536
SHIPPING NOTES.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
Ten guineas was paid in London on the 23rdhering to the new law there would be a. small ult. for reinsurance of the German mail steamer Prinzess Alice, which was reported overdue at Singapore from Hongkong.
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The half-yearly general meeting of the Nisshin Kisen Kaisha (Japan-China Steamship Company) took place at Tokyo recently, when a dividend of five per cent. per annum was declared.
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The Hamburg-Amerika Linia steamer Bris- gavia, which had been ashore outside Woosung for about ten days, was successfully refloated at 8.15 a.m. on the 9th inst. The task of refloating her was entrusted to the Kochien Transportation and Towboat Company. The Brisgavia will be docked for examination.
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President Taft in his recent message to Congress has strongly urged the enactment of a Ship Subsidy Bill to encourage American, shipping. According to a telegram published by the Manila papers, the President commented upon the deplorable depletion of American shipping and the embarrassing absence of bottoms to aid the navy in case of war or to carry the country's commerce in times of peace.
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The ill-fated steamer Kisogata-Maru II. which foundered recently in a typhoon in the Japan Sea, was insured with the Imperial Marine Insurance Co. for Y.90,000. Her cargo, con- sisting of beans and bean-cake, which was a total loss, in valued at about Y100,000. She had a crew of 85 and a few passengers, and all of them, it is feared, were drowned, The bodies of 26 men and of two women have been recover- ed. The fate of the Captain is unknown,
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According to official returns to the end of October, the number of steamers belonging to the Japanese merchant marine totals 1,643, with an aggregate displacement of 1,182,974 tons gross. Steamers afloat displacing over 10,000 fons are two in number, and those displacing between 5,000 and 9,000 tons number thirty-fourl Sailing vessels number 4,799, with a tota,
displacement of 383,897 tons gross. They include one vessel of over 2,000 tons. Sailing vessels, the carrying capacity whereof is measured by koku, number 1,881, with an aggregate capacity of 656,181 koku.
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The N. Y. K.'s Yokohama-Shanghai liner Yamaguchi Maru (3,221 tons), which left w Woji at 4.30 p.m. on the 5th for Nagasaki, stranded at Ipponmatsu, outside Moji.. The vessel, which is commanded by Captain J. Hands, has a crew of about fifty, with forty passengers, and is carrying a cargo of some 1,500 tons, consisting of cotton yarn, matches, sugar and piece goods. It appears that when trying to turn her helm to the westward the steamer was caught by a strong north-west wind and blown back towards Moji. She was also carried westward by the ebb tide and rapidly approached the shore. An attempt was made to anchor the vessel, bat without avan, the steamer eventually stranding. The distante between her bows and the shore is reported to be only from twelve to eighteen feet. As, however, the bottom is of sand, the shock was so slight that the passengers were not aware at first that the ship had stranded. It was believed that no damage has been done to the bottom of the vessel, and there was no fear of water getting in.
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than the sum aceraing under the new law, the ships would find themselves entirely without State aid at the end of the five years. By ad-
decrease of subvention. but it would continue for 15 years, though from the end of the fifth year the scale would be gradually reduced. Moreover, the age of a ship is an important factor under the new law, and in the case of the American line this provision would entail the building of three new steamers at a cost of 3 million yen in the near future. That difficulty does not exist, however, in the case of the European line. The Company has six now steamers of 8,500 tons each plying upon that route, and these would be eligible for State aid throughout the entire term of 15 years. On the whole, the President and the Directors recommended that the Company should adhere to the new law, and the recommendation was unanimously approved by the meeting.
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Great increases in the steamship services and the augmenting of the lines now in operation in the trans-Pacific trade are anticipated within the next few years. Next summer many ad- ditions are expected, but it is in 1911, says a Canadian paper, that the largest increases are expected, when the C.P.R. will add two large steamers, either the R.M.S. Empress of Ireland and Empress of Britain, or two similarly large and well-equipped liners to be specially cou- structed for the trade, and the Canadian Northern Railroad Company and Grand Trunk Pacific Company will establish connecting steamship lines, probably both to the Orient and Antipodes. The paper we quote mentions that Mr. James Bain, who recently retired as superintendent of the Cunard Line, is bound to the Orient with the stated intention of establishing a new trans- Pacific service. It further states that the Bank Line to Hongkong and Mauila will be augmented next summer with two new liners. the Luceri and Orteric The former, a modern freight and passenger steamer of 11,000 tons now being completed at Port Glasgow on the Clyde, will leave Hongkong for Vancouver and Puget Sound in August next, and the second steamer will leave in September.
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The large twin-screw vessel which Messrs. R. and W. Hawthorn, Leslie & Co., Ltd are under construction for Messrs. Alfred Holt & (a., of Liverpool, was successfully launched at Hebburn last month, when Mrs. Richard D. Holt, wife of the member for Hexham, per- formed the christening ceremony by naming the vessel Protesilaus, as it moved towards the water. The vessel has been designed for the Far Eastern general cargo trade, and details of construction have all been arranged to make her specially suitable.
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[December 20, 1909.
HONGKONG SAILORS' AND SOLDIERS' HOME.
