August 13, 1904.]
bridge, and even during the short intervals be. tween squalls the wind blew with frightful force. | Tremendous seas tossed the ship about, so that the engines raced almost continuously I knew exactly where I was, for I had taken observations on the previous day. We were, however, able to make very little head- way; it was all leeway. The steamer, in fact, was unmanageable. At times it was unsafe to allow the engines to revolve more than thirty-five per minute. This sort of thing con. tinued till one o'clock in the afternoon, when the wind jumped suddenly from E.N.E. to 8.E.by. driving us N.W. towards the reef. · At about 4 p.m. a towering wave, like many predecessors. lifted us another pace to leeward. The ship began to careene, and we discovered we were on a reef.
Captain Crocker thinks it
may be possible to salve the ship. She is a vessel of 1.703 tons net (4.235 gross). and
new
was launched at Glasgow on the 30th of October last. She arrived at Hongkong from Moji on the 22nd ult.. with a cargo of coal for Messrs. Bradley & Co.
HONGKONG.
The disabled Leviathan is the only warship in port.
Licences to shoot and take game are due for renewal or issue on the 1st September. The amount payable has been increased to $10.
The Polo Ground at Causeway Bay is still closed, as the Public Works Department think it is not yet in a fit condition for play.
Subadar Balkhrisna Rao, 110th Mahratta Light Infantry, has been appointed Honorary Aide-de-Camp to H.E. the Governor.
The appointment of Hon. William Jardine Gresson, as temporary unofficial member of the Executive and Legislative Councils, has been approved by the King.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Sir Matthew Nathan retains his position and seniority as an officer of the corps of Royal Engineers, in which he holds the rank of major. on taking up his duties as Governor and Commander-in-Chief of Hongkong.
Some days ago a large number of soldiers under the command of Li Taotai proceeded to Heung Shan district to effect the capture of a
notorious robber named Lam Kwa-Sz under
whom there are about one thousand followers. On the arrival of the soldiers, the robbers fire hours. About two dozen robbers were kille l at them first. The encounter lasted several
that the den of the robbers is in Siu.Yan and one was captured alive. The captive said of Heumg Shan district, which can be entere from all sides hy land and by water. The Taotai has given orders to completely surround the place.-Chung Ngoi Søn Po.
The American barque Ecie J. Ray. Capt. F. Kaster. had a very long voyage from Borneo to Hongkong. She left Rajang on the 2nd October last and encountered a typhoon off the coast of Luzon, being nearly driven ashore. After the storm the vessel was found to have severely strained herself. and was making water freely. It was found necessary to put into Nhatrang for repairs. After leaving that port for Hongkong the steam pump broke down, and they had to put into Manila, where the ship was again repaired. Another typhoon was met with, and again the ship put back in distress, The Erie J. Ray was over ten months on the voyage from Borneo to this port.
**
121
One of our London staff has had the pleasure of inspecting the statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, by Signor Raggi, to whom Hongkong is al- ready indebted for two very fine works of art, the Queen Victoria Statue and Canopy and the Statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy in the Public Gardens. Our representative writes that he feels every coufidence this new work will add to the already high reputation of the artist, the likeness and expression of Sir Thomas being giren with great fidelity. The figure is ten feet, and is to be erected on a pedestal ten feet high. which will bear the following in- scription
The
SIR THOMAS JACKSON, Knighted 1899, Created Baronet 1902, Joined the service of
Hongkong & Shanghai Banking Corporation
1868,
Appointed Chief Manager 1892, Retired 1902.
1
The statue is to be erecte on a site to be
selected, in some central position in the city of Victoria, at the cost the Corporation Bir Thomas has served so well. Mr. Raggi expects that the casting will be finished in about four months. The Beaconsfield Statue in Parliament Square, which is so much admired, is the work
of the same artist, in whose studio are to be found
statues of our lute Queen, of the late Lord Salisbury, and of many others.
MISCELLANEOUS.
Two Chinese coolies were arrested for desert-
The H.A. steamer Arabia, released from Vladivostock, is now on her way to Shanghai.
Paris is supplying a judicial adviser to the King of Siam.
An American syndicate, proposing to import tim from the Straits, has had to abandon the idea for the present.
shortly after noon, on the 10th inst., it was caughting from a Johannesburg mine.
While a small yacht was crossing the harbour by a squall and capsized. and the occupant, a There was a very choppy sea running at the military officer. was thrown into the water. time, and the yacht was in considerable danger of going under. Luckily for the yachtsman The 29th July was the hottest day of last hand and she immediately changed her course one of the Star Ferry launches was near at month. The temperature stood at 90 degrees.and picked him up, not much the worse for his During the month rain fell on nineteen days. unpleasant experience. The ferry towed the where the intrepid yachtsman was soon the water-logged yacht to the Kowloon wharf, centre of attraction of a crowd of admiring Chinese.
In all there were 147.4 hours of sunshine.
Mr. Charles Ford. formerly superintendent of the Botanical and Afforestation Department at Hongkong, was invested on July 5th, by the King in person, with the Imperial Service Order.
We have no fear of a yellow peril, no dread of another Boxer outbreak. Those who are most anxious to spread beliefs of that sort have other reasons for so doing than plain fact. We believe, says the Shanghai Mercury, that the events of the past few months have been for the good of the world at large and of China in particular.
