Juyl 10, 1905.]
་་
poorly paid. So they "have to squeeze the suitors and prisoners, to make money in various dishonourable ways. Since the closing of the brothels in Chon Tong, they have lost the greater part of their income. They are now on strike," and have 1-ft the yamens in the hope of coercing the mandarin to re-open the brothels. The Angean stables have cleaned themselves if the mandaries only knew it.
#1 BLESSED ARE THE MEEK.' On the 29th June, as the passenger boat Hop Lee was leaving Kongchuin, in the district of Pun Yui, for Canton, and just as she was in So Chuin, a number of pirates attacked and boarded her. A Chinese official with his soldiers was on board. He and his soldiers." and the passengers, were robbed; and the pirates got away unmolested.
POLICE SUPERVISION.
L
Japanese coffee houses. restaurants, bath houses, and brothels in Canton and Honam, have been doing a big business. The Viceroy has ordered the Nam Hoi Magistrate to close oue. and to place all the rest under police supervision.
CHINESE BAKERS AND COOKS JOIN AMERICAN BOYCOTT.
Anent the American Exclusion of Chinese labour, all employees of the restaurants and tea houses in Canton have notified their employers that henceforth they will never use American flour to make cakes, and that if their employers seek to compel them to use it. they will strike.
COMPANIES.
CHINA LIGHT AND POWER CO, LD
An extraordinary general meeting of this Company was held at St. George's Buildings Connaught Road, on the 8th instant. when there were present:-Hon. Mr. R. Shewan (Chairman), Sir C. P. Chater Dr. Noble and Mr. H. B. White (Directors), and Messrs. A. Babington, N. H. Rutherford, W. R. Robertson. R. Fung Wa Chuen, A. Cordeiro and Henderson.
The notice convening the meeting having been read, also the resolution that the capital of the Company be increased to $500,000 by the creation of 20,000 new shares at $10 each, the CHAIRMAN proposed that such resolution be confirmed as a special resolution.
SIR PAUL. CHATER seconded the proposition, which was carried unanimously.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen.
THE HONGKONG ELECTRIC CO.,
LIMITED.
The report of the Board of Directors to the sixteenth ordinary yearly meeting of share- holders to be held at the company's office, St. George's Building, at 12.30 p.m., on Saturday. 15th July, reads:-
Gentlemen,--Your directors have the pleasure to submit the accompanying statement of the company's accounts for the year ending 30th April, 1905.
The balance at credit of profit and loss account is $112,199.88; after deducting directors' fees ($3,000) there remains the sum of $109,199.88 available for appreciation, and your directors recommend that this be disposed of as follows:-
To pay a dividend of 10 per cent. :— Say $1 per share on 30,000
fully paid shares..
Say 50 cents per share on
$30,000,00
30,000 part paid shares 15,000.00
-$45,000 00
To write off plant a/c. for depreciation 62,048.76 To carry forward to next account 2,151.12
$109,199.88
|
The manager reports that the number of lamps, fans and motors connected to the com. pany's supply service on the 1st June was equivalent to upwards of 34,500 lamps of 8 candle power. 85 are lamps are maintained by. the company and 15 electric lifts are being operated by the power service, During the year a 250 K. W. steam alternator has been eracted at the company's works, and an im. proved motor generator has been fitted for use in connection with the power service. A new
CHINA OVERLAND TRÅDE REPORT.
chimney is now in course of construction at the works, the original chimney being inadequate to serve the increasing demands for power.
DIRECTORS.
Messrs. E. S. Whealler and W. J. Gresson haring resigned their seats on their departure from the Colony, Mr. G. H. Med barst and Hon. C. W. Dickson were invited to fill the vacancies on the Board and these appointments require confirmation. In accordance with the articles of association, Messrs. A. G. Wood and G. H. Medhurst retire, but, being eligible, offer then- selves for re-election.
AUDITORS.
The accounts have been audited by the Hon. Mr. Gershom Stewart and Mr. C. W. May, who offer themselves for re-election.
A. G. Woon. Chairman.
Hongkong, 30th June, 1905.
Th accounts are as follows:-
STA EVENT OF ACCOUNTS To April 30th, 19 å.
Capital:
LIABILITIES
$ (. 30, shures each $10 paid up 3 0,00,00 3.00 shares each 35 paid up 1550 0,00
1
Sundry ‹ reditors
Dividends unclaimed Suspense account
Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corpora-
tion Kal nee of profit and loss account
ASSETS.
$
450.000.00 4,4×4.00 5.37
1.757.29
36,6:37.87 112.199.88
$610.675.39
$ C
$
Plant, cost f,- per last account 349.222.11- Le-8 amount provided for depre
ciation...