DONATION FROM THE GERMAN SQUADRON.
The Rev. J. A, A. Baker writes to say that he has received $220 from Dr. E. A. Voretzsch, the Imperial German Consul. This is the result of an appeal to Admiral Ingenobl, who has received this from the German men-of-war under his command in the Far East. Such an amount will help considerably to swell the funds, and the Committee are very grateful to Dr. Voretzsch for taking the matter in hand. While the German vessels are in Hongkong harbour the men use the Sailors' and Soldiers' Home continually.
DECORATIONS FOR OFFICERS OF THE I. M. CUSTOMS.
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By Imperial Edict the decoration of the Order of the Double Dragon of the Second Division has been conferred on Mr. A. H. Harris, formerly of Swatow and now Commis, sioner of Customs for Kowloon and District, and that of the Third Division on Mr. R. A. Currie, now in England, lately Acting Commis- sioner at Swatow.
The decorations have been granted on the recommendation of the late Canton Viceroy, for services rendered in Customs and Postal work in the Swatow District,
RESIGNATION OF THE SHANGHAI MUNICIPAL ENGINEER.
The minutes of the Shanghai Municipal Council include the following reference to the resignation of Mr. C. Mayne, the Municipal Engineer and Surveyor:-The resignation of Mr. C. Mayne of his appointment as Engineer and Surveyor is submitted, with effect from November 27. Mr. Mayne's recent special leave for six months was granted in the hope that his private affairs would admit of his resuming work in December; such, however, has not been found practicable, and no course remains to the Council but to accept his resignation.
This employe's appointment dates from May, 1889, and the Chairman makes reference to his twenty years' satisfactory work as the head of He has carried out his duties during this period an important branch of the Municipal Service. with singleness of purpose and preserved a record for the Department of continuous integrity.
It is decided to offer Mr. Mayne the appoint- ment of Consulting Engineer to the Council at a salary of £150 a year renewable annually. He will be required in periodical reports to advise the Council on all matters connected with municipal engineering, and to undertake the collection of particulars as to any subject upon which the Council may desire information.
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Upon the unanimous recommendation of the Works Committee, it is decided to appoint Mr. C. H. Godfrey, at present the Deputy Engineer, to the post of Municipal Engineer.
The dimensions of the Protesilaus are: Length, 501 feet; breadth, 60.8 feet; depth, 42.6 feet. She will have a deadweight capacity Laccumulated in his name in the Superannuation Mr. Mayne is entitled to draw the sum of 18,000 tons, and accommodation for about Fund, but, since the Fund has only been in 580 emigrants and a number of first-class pas-operation since 1903, it is decided to insert sengers. There will be seven holds and the cargo gear will consist of 26 powerful winches provision in the Budget for 1910 for a special
honorarium, of £2,000. and 31 derricks capable of lifting weights up to 50 tons. The vessel has been designed for the Far Eastern general cargo trade, and details of construction have all been arranged to mako her specially suitable. She has very spacious holds, clear of obstructions and suited to the stowage of bulky cargo, such as rail- way cars or boilers. There will be no masts fitted, but four large pillars, two forward and two aft at the sides of the vessel, will serve the purpose of derrick posts. The two forward At the half-yearly general meeting of the pillars will be joined by a bridge about 75 feet Nippon Yusen Kaisha the President, Mr. Kondo
above the water, which will be useful as a look Rempei, the Japan Mail says, offered a very full explanation of the vital question whether on Electric light is fitted throughout the vessel. Her machinery, which is being con- the Company should continue its present structed by the North-Eastern Marine En-
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TRADE WITH YUNNAN.
The
The total value of the trade of Tengyueh for the year 1908-9 amounted to 1,765,868 of 33,656 taels on the taels, an increase figures for the preceding year. The pros- pects for 1909 are not overpromising.
measures adopted by His Excellency Hsi-Liang Viceroy of Yunnan highly commendable and Kweichow, in pursuance of the aims of clamation dated 21st July, 1908, must in all reasonable probability have an adverse effect on The terms of the proclamation are reported to the trade of Rangoon in the immediate future. have been strictly enforced in all the principal opium-producing centres as regards the 1909 crop.
It is estimated that six-tenths of the arable land in Yunnan has of late years been under opium cultivation, whilst the profits, only on an average crop, are estimated to have been from 300 to 400 per cent.
subvention under the old law, or adhere to the gineering Company at Wallsend, will consist the anti-opium edict and embodied in his pro- system prescribed by the new. Both courses
of two sets of triple-expansion engines, with have their advantages and disadvantages. The cylinders 23 inches, 384 inches, and 65 inches two principal lines concerned. which may also be regarded as the basic business of the by 48 inches stroke, steam being supplied by three large boilers working at a pressure of 190 Company, are the European and the American
pounds. services. The close of this year terminates the present subvention, but it can be renewed for five years at the option of the Company, On the other hand, it would terminate finally in 1914, and although during that interval the actual amount of subsidy received would be larger
Mr. E. C. Wilton, H. R. M. Aoting Consul- General at Yunnan, has left to take up his new post in Shantung. Mr. P. E. O'Brien-Butler has taken his place.
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