400
For Inspectors of Nuisances:- R. Bennett, G. W. Coysh, H. J. Gidley, S. Gidley, J. T. Longstaff, G. Morphew, J. Reidie, and W. H. Woolley.
THE CHINA TRADERS' IN-
SURANCE CO., LD.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
To losses
WORKING ACCOUNT.
To charges, survey fees, &c.
To directors' and auditors' fees of head
office and branches
To exchange
To written off onsols
To written off furniture aco unt To balance..
Report for present tion to the shareholders at the thirty-eighth ordinary meeting, to be held at the Company's Offices on Tuesday, the By premia, less re-insurances, return pre- 6th December, 1904, at 11 a.m.
Capital subscribed Capital paid-up
Reserve fund
..$2,000,000
600,000 900,000
The Directors have now to lay before the shareholders the accompanying stateme.t of accounts for the year ended 30th April la‹t.
The net premia amount to 81,530,681.43, and the working account shows a balance a credit of $481,311.78, which sum the Directors re. comment be appropriated in the following
manner :-
A dividend of 18 per cent. to
shareholders (84.50 per share)..$108,000 00 A dividend of 15 per cent. on bonus-bearing contributions, (payable
to contributors
whether shareholders or not)... 100,000.00 To transfer to reserve fund
(Raising the reserve to $450,000
Balance to underwriting suspense
account to close the year
DIRECTORS.
50,000.00
223,311.78
$481,311.78
Mr. C. Michelau retired from the Board during the year; Mr. A. Haupt accepted the invitation of the Directors to rejoin the Board, and his appointment will be submitted for the confirmation of shareholders.
Messrs. A. J. Raymond and E. Ormiston retire by rotation and offer themselves for re-election.
AUDITORS.
The annexed accounts have been audited by Messrs. T. Arnold and H. U. Jeffries, who offer themselves for re- lection.
EVAN ORMISTON, Chairman.
The accounts are as follows:-
ASSETS.
C.
STATEMENT OF ACCOUNT For the year ending 3 th April, 1901.
$ Cash in hand
94,626.02 Fixed deposits with banks in Hongkong 350 000,00 Invested in mortgages of properties
in Hongkong... $526,000.00 in Shanghai
316,073.05
Bonds of Chinese Imperial Government loan, 1886, 116 bonds at taels 250- taels 29,000. Hongkong and Kowloon Wharf and Go-
down Co., Limited, debentures Shanghai Waterworks Co., Ld., debentures London branch :-
Cash in hand and in course
of collection
$2,49 ..21 Indian Government securities 364, 726 25 Consols..
43,000.00
Fixed deposits with banks 295,000.00
Travancore tea estates de-
bentures
Leasehold property, 73 Corn-
bill
Australasian branches :—
10,000.00
242,500,00
Cash in hand, in course of collection,
and on fired deposit
Cash in hand, in course of collection,
Yokohama branch ---
Shanghai branch:-
and on fired deposit
Cash in hand and in course
of collection.
$10,532.86
100,000.00
Deposit with Japanese Go
vernment..
Interest accrued, but not yet payable.
Furniture at head office and branches Sundry debtors
mia and commissions Ry interest
By transfer fees
RESERVE FUND.
To balance on 31st October, 1904
By balance on 31st October, 1903.
864 129.27
247,714.44
18,704.58
[November 28, 1904.
`FAMOUS INVENTOR IN HONGKONG.
16.05.10
Among the guests at the King Edward Hotel 6,250,00
there has been for the last few days Captain 7,000.00 481,311.78 Orlan Clyde Cullen, C.E., L.L.M, Official Des
patch Bearer for the American Government, $1,641,160.17 better known as the inventor and manufacturer of "the ball-bearing rifled gun," about which the military expert of the Times had a great deal to say in the issue for the 18th of June.
Captain Cullen had no great objection to be He ex interviewed, and pretended to none. plained that he had been a newspaper man himself in his time; but that there was nothing else known against him All great Americans seem to have been journalists at some period of their career.
$ ..1,530, 8.3
116.85
110,362.09
$1,641,160.17
$900,000,00 $900,000.00
THE HONGKONG STEAM WATER-BOAT CO., LD.
:0:
The annual general meeting of this Company was held at the Company's office, No. 37, Connaught Road, on the 25th inst., when there were present, Messrs. Chau Sio Ki (Chairman), Francisco Tsze Yat (member of Consulting Committee), J. W. Kew (Manager), Chiu Sheang Sang, Kwan Fong Kok, Kwan Chu Ngan, Tam Chun Hing, G. C. Moxon and A. H. Shelton (shareholders).
and
ANNUAL REPORT.
advance on
am
Captain Cullen did not claim to be a great American (he stands six feet two inches,); but he was convinced that his invention was "great," and its progress already justifies some such claim
Although hundreds of inventors, wrote the Times expert, have devoted time and ingenuity to the improvement of guns, no change of funds- mental importance has been effected in the means by which rotation is imparted to the projectile since rifling was first introduced. And he went on to explain how the friction in the rifle grooves generated heat and diminished velocity, He added that Captain Cullen's invention had successfully avoided this waste of energy.