44.222.11
$305,090.00 72,018.76
Cost of plant, since achi-l
Property, east of land and buildings as
per last acronut
Instation material, stuck of Stores an i coal stook of
Furniture, rest of, as per last
Tuels, &c., stock of
arcount
..
Cost of furniture since added
$
ť
802 Sh 171.91
Insurance, value of unexpired portions of
policies Sundry debtors Cash with agents
Dr.
WORKING ACCOUNT.
To agency and office expenses
To rent and taxes
insurance
To interest
To auditors' fees
Tu bad debts
C.
82.486.7
89.69 82
•
לם
It is clear that without an agreement in this sense the purchasing syndicate might bare rendered the new £1 shares of little or no value. Before taking the responsibility of submitting the scheme to th shareholders the Director onght to lave safeguarded this elementary point, or to have made it plain that they had not done so. They apparently took neither conrse; the Chairman stated that after months of negotiation it seemed to the Directors that thfinal offers left very little roopiladý, for a return on the original shares.
It was the precipitate action of the Board in submitting a crude scheme which was adversely criti isd, and not the general management of the Company, which has given a return to the shareholders for many years of which the Directors may be proud.
In the future, farther questions of a non- fechnical character affecting the Company's welfare may arise; changes in the management are inevitable sooner or later; at present the Board of Directors have practically the power of electing their successors; under these circum- stances it is surely worthy of consideration whether it is in the best interests of the Com- pany this arrangement should be permanent, even after the retirement of the men who have made the Company; or whether the basis of representation on the Board should not be ext-nded. In any case there seems to be no reason why the suggestion should be looked upon as hostile to the present Directors.“
TELEPHONE DEVELOPMENTS.
The Oriental Telephone and Electric Com. pany, Limited, of which the China and Japan Telepho e Company is a subsidiary company, unanimously decided at an extraordinary gen ral meeting of shareholders held in London on May 877.048.7631st to create debenture stock to the extent of £200,000, The Chairman explained that the money was wanted for underground cables and similar purposes. Locally the work of placing the c bles underground is now in prog ess. The Chairman informed the shareholders, that the directors might contemplate the erection of new premiss at Hongkong as the present exchange was too small for the needs of the business. Money was also required for develop- ments in Egypt and India.
11.36, 3 1,033.25
774.76
Ha}, " 34.9 7.18 B.036.72
$610,075 35
$
2.
6.00 4,00
2.79 .21
2.9/9.75
2.204.95
20.00
£16.03
To amount carried to profit and loss account 119,452.2
Cr.
by net profit working By scrip and transfer fees
Dr.
$124.973.16
INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS' REPORT.
The report of Mr. Edward A. Irvine. Inspector of schools at Hongkong. appears in the Govern. The following are ment Gazette on Saturday.
extracts.
Excluding $500 paid by Mr. Arculli towards the cost of the Indian School as explained below, the Revenue collected by the Department amounts to 37,177.50 The revenue collected has increased from $922 in 1900 to $7.177.50 in the year under review, or nearly eight-fold. The Expenditure on Education, including Queen's College, for the year was $151, 89, being 2.32 per cent. of $124,973.16 the estimated expenditure.
C.
$ 121944.16 20.00
PROFIT AND LOSS ACCOUNT. To amount available for appropriation
Cr.
By amount of undivided profit, as per last
#ecount
By balance of working account brought
down
$
112,199.88
$
C.
The number of Schools (Government and Grant) including Queen's College, is 81, "f which 23 are upper grade schools and 58 are • lower grade schools. An upper grade school means one in which at least part of the staff is European Lower grade schools are those under purely native management. Broadly speaking 110.452.22 the upper grade schools teach in English, and the lower grade schools teach in the Vernacu- $112,199.88 lar.
1.747.68
S. C. FARNHAM BOYD & CO
Mr. F. Anderson was not present at Farnham Boyd's recent meeting, but he makes the following comment in the Press.
definite offer' which "The raine of the
was submitted to the shareholders depended upen whether there were reasonable grounds for believing that the sixteen £l shares in the new Company would be worth par after flotation; it is obvious that the future value of these £1 shares depended entirely upon an agreement as to the limitation of a further issue of ordinary or preference shares or of debentures, and the terms upon which such issue would be per. missible.
;
;
1
'
The number of scholars in the Government and Grant Schools are calculated from the average attendance Now the average attend- ance in Hongkong Schools compared with the numbers on the rolls is very low, partly owing to the annual plague epidemic, which seriously depletes the schools during certain months of the year, and partly because the Chinese scholars are constantly withdrawn by their parents to attend social and relisions fanctions at their homes on the mainland. The severity of the plague in 1896 and 1901 is reflected in the serious drop in the attendances for those years. Nevertheless a more accurate reproduction of the actual state of affairs is obtained by making the average attendance the basis of calculation, than would have been arrived så, had the total enrolment beet used. The scholars of Hongkong,