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July 11, 1904.]
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. land might be, were it not for its Tower of London, grim relic of feudalism and oppres sion. "Ivanovich is without doubt Frenchman, with some half-chewed miniscence of the fall of the Bastille in his cortex register. "The Russian peasants have the patience of oxen," we are told, i“ and a sad fatalism that might render them inert were not the Cossacks ready to prod them on with their lances.' Is Elizabeth, or the Exiles of Siberia, the last word on Russia? The Russian ladies smoke, and the men all get drunk. Three yon equa! 78. 6d. Such statements are bad enough in the halfpenny papers; they are to bad in the balf-crown reviews. Unfortunately, the comments made in Europe, an the criticisms and contradictions made in the Orient, do not enjoy the same circulation. To them that have the truth shall be given, and from them that have it not, being, as they are, dependent on the penny-a-liner, shall be taken away. It seems a pity, for real injury may be wrought by failure to nail some such bad coins to the counter.
HONGKONG
JOTTINGS.
(Daily Press 4th July.)
The rains of the past week have been as balm six days ought to enable the Water Authority in Gilead. An almost continuous downpour for to grant us a full supply once again. The intermittent supply has been continued this year two months later than last year.
ago
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That measures for preventing the improper of our beautiful gardens by Chinese undesirables are necessary I am quite willing to admit; but the economic conditions existing difficulty for the powers that be to enact in Hongkong make it a matter of extreme repressive measures that will have the desired effect, and yet not offend the susceptibilities of our immense native population, which, by the way, contribute a large part of the money necessary for the upkeep of the gardens. Apart from this, it is to be presumed that the Chinese, as well
as the European, has an eye for the fair and the beautiful, and no reasonable person will deny that the Chinese residents place of Hongkong are sadly in need of some
where they spare
may while away their moments amid surroundings that appel to their ideas of happiness-hence their apparently unwelcome invasion of one of the fairest of Hongkong's public institutions. fancy the only practicable solution of the difficulty lies in the proper policing of the gardens. dread to the unwashed coolie element, and the The Sikh policeman is admittedly an object of services of a sufficient number of our dusky representatives of the law stationed in such a way as to command a view of the entire gardens would undoubtedly be the means of effecting the reform so ardently petitioned for by several correspondents.
I
A good story is told about a deep-sea fishing party that went out the other day from Hong. kong on a junk to a point beyon 1 Stonecutter's. They belonged to the staff of Vic oria Gaol. They' were away for the best part of a day, and returned
humour, as enthusiasm, or as serious des- cription, there seems to be a general literary conspiracy to misrepresent things Japanese to Europe. The latest example is to be found in an extraordinary article in The Contemporary Review, with the certainly undescriptive caption of Japan, Russia, France.' That the pen name attached happeus to be " Ivanovich" affords no clue such as might be expected, for the writer in certain particulars misrepresents Russia as well as Japan. and says practically nothing about the third country mentioned in the Litle.
In a lengthy recapitulation of the usually treated superficial phenomena of the land of the Mikado, the writer manages to convey the usual misconceptions by the usual truthful untruths. That is to say, a true statement may be made in such a way as to give a totally untrue impression, and those who have visited Japan after carefully "reading up
"that country, will perceive most clearly what is meant. The Con- teniporary Review puts it on record that "all the railways (in Japan) run close to the sea, and might be easily destroyed "by an enemy's warships." Its writer pictures the pigmy passengers (a quite erroneous and unjustifiable description, by the way) sitting on their heels on the low
The footpath nuisances continue to be as bad wooden seats of the railway carriages, en-
as ever in Hongkong, in spite of all the com. joying shower baths of sen spray. In the
plaints that have been made of late. Coolies can still carry their bamboos and loads on the tea gardens, holiday makers sit on the
side walks with impunity, and keep on their tables, instead of at them. Quite tue in all
great umbrella-sized hats. In the early morn- respects, that is, if the tables were tables;
ing few Europeans are abroad, but those that but what a nonsensical picture it presents
do stir out betimes for a stroll or on business to the reader unfamiliar with the scene
The Imperial Service Order which was in-
are liable to get struck by a leg of mutton depicted. When he comes to mention that stituted by His Majesty the King a few years or greasy pork or some such meat being carried
from the market. is not a cheap distinction. I believe I am
Meanwhile the Indian and the Japanese have a delicate sense of
correct in saying that Mr. Charles Ford, who for
Chinese constables look on calmly and do honour, "except among the shop-keeping more than thirty years was the Superintendent nothing.