It consists of a lot of hard steel ball bearings placed in the rifling, with just a small are of their circumferences protruding into the barrel for the projectile to travel over. The projection is about one-twentieth of their diameter. Experts certify that the system is just as gas-tight as The perfectly smooth the ordinary rifling. cylindrical projectile fits closely to the bear- ings. The Times said the invention permitted the projectile to travel so easily and rapidly. "that the gas has scarcely time to get ahead of - it." our
In moving the adoption of the report balance sheet, the CHAIRMAN said:
and -Gentlemen,-The report
accounts have been in your hands for some days. I will, with your permission, take them as read. It is with pleasure that I enabled to lay before you a balance sheet re- cording an
last year's profits, of over 86,000, and I trust that you will be satisfied with the figures now presented to you. We have recently taken an important step in amalgamating our business with that owned by Messr. Lane, Crawford & Co., which has necessitated a doubling of capital, as Messrs. Lane, Crawford & Co. were paid for their boats and goodwill in scrip to the extent of $75,000. I believe that it is greatly to the interests of the ori- ginal shareholders in the comp ny that this amalgamation has been effected, and I trust that time will prove the wisdom of the course that has been adopted Your consulting com- mittee is of opinion that the position of this Company should be strengthened as much as possible, in view of compet tion, both in esse and in posse. They have, as you will observe, written off the original goodwill of the com- pany entirely, and have placed 82,500 to reserve 37,228.73 fund, a fund that it is to be hoped will be materially increased as time goes on. You 150,000.00 possess a good fleet of well-equipped, wel
5,479.45 found, cleanly water boats, and I would lay special stress on this latt r fact. In this connection I would make brief re- ference to a recent meeting of the Sanitary Board, at which some discussion took place as to the source from which competing water boats draw their supply. This company has eudeavoured, and will continue to endeavour, to keep their boats in a sanitary condition, and to supply absolutely wholesome water, and I am of opinion that we merit the support of those steamers watering in this harbour, who have due regard to the comfort and health of Prospects for the their passengers and crews. 12,629.33 currout year are encouraging, and I trust that our next balance will give cause for no dis- appointment to those interested. Before pro- posing the adoption of the report and accounts I shall be glad to answer any questions you may wish to ask.
$42,073.05
981,716.41
178,730.93
110,532.86 3,264.57
There were no questions. The motion was 7,203.61 seconded by Mr. Moxon and carried. The re- election of the Clairman to the consulting committee was proposed by Mr. Chin Sheung Sang, seconded by Mr. Tam hun Hing. 0. and carried.
5.,138.46
$2,7 8,653.47
:
LIABILITIES.
Capital subscribed
$2,000,000.00
Paid up $25 on 24,000 shares...
Reserve fund
Re-insurance fund
Exchange fluctuation account Underwriting suspensa account Dividends outstanding.
Sundry creditors
Balance of working account
Mr. A. H. kelton proposed and Mr. Chau 600,000.00
Siu Ki seconded the re election of Mr. Frin 900,000,00 362,366.64 cisco Teze Yat to the consulting committee. Mr. Moxon's 151,992.40 and this motion was carried. 148,113.90 re-election was proposed by the Chairman, 27,610.83 secouded by Mr. Francisco Taze Yat, and 97,257.92
carried. Mr. F. Maitland was re-elected as 481,911.78
auditor, on the motion of Mr. J. W. Kew $2,7-8,653.47 seconded by Mr. G. C. Moxon.
"Now, Captain, if you will remember that it is not given to all newspaper men to savvy the theory of gunnery, you will give
me
the points without permitting me to expose my ignorance by putting foolish ques- tions."
This set the inventor off at a great rate, with copious references to average velocity, maximum of penetration, trajectory, and things like that. The gist of it was that the new gun gave forty per cent. better results in all these details, reckoning, of course, on equal weights of explo. sive and projectile.
"Is it as expensive as the guns in general use now ?"
"The cost of manufacture is greater to begin You can understand that the with," he said. difficulty of cutting the grooves, which must be absolutely circular and absolutely parallel to each other, along the necessary spirals, ią much greater than to make the ordinary groovOS. That only takes into account the initial cost, You have to remember that my however. projectiles are so much simpler and cheaper that nearly all the wear and tear if on the ball bearings, which are readily renewable; and that means a much longer life for the gọn than is the case at present."
A
Another point he did not mention, but which appears in the Times, is that the barrel does not heat "So markedly is this the case that with Maxim guns it is said to be possible to dispense with the cooling jackets which have given so much trouble in Tibet."
44
What Governments, if any, have taken up your invention, Captain? *
"The Egyptian, the Japanese, and our own," replied Captain Cullen. Your British Govern- ment has also had tests made, and favourable reports were returned by the experts. The Japanese have my works now, and are running them for two years with their own manager in charge. That's how I am able to be here now." "Have they any in use in the present war?
44
They have, or should have, a couple at Port Arthur, and there are more on the way. They have them on the Mikasa, too My gons will be the ones that will reduce that Golden Fort at Port Arthur, you'll see."
會
Here the interviewer, beginning to think he now. knew something about guns, suggested that it would be a big loss to a Government