During the stormy weather of the 9th and 10th inst. several mishaps occurred in the har- bour. One sampan capsized off Stonecutter's Island, another off the Kowloon Wharves, and a third at Shankiwan. A nightsoil boat filled and sank off the Canton Wharf; and several native boats were blown ashore in Kowloon Bay. During all this
up to
midnight. the
Star" Ferry kept up its regular service. crossing the Harbour during very fierce squalls. The Hunghom, Shaukiwan. and Yaumati passenger boats also maintained their service.
A most enjoyable concert was given at Club Germania on the 10th inst. when the members invited a number of their friends. The occasion was that of introducing Mr. Ludwig Schliebner to the German community and others at Hongkong. Besides Mr. Schliebner. who played some of his own compositions on the piano, those who contributed to the harmony of the evening were Mrs. F. Maitland, Messrs. C. Lammert, C. Schroeter and Frank Austin. Mr. Schliebner displayed great talent. He is the composer of several operas, songs and pianoforte pieces.
In the statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, for Hongkong, the completion of which we recently reported, Sir Thomas is represented in ordinary frock-cost attiro, standing in easy posture, and the Lepresentation generally, both as to face and figure, is undoubtedly excellent. The monument may be placed in the same locality of Hongkong as that in which was erected the beautiful statue of Queen Victoria, with its fine temple-canopy, for both of which Mr. Raggi is responsible, as he also is for the noble Hongkong statue of the late Governor Sir Arthur Kennedy, in military costume.
The funeral took place at Happy Valley, on the 10th inst. of Mr. John Logan, late chief engineer of the Hongkong, Cantona and Macao Steamboat Co.'s 8.8. Fatshan. He died in the Government Civil Hospital on Tuesday. Mr. Logan was on the Canton River run for nigh twenty years, and was one of the oldest and most respected engineers on the China coast. Be was a ative of the north of Scotland. His genial ways and hearty manner will be recalled by many who have made the trip up to Canton ou the Fatshan. Some years ago Mr. Logan went to South Africa and worked there for a time, but he came back to Ilongkong and was reinstated in his old position on the Fatshan. In its editorial columns, the L. & C. Express says:- Sir Matthew Nathan, the new Go- vernor of Hongkong, took great interest in the question of the Canton-Kowloon railway pre- viously to his departure, His Excellency holds a strong view on the subject of the desirability of its railway construction, and we may add, in this connection, that the Colonial Office also has taken much interest in the matter. We believe we are not much apart from the truth when we say that the Colonial Office would go as far as to either provide, or guarantee, the money for the portion of the line that will run through British territory. Snch being the case we may hope that the difficulties which have hitherto stood in the way of the carrying out of the concession, and the present obstructions that are being resorted to will be removed, and the line--the importance of which has been fre- quently referred to in these columns-be speedily put in hand. Besides, further delay may prove danger us to the future of the colony. The American-Belgian Syndicate, in the absence of any sign of the British railway. are credited with the intention of asking a further concession from China to enable it to connect the port of Swatow with its trunk railway. It is scarcely necessary to point out that a rival with such exclusive facilities of access of collection and distribution would have a serious effect upon the future commercial prosperity of Hongkong.
The Tokyo Foreign Office advised, on the 1st instant, the delay of steainers intending to leave Shanghai for Newchwang.
The U.S. transport Ajaz carried away the bowsprit of the French gunboat Surprise at Shanghai, both vessels having drifted from their moorings in heavy weather.
rock near Weihaiwei and was to be sent to The British destroyer Junus, which ran on s Taku for repairs, has arrived safely, and is now in the hands of the Taku Tug and Lighter Co. Lả.
Jacques Goliak, the last of an heroic band of 123 French soldiers who kept 12,000 Arabe at bay for four days in the Algerian campaign sixty-four years ago, died at Strasburg recently, aged ninety years.
The reliefs for the British garrison at Tientsin are to be composed of the 2nd West Sherwood Foresters; and the 41st Dogras and Kent Regt., from Ceylon, to replace the 1st 47th Sikhs, from India, to replace the 21st and 38th Punjabis.
&
Prof. Jenks argues that success attending the introduction of ten-cash pieces in many parts of China supports his contention that currency on a rational basis would be readily received by the pople here as it has in other countries.
The N.Y.K. steamer Hyogo-maru, which, it was feared, was sunk by the Vladivostock Squadron on July 24th, arrived safely at Yokohama on July 26th from the Bonin Islands. The Englishmen of Shanghai met on the 2nd inst. to reorganise the local St. George's society, and to establish it on a permanent basis.
It is stated that the steamer Holstein has been seized at Saigon by the Castoms authorities, on the pretext that she was endeavouring to smuggle in opium. The Holstein left Hong- kong for Saigon on the 27th ult. The Customs authorities were willing to release the steamer under a $30,000 guarantee.
The Viceroy of Liang-Kiang has sanctioned the request of some wealthy native gentlemen of Canton for the construction of a short line from Samshui to Kiangomen (Kongmoon ) as a branch of the Yueh-Han trunk railway. It is said the capital will be subscribed from both foreign and Chinese merchants at Hongkong, Singapore and other foreign colonies. The promoters, says the P. & T. Times, are now only awaiting the final approval of the Boards of Commerce and Foreign Affairs.