238
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
COMPANY MEETINGS.
sweetheart, placed the bank notes in his box unknown to him. She asked him to go to her, house which he did, and then she asked him' to stay for a meal, which he also did.
"And; this," said prisoner, "is the outcome of it all."
His Lordship, summing up, commented on the crudeness of the forgeries, and said the jury might infer guilty knowledge from the way in which the notes were disposed of after they came into prisoner's possession.
The jury found prisoner guilty on both charges.
His Lordship sentenced prisoner to three years' imprisonment with hard labour on each count, to run concurrently.
憂
FALSE PRETENCER.
Wong Chuen Fu was indicted on four counts for obtaining money by false pretences. Prisoner pleaded guilty on the third indictment.
The Attorney General said he would accept that. He explained that defendant went to a firm here representing that he was a foki of a well known firm at Pakhoi and obtained $20 and $10.
•
Defendant WAS sentenced to two years' imprisonment.
RECEIVING STOLEN GOODS.
Li Chuk pleaded not guilty to having received a gold bangle well knowing it to have been
stolen.
GEORGE FENWICK
AND COMPANY
The twentieth ordinary general meeting of shareholders in the above company was held on Mar. 23th. Mr. G. K. Haxton presided in the absence of Mr. A. Rodger (chairman), and there were also present Messrs. P. Tester and J. Rod ger (directors) J. Kinnard, J: R. Forbes, J. M. Irving and J. I. Andrew (general manager).
The notice convening the meeting having been read,
The CHAIRMAN said :-Gentlemen,--The re- port and statement of accounts for 1908 having beon in your hands for some days, I propose, with your permission, to take them as read. I need scarcely say that your directors regret extremely the unsatisfactory result of the company's operations during the past year. The keen competition referred to at our last meeting has been even more in evidence during the period under review but in spite of this we were able to keep the works fairly well employ- ed for the greater part of the time on work which returned what must under the circum- stances be considered satisfactory profits. The great falling off in the number of outside vessels visiting the port during the year has had a material effect in reducing our earnings, as The facts as stated by the Acting Attorney it is to this class of vessel rather than the re- General were that the prosecutrix, an amah.gular liners that we look for the bulk of our who lived in Des Voeux Road, was surprised repairing work. During the year we were one day last month by three men entering her forced into a legal controversy by one of our house and telling her that they had come to sub-contractors, as a result of which we were make cubicles. They, however, set upon her and compelled to submit to a loss of some $16,000. stole a gold bangle. Prisoner was subsequently Had your Directors not had every confidence in arrested as he was attempting to pawn the the security of our position in this matter, a article and in trying to get away he broke his compromise might have been effected on better terms, but we had taken every precaution to have the correctness of our attitude regarding the points in dispute verified by our legal advisers and had no reason whatever to anticipate an adverse judgement. The company's launches, machinery and property have been maintained in an efficient state of repair during the year and every effort has been made to reduce the cost of administration to a minimum con. sistent with efficiency. With a return of that Sir Henry Berkeley, who conducted the pro-prosperity to the Colony which can scarcely be secution, stated that Captain Spink's boy, in answer to the ringing of the bell, opened the door, when he was attacked by two men, one of whom threw pepper in his eyes. His screams brought Captain Spink, who was in bed at the time, and Mr. Lee, a neighbour upon the scene. They captured one of the men but the other got
arm.
Prisoner stated that he picked the bangle up as he saw another man throwing it away.
The jury found him guilty and he was sentenced to three years' imprisonment.
THE KOWLOON ATTEMPTED ROBBERY.
Tam Hop was arraigned on the charge of attempted robbery at the house occupied by Captain Spink at Lochiel Terrace, Kowloon, last month.
away.
The man captured was the prisoner. On him were found a quantity of pepper, a fighting iron and a coil of galvanised iron which is generally used for binding victims of rob-
beries, etc.
After the case for the Crown had been com- pleted, prisoner called three men to “
say that he was a good man," but none of them would accept the responsibility, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Sentence of five years' imprisonment was passed, as well as twenty
four strokes with the birch.
KULANGSU (AMO1) MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.
much longer delayed, we may hope to retrieve in some measure the losses which we have unfortunately been called upon the meet during the past year. Owing to continuance of the depression in the land and property market we have been unable to sell or lease any portion of our property and we are still therefore heavily handicapped with interest on mortgage, crown rent and taxes. During the year Mr. P. Tester was invited to join the Board of Directors and accepted. He now retires in accordance with the Articles of Association, but offers himself for re-elction. I may mention that, owing to the unsatisfactory result of the year's working your directors have again waived their customary fees. Before proposing the adop. tion of the reports an accounts I shall be pleased to answer to the best of my ability any questions relating to the business of the meeting. There being no questions. the report was adopted on the motion of the CHAIRMAN, second- ed by Mr. KINNAIRD.