class, in which social pariahs find a refuge of the Bota tical and Afforestation Department "where they can cheat in company," this of the Government in this Colony, is but the writer must have grievously exaggerat second Civil Servant of the Crown in the Far some ill-understood reference to certain East to receive the honour.. It was in foreign complaints of breaches of contract, changed general aspect of the island is the 1871 that Mr. Ford came to Hongkong, and the and the like, and thereby most heinously monument of his labours. Hongkong when it with a splendid barful of fish, which were pro- maligned a whole community of respectable
was ceded to the British Crown was described duced in the mess-room and exhibited with much and worthy folk. After this, the state- as presenting an appearance of a'olute sterility, pride and boasting. Afterwards the fish were ments that a ricksha-coolie travels faster though when some years later trained botanists distributed, some going to the boys. One of than any cab horse, and that every Japanese came to explore the island they surprised the the boys ou receiving his present thanked the takes a hot bath every evening, the poorest residents with the statement that there are few donor profusely and ejaculated, “Ee yah! No.1
no islands of equal area
salmon." on the whole fish belong" Canton
And being supplied with baths by the State, or seem trivial in comparison. In passing, extensive a flora.
surface of the globe with so varied and further examination it turned out that the whole catch were fresh water fish. presumably from this authority takes the trouble to assure
the market! us that in China the general moral state, and noble qualities, "fell asleep carly; and have yet to be aroused," oblivious to the fact that some of the very moral qualities he regards as peculiar to Japan are essen- tially Chinese.
It is interesting but (as MARK TWAIN would say) tough, to learn that MARQUIS ITO; a self-made man, has to step aside and give social precedence to any Daimio's son, otherwise of small account. Having made the startling premise that the temples in Japan, that land of truly ancient things, are but wooden and singularly perishable," Ivanovich formulates bis original theory that a grand stone building is au obstruction to progress when it has outlived its function. He says: "ecclesiastical, or any other system that "has no stone walls to support it, does not "survive its time of usefulness. The "Cathedrals of the 12th century in French provincial towns still debar minds from higher growth, and institutions too. Is "not the Kremlin the mainstay of Tsarism? Are not St. Peter's and the Vatican the pillars of Pupal Christianity? Without "the Wall of Lamentations there would probably be no Zionism. Japan has only "wooden and paper walls that cau easily "be made to fit in with new institutions." What a remarkable discovery! It is a pity that there was not added a suggestion of how free and enfranchised a country Eng-ton Gardens ?.
44
CC
16
11
"An
extremely few.
+
But of trees there were The hills," it was written. are covered with a mantle of grass amidst which rise the bare, blackened rocks; while the monotonous scene seems only varied by a few bushes, or a solitary tree studded here and there, and by the scattered groves of the Pinus of the declivities." sinensis clothing some to work to clothe the barren rock with verdure. came immediately set Nearly three thousand treas were planted during his first year in Hongkong, and as the trees grew well the work has through many years been continued until we have to-day the appearance of being the most charming as well as the most prosperous island in the
Mr. Ford when he
Far East.
appeared during the past week in the Daily With regard to the correspondence which has
Press re the exclusion of a certain section of
on
Not the least remarkable amongst Hongkong's curiosities is a rather large tree growing on top of a disused chimney in Wanchai. It is situated at the back of a Praya East coal godown situated near the corner of Percival Street.
BANYAN.
■
The movement of tea between China and
"Our transports," remarks the Manila Sunday Sun, never seem to be out of trouble, and the money that has been spent on them in repairs at Hongkong would make a decent hole in Rockefeller's income. On Wednesday the 22nd June the U.S.A.T. Liscum was run into by the gunboat Pampanga at Parang, Min- danao, and a hole knocked in her seven feet long the water-line. This will probably mean going by seven inches deep. Part of the rent is below
to Hongkong for repairs, to say nothing of the the Chinese community from the Botanic Gar-ship being out of commission for months." dens, I venture to express the opinion that the authorities have gone quite as far as the exigencies of the case warrant. The setting apart of the public gardens on certain days during the months of August, September and October. Practically for the exclusive use of residents other than Chinese, is, to say the least of it, a concession that, if carried to the extremes suggested by some correspondents, would sit exceedingly hard on the more respectable of our Chinese citizens, as well as constitute a serious contravention of the principles of freedom which are the backbone of our glorious British if the aristocracy demanded the exclusion of the constitution. What would be thought in London labouring classes from Rotten Row or Kensing.
Russia has been much interfered with by the military demands upon the Trans-Siberian Railway and by the loss of the port of Dalny. It has been found necessary to have recourse to
the old caravan route from Tientsin and Peking to Irkutsk and thence to Europe. The tea now goes by sea to Tientsin and thence by camels or by any other available means of conveyance. Insurances, the London Times says, have been placed on the consignments covering all risks, including capture, loss by theft, &c., * The premium charged is 5 guiness per cent. right through to Moscow and St. Petersburg. The ordinary peace rate on tea from China to Moscow was only 12s. 6d. per cent.