the reduction said that if the Company were in a more flourishing condition he was perfectly sure the shareholders would not only be willing to pay the allowance provided for by the articles of association, but would thank the directors for their great care and trouble in connection with the affairs of the Com- pany. The present shareholders now recognise this, and Mr. Michael, in seconding the adoption of the report and accounts at our last annual meet- ing of shareholders, said he wished the Company would consider the advisability of increasing the amount now payable to the directors. With regard to the second and third resolutions it is considered that the simplicity and shortness of the accounts do not warrant our employing two auditors. With these remarks which I think explain all you require to know I would ask some shareholder to propose the first resolution. Mr. J. R. MICHAEL proposed that in Article 81 the words Five hundred dollars" shall be substituted for the words "One hundred and fifty dollars."
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Mr. S. J. MICHAEL seconded, and the motion was unanimously agreed to.
Mr. J. C. PETER proposed that in Article 102
an auditor
shall be substituted for
the words
•
the words "two auditors."
Mr. E. B. SHEPHERD seconded and the mo- tion was agreed to.
Mr. J. R. MICHAEL moved, and Mr. M. S. NORTHCOTE seconded that in Article 108 the word "auditor be substituted for the
auditors."
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This was carried.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen. Thank you for your attendance.. A confirmatory meeting will be held, notice of which will appear in the newspapers.
REVIEW.
Central Asia and Tibet; Towards the Holy City of Lhassa. By Dr. SVEN HEDIN. London: Hurst and Blackett, Ld. 2 volumes. Few travellers of modern times have excited more interest than Dr. Sven Hedin; and this for two reasons-first, the character and per- sonal enthusiasm of the man, and secondly, the extreme value, historically and scientifically, of the work undertaken. If the new work have less of the romantic about it than his first journey it is that the scenes depicted in it have already been made more or less familiar by his previous explorations; but from a scientific point of view the filling in of the lacunæ left on his former journey have an even more permanent value as the final conclusions of a traveller cap- able of pronouncing a definite opinion.
As a contribution towards the physical geography of Central Asia, east of the Pamirs, Dr. Hedin's work stands without a rival, and if the present work has added comparatively little to our knowledge of the natural history and geology of the districts visited, it is to be remembered that he has brought back large col- lections, which will doubtless, when worked up by skilled experts, in a promised supple. mentary volume, largely increase our knowledge on both these subjects.
One of the main objects of Dr. Hedin's re-
of the drainage of Eastern Turkestan, and throw light on the baffling problem of Lake Lop-a question, we may add, which for twenty centu ries has sought a satisfactory solution. It is no geographical problem, but to have explained the mean achievement not only to have closed the physical causes in operation which have con- duced to bring about the present conditions. Historically, Lake Lop first appears in the pages of the Shi-Ki when the traveller Chang Kien describes it under the simple name of the Salt Marsh." This was in the second century B.C. Its traditional history goes back many centuries further-prior indeed to the establish- ment of the Chinese State.
to
Myth and tradition, in that they do not consciously lie, are in some respects superior history. True, they require evidence is circumstantial, not direct, and to be judged by different canons. Their herein lie both weakness.
their strength and their
under the name of the P'okch'ang, apparently In the pages of the Han Shu we find Lop,
for Bogshahr, more extensive than in modern times. sent Shara Lake some distance N.E. of Shachow It apparently stretched from the pre- to the Moslem Kara-Koshun, the two great routes from China to the Pamirs, and it parted which ran respectively along the flanks of the Tienshau, and the mountains called by modern geographers the Kwenlun. But Lop, even in the period of the former Han, was but a vestige of its former self. In the so-called "Tribute" of Yu of at least some centuries earlier we find it called the Yokshui, which modern Chinese render as Weak Water," and assure ng it was so weak that it could not support be
$4
88
19
$1
feather. Yok is rather to rendered dead or disappearing habits which mark it to-day, and dying, and the the absolute absence of definition along its shores, were then as conspicuous as to-day. At
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still earlier date geology teaches us the lake Was & vast inland
sea, the last remains of a former Asiatic Mediterranean, and the survival of these ancient legends seems to testify to the
contemporaneity Central Asia. In the alternative name by of the last stage with the human occupation of
which the P'och'ang Lake was known to the early Chinese of the "Salt Marsh we have a clue to its modern appellation of Lop, which is really the rendering back into the old Aryan speech of these districts of the Chinese Imch'ak i e., Lavapa. i.e., the Salt-Water."
The country about the lake occupied at pre- sent by the Desert of Gobi was in the time of the Hans, and down at least to the fifth century, known as Kushi, or Gash. It is characteristic of the unalterable character of the population that the names still survive. During the Han period this district was fairly well peopled. It was, however, sadly wasted by the Hiung. Nu Turks, and we find the Emperor Wa Ti settling it with military colonists. Dr. Hedin is mani- festly in error in giving, on the authority of Mr. Mimly, to the remains of a small town on what was once the site of the lake, the name of Leolan. Leolan originally represented the pre- sent site of Chenchen; in the course of time, with the change of pronunciation which marked the former Hans, the characters were found unsuit- able, and new ones, with the value of Shenshen, were introduced. The former Leclan does not appear later than the earlier Han. It is, of course, possible that Leolan may have been reintroduced later as the name of a post town on the southern road to Shen- shen, but the name in this does not, so far as the writer is aware, occur in the histories.
new SONED-
The actual name of this district, Gash, cor- tainly survives since the time of the Hans. It occurs in the name still given to one of the ruined cities visited by Dr. Hedin, and deno- ninated by him Wash-shahri, but which is called Gas-Shari by Prejevalski. It also is to be found in the form Khash on the Chinese map as one of the lakes in the Lop distriot, and we apparently may trace it in the modern name of the lake, the Kars (black) Koshun. In the wandering nature of the lake, oscillating from north to south, is to be found the true ezmana- tion of the curious fact that, notwithstanding that it has no exit, its still remains fresh. It