Mr. P. Tester was re-elected as director on the motion of Mr. IRVINE, seconded by Mr. FORBES. Mr. RODGER proposed and Mr. Irvine seconded the re-election of Mr. Percy Smith as
The Minutes of a meeting of the Council, auditor. held at the Bord Room, on the 23rd February are as follows:--
Present's:-Messrs. W. H. Wallace (Chair- man), J. S. Fenwick, W. Kruse, S. Okuyama, W. Wilson, A. H. Wilzer, the Health Officer and the Secretary.
The Secretary is instructed to obtain further estimates for the repair of Seah Loh Tow Jetty.
The Superintendent cf Police reports the following cases have been dealt with at the Mixed Court since the last meeting: Summonses: assault 1: debt 1; throwing rubbish into the public drains 3; allowing cattle and pigs to stray 2; committing a nuis- ance 2. Summary Arrests: breach of proclama tion, dated the 20th Nov., 4; theft 8; assault 1; gambling 14; drunk and incapable 1; con- tempt of court i; breach of Opium Regulations 8; kidnapping 1; breach of Sampan Regula tions 1; housebreaking 2.
The CHAIRMAN-That is all the business, gentlemen. Thank you for
your attendance.
SOEY CHEE COTTON SPINNING CO LTD.
The fourteenth ordinary meeting of the above Company was held at the offices of Mossrs. Arnhold, Karberg & Co., Shanghai on the 10th inst. Mr. Mittag (Chairman of Directors) presiding.
The notice convening the meeting having been read by the Secretary, the CHAIRMAN in opening the proceedings said :—
Gentlemen, Before proceeding with the formal business of the meeting I extremely regret I have to announce the death of Mr. R. Lemke, the General Manager of our Company, which took place on the 10th June 1908. The deceased gentleman has been connected with the Company for a good many years, both as a member
[March 20, 1909.
of the Board of Directors and as General Mana- ger, and to the care and interest which he took in the welfare of the Company, a good part of the improvements which we have been able to effect within recent years, are due. I request you to rise in memory of the deceased. This all pre- sent did.
}
The CHAIRMAN proceeded: Regarding the report for last year's working and the balance sheet, these have been in your hands for some time, and with your permission I will follow the usual procedure and take them as read. As you will see from the accounts, the year under review has closed with a balance at credit of profit and loss account of Tls. 60,214.12 including the amount of Tls. 1,897.74 carried forward from 1907. The result cannot be considered as satisfactory, from & Shareholder's point of view, but it must be borne in mind that in sympathy with the depression in trade generally, our industry has been affected adversely and the mill even had to be shut down for several weeks. Turning to the accounts, there is nothing specially to be said with regard to them, but I would like to add a few words concerning the present values of the property, machinery, building, etc., accounts which appear under the heading of assets. I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the amounts mentioned as representing the present book values must be considered as very satisfactory inasmuch as we have, on a very liberal scale, continued the policy pointed out in our annual meeting three years ago. The rent sccount shows an increase over the figures mentioned in previous reports which is due to the fact of our having made satisfactory arrangements with our neighbours, the New Engineering and Ship- building Works Ld., regarding the foreshore property reclaimed in accordance with the river conservancy scheme. Our legal reserve fund will stand at something like Tls. 31,000 includ ing the amount to be placed to its credit last year. The financial position of the Company is very satisfactory, our only banking liability being an overdraft with the Deutsch Asiatische Bank on current account.
Turning to the working of the mill during the past year, the same has on a whole been fairly satisfactory taking into consideration the various adverse circumstances we have had to contend with. A close comparison of the earning capacity of our mill with the various foreign owned mills in Shanghai shows that we can hold our own both as regards the result obtained per spindle working and the percentage of profit realised on the capital subscribed. The Cotton market during the year under review has been extremely unsatisfactory from a spinners' point of view, the crop having been short and the quality deficient in staple. Owing to the stagnation in business generally your Directors did not feel justified in purchasing large quantities ahead on a speculative basis, but this policy unfortunately turned against us. When the last season was drawing to a close, prices of the raw material/kept on such a high level as to prevent us from spinning at a profit, and we docided to close the mill and overhaul our machinery. With the new crop coming in work was resumed and with very satisfactory results so that we decided to take up night work, and it is mostly due to the results of the last few mouths of the year that we have been able to show a profit in our accounts.
Year prices continued on a comparatively low level during the greater part of the year, and a rise only set in with the advent of the new crop's supplies, and I am glad to say the upward movement is still continuing at the present moment. Our mill machinery I am pleased to state is in a very good order and condition thanks to the care bestowed upon it by our mill manager and his staff.
As regards the future, as you are aware, the outlook is decidedly brighter, and if the various influences on which our industry is unfortunately depending in this country continue in our favour, there should be no casue for anxiety. Prices of cotton are showing a strong upward movement and it appears if we shall have again to reckon with a shortage before the new crop's supplies will be available. We have, however, been able to lay in a good stock and contract for delivery ahead before the rise set in. Yarn prices continue on a very high level and in fact record prices for
Page 10Page 11