230
Shanghai and finally the Court accepted his resigna-
tion.
Piracy.
On the night of Mey 30th two native boats in
which missionaries were travelling were attacked by
armed robbers. The matter was duly reported to the
Viceroy and instructions were issued for the arrest
of the robbers and the recovery of the property
stolen. The District Magistrate has already paid
the losses in full. The piracy on July 6th of the
British launch "Kicheung" distant some 9 miles only
from Canton has already been reported. On April
13th last the Chinese launch "Kwong Cheong" towing
& passenger boat was pirated in the same neighbour-
hood. The matter calls for special mention because
piracies of towing launches are extremely rare.
ì Commissioner of Customs.
Mr. King, the new Commissioner, is unreliable
he has
to a degree, pro Chinese and retrogressive;
already succeeded in making himself generally un-
populer both officially and otherwise. Any general
advancement of commercial interests or any further-
furtherance of British objects so long as he remains
at Canton will not be facilitated.
Canton-Hankow Railway.
On the re-appointment of His Excellency Tsen as
Viceroy the two chief Controllers (one of whom was
Wu Ting-fang) resigned. The line is now open for
some 13 miles. It has been carefully constructed
and is said to be a marked contrast to the Japanese
built line from Swatow to Chaochowfu.
The first
section has a considerable number of bridges and one
cutting was necessitated with a maximum height of
about 50 feet and a total length of 1,000 yards. The
engagement of two British (Canadian) Engineers and
1
one Japanese has already been reported as of a Nor-
wegian. The more recent engagement of a Swiss makes
a total number of eight section engineers of whom
two are Chinese, and His Majesty's Consulate-General
is informed that telegraphic application has been
made for nine additional Canadiens. The salaries of
the Canadians now employed are respectively £610 p.a
rising in three years to £750 and £425 increasing in
six months to £500. They are both young men, one
being
ance