CO129-360 - Public Offices - 1909 — Page 398

[This Document is the Property of His Britannic Majesty's Gove.

C:O.

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The Japanese, at the time they took over the mine, required coal for the use of their army, so the first work they did was such as would give the largest amount of coal in the shortest time, sinking shafts at the edge of the field where the coal is nearest the surface. Now that the immediate press for coal is over, they have settled down to develop the mines, and when ready will take out large quantities per day. The field is, I gathered, one of the thickest in the world, there being nearly 60 yards of coal in seams of varying thickness, divided by layers of black shale a few inches thick. I do not know the exact extent of the field, but the eastern and western pits are about 4 miles apart and the width I should put at half a mile, but it is very likely more.

Last year, I was told, there were only two or three houses in the place; now a new town has sprung up, consisting of offices, engineers' quarters, school, hospital, blocks of dwelling-houses, &c., in addition to the buildings necessary for the running of the mines. These are all good buildings of brick, stone, and cement, and from the arrangement of them, it would appear as if many more buildings were contemplated. Public gardens are also to be made, and everything seems to be done to make the life of the employees as agreeable as possible. The whole place is heated with steam, generated in two centres and carried through pipes on trestles all over the town; the waste of steam due to this system must be very great.

In the vicinity of the mine is the usual cluster of Japanese shops, &c.; there is also a Chinese village.

Two new main shafts, to be called Togo and Oyama, are now being sunk; one is down about 300 feet, the other has only just been started; the sinking is through green shale -a rock easy to work-and is proceeding at the rate of 3 or 4 feet a-day. It is expected that the shafts must be about 1,400 feet deep to reach the bottom of the coal. Both shafts are circular, brick-lined, and about 20 feet in diameter.

A large electric-light plant is being installed; Parsons' turbines and dynamos are being used, American switch-boards, Badcock and Willcocks' water-tube boilers. Here, from the size of the building, I should judge that there is an intention to enlarge the plant in the future.

I was down one of the old shafts. The work being done at present is simply preparing for large deliveries in the future; the coal now being mined and sent away is only that taken from the tunnels which will be used in the future to take the coal along. There are several old shafts, and probably the same thing is being done in them, but I did not go over them.

The main impressions left on my mind were the size of the seam, the large quantity of the work done and proposed, the excellent quality and up-to-dateness of the same, and the methodical way everything is being done. This all points to work under ownership that can afford to wait for years for any return on capital; but it is a method that will eventually take away every available ounce of coal, a method that belongs to Govern- ment, not to private enterprise.

The amount of time and money spent on appearance seemed to me unnecessarily large, the buildings being of the kind one expects to find in or near a large town, not in a colliery far from everywhere.

The coal is good-quality coal, and a very large percentage will be mined as lump. All the miners and rough workers are at present Chinese, under Japanese supervision. All skilled work was being carried out by Japanese, of whom there are about 1,000 in the district,

I was greatly impressed by Mr. Masuda, the head of the concern; he is, I believe, the first man on coal in Japan, has studied abroad, aud is a member of the British Institute of Mines and Metallurgy. Starting on a new field, he has everything in his favour, and in method of mining and plant he is using the accumulated knowledge and experience of the world. He has taken advantage of the fact that he can lay out his town, and not have to improve and enlarge what already exists. He has perhaps erred in having his offices too far apart, but this the telephone rectifies to a great extent.

I hope from the above you will gather something of the value of the mines that Japan has acquired, a value that she seems to appreciate, and is doing her best to turn to her national advantage.

Yours sincerely, (Signed)

EVORY C. A. DUNN,

AFFAIRS OF CHINA.

CONFIDENTIAL.

[1016]

No. 1

Sir Edward Grey to Sir J. Jordan.

January 16

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396

SECTION REG 18 FEE 09

(No. 19.) Sir,

Foreign Office, January 16, 1909. I HAVE received your despatch No. 529 of the 25th November, 1908, inclosing a copy of a despatch from the Governor of Hong Kong respecting the riot which occurred in the Colony on the 1st and 2nd November as a demonstration on the part of the Chinese Society at Canton, which is responsible for the boycott of Japanese goods in South China.

I approve the terms of the note which you addressed to Prince Ch'ing on the 24th November, 1908, drawing the attention of the Chinese Government to the occurrence, and requesting that the responsible agents of the Society in question may be severely punished.

[2116 9-1]

I am, &c.

(Signed)

E. GREY.