Directory_and_Chronicle_1891 — Page 539

WUHU

This port was opened to foreign trade, by the Chefoo Convention, on the 1st April, 1877. It is situated on the river Yangtsze, in the province of An-hwei, and is a half-way port between Chinkiang and Kiukiang, though nearer to the former. It has the appearance of a thriving and busy town, and is admirably located for trade. This is mainly owing to the excellence of its water communication with the interior. A large canal, with a depth of five to six feet of water in the winter and ten to twelve feet in the summer, connects the port with the important city of Ning-kuoh-fu, in southern An-hwei, fifty miles distant. Another canal runs inland for over eight miles in a south-westerly direction to Taiping-hsien, an extensive tea district. This canal, which is only navigable in the summer, passes through Nan-ling and King-hsien, where the cultivation of silk is carried on, and may some day be of importance. The silk districts of Nan-ling and King-hsien are situated within fifty miles of Wuhu. Besides the canals leading to Ning-kuoh-fu and Taiping-hsien, there are two others communicating with Su-an and Tung-pó.

It will be seen, from the above enumeration of the facilities for water carriage from Wuhu, that it is calculated to prove an emporium for commerce. The net value of the foreign imports for the year 1889 was Tls. 2,693,183, compared with Tls. 2,662,960 in 1883. 2,493 piculs of Opium were imported in 1889, as compared with 3,400 piculs in 1888. Coal may some day become a considerable article of export from Wuhu, the mines at Chihchou, near Ta-tung, being worked with Western appliances and machinery. The export in 1889 was 9,276 tons as against 7,195 tons in 1888. There is a large trade in Timber in Wuhu, but that, like all other trade, is in the hands of the Chinese. The total value of the trade of the port for 1889 was Tls. 7,354,468 as against Tls. 5,572,151 in 1888.

The town is fairly well built, with rather broader streets than most Chinese cities possess, and is tolerably paved. The tract of land selected for the British Settlement, though admirably suited for the purpose, with good deep water frontage, has not yet been availed of, and there are few foreign houses in the place. The population of Wuhu s estimated at 78,000 inhabitants.

CHI CHOU COAL MINES

Reid, superintendent

局商招

DIRECTORY

CHINA MERCHANTS STEAM NAVIGATION CO.,

Hulk "Bombay"

C. C. Lee, agent

*** Ta Ying ling-sz-foo

府事頒英大

CONSULATES

GREAT BRITAIN

also

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Consul-Colin M. Ford

Constable--G. Perkins

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

UMM

Wu-hu hsin-kwan

CUSTOMS-IMPERIAL MARITIME

Acting Commissioner-W. F. Spinney Assistant-R. A. Currie

do. -R. II. Cox

do. -W. R. McD. Parr

Medical Officer-R. H. Cox

Acting Tidesurveyor and Harbour

Master-J. H. J. Susemihl Acting Boat Officer-J. Dalton Chief Examiner-J. F. Dubois Assistant Examiners-F. Bartenstein, J. T. Green, H. C. Russell, E. C. Tre- gillus, C. E. Meyer

Tidewaiters-E. V. H. Viez, F. Bijno, J. Holliday, C. E. Lister, J. C. Braga, H. M. Thompson

Consul-General A. C. Jones resid- JARDINE, MATHESON & CO., Merchants

ing at Chinkiang

A. Knight Gregson, agent