Directory_and_Chronicle_1898 — Page 489

52

YOKOHAMA—HAKODATE

INSURANCE OFFICES, Continued.

Scottish Metropolitan Life and Accident Assurance Scottish Union and National Fire Insurance Co. Sea Insurance Company, Limited, Liverpool..... South British Fire and Marine Insurance Company Standard Life Assurance Company. Straits Insurance Company (Marine) Sun Insurance Office

Sun Life Assurance Company, Canada Thames and Mersey Marine Insurance Company Tokyo Marine Insurance Company Transatlantic Marine Insurance, Berlin

Transatlantische Feuer Vers, Actien Ges., Hamburg Underwriting Agency Association, Limited Union Assurance Society, 1714

Union Insurance Society of Canton.. Union Marine Insurance Company Union Marine Insurance Company

United Swiss Marine Insurance Companies Universal Underwriting Association World Marine Insurance Company, Ld. Württembergische Transport Versicherungs Ges. Yangtsze Insurance Association

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H. MacArthur & Co. Fraser, Farley & Co. Butterfield & Swire Smith, Baker & Co. Fraser, Farley & Co. C. W. Ure Robison & Co. W. J. S. Shand Mollison & Co. Mitsui Bussan Kaisha C. Weinberger & Co. C. Illies & Co. Cornes & Co. Flint Kilby & Co.

A. J. Easton, acting agent Findlay, Richardson & Co. Kingdon, Schwabe & Co. Kingdon, Schwabe & Co. Cornes & Co. Hutchison & Co. Carl Rohde & Co. J. Johnstone

HAKODATE

This, the most northerly of the treaty ports of Japan, is situated in the south of Yezo on the Straits of Tsugaru, which divide that island from Honshiu. The port lies in latitude 41 deg. 47 min. 8 sec. N., and longitude 140 deg. 45 min. 34 sec. E., and the barbour is nearly land-locked. The town clusters at the foot and on the slope of a bold rock known to foreigners as Hakodate Head, 1,106 feet in height. The surrounding country is billy, volcanie, and striking, but the town itself possesses few attractions. The foreign concession has never been built upon, the few foreign residents in the port having taken up their quarters in Japanese buildings. A row of fine temples, with lofty picturesque roofs, occupying higher ground than the rest of the town, are the most conspicuous buildings. There are some Public Gardens at the eastern end of the town, which contain a small but interesting Museum. Waterworks for supplying the town with pure water were completed in 1889. The climate of Hakodate is healthy and bracing. The hottest month is August, but the thermometer then rarely rises above 90 degrees Fahr. ; in the winter it sometimes sinks to 18 degrees. The mean temperature throughout the year is about 48 degrees. The population of Hakodate in 1895 was 68,594. The number of foreign residents in 1895 was 85, of whom 53 were Europeans and Americans, and 32 Chinese.

The foreign trade of the port is small. The value of the imports declined from $676,534 in 1890 to $12,101 in 1892, but had risen to $160,362 in 1895, and to $330.715 in 1896. The exports for 1896 amounted to $898,706, as against $748,388 in 1895. The agricultural resources of Yezo have been to some extent developed under the auspices of the Kaitakushi or Colonization Department. The rich pasture lands are wel! adapted for breeding cattle. In the valuable and extensive fisheries on the coast, however, the chief exports of the future from Hakodate are to be looked for. Increasing quantities of dried fish and seaweed are exported annually, mostly to China. The mineral resources of Yezo are large, and may also some day yield a valuable addition to the exports of this port. There are now three large coal mines in operation, one in Poronai, one at Ikushunbetsu, ani a third at Sorachi.Hakodate is connected with the capital by telegraph. A railway from Otaru to Sapporo, 22 miles long, was opened to public traffic on the 28th November, 1880, and has since been carried on to Poronai, where are some large coal mines, the total length of the line being 56 miles. A branch to Ikushun- betsu, seven miles, has since been made, and another line from the coal mines to Mororan, a port on the south-east of the island, a distance of 143 miles, has been completed and was opened to traffic in July, 1892.

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