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KOBE-HYOGO
has a very English look. The railway terminus is at the other end of Kobe, where it meets Hyogo, and there are extensive carriage works adjoining the station. There is a good Club and a spacious recreation ground. The Union Protestant Church and a French Roman Catholic Church are in what was formerly termed the Concession. A new English Episcopal Church, All Saints, was opened in 1898 on the Hill behind, and there is also a native Protestant Church in Kobe town. The two principal Hotels are the Oriental and the Occidental Hotel. Two foreign daily papers, the Kobe Chronicle, and the Kobe Herald, are published in Kobe. There are one or two native papers. The population of Kobe-Hyogo in December, 1895, was 161,406. There were over 2,000 foreign residents in Kobe in 1899, of whom more than half where Chinese. The British numbered 534, the Germans 136, and the Americans 155.
The old town of Hyogo is only divided from Kobe by the river Minato, which is spanned by a substantial stone bridge. Hyogo contains few features of interest, and the streets and shops are inferior to those of Kobe, its population being much smaller and nearly stationary. The Temple of Shinkoji, which possesses a large bronze Buddha, is worth a visit; and there is a monument to the Japanese hero Kiyomori, erected in 1286, in a grove of trees in the vicinity of the temple, which claims some attention from its historic associations. On the Kobe side of the Minato-gawa also stands a temple dedicated to Kusunski Masashige, so famous in Japanese history for loyalty and valour, who died on the spot in 1336 during the unsuccessful wars for the Restoration of the Mikado's power. In connection with the Imperial Shipbuilding Yard at Hyogo is a Patent Slip, which will accommodate vessels up to 2,000 tons. Its total length is 900 feet; length above water, 300 feet; breadth, 38 feet; declivity, 1 in 20. The slip is worked by hydraulic power.
Kobe's excellent railway communications both north and south have naturally tended to centralise trade at this fast rising port.
Cotton, Raw
In 1900 the values of the different classes of Imports were :-
Yen 51,766,863 Metals and Manufactures of Cotton Yarn and Piece Goods 12,063,024 Sugar Dyes, Colours and Paints
14,311,677 6,935,716
2,920,816 Wool and Woollen Manufactures 9,469,861
Sundries...
20,581,186
Drugs, Chemicals and Medicines 3,454,480 Grains and Seeds
4,903,848
...
...
5,541,497 Total Imports Foreign Goods Yen 137,145,198 5,196,236
The values of the principal articles of Export in the same year were as follows:-
Kerosine Oil...
Machinery, Watches, Armis, &c.
L
Camphor...
***
Yen 2,992,341 Straw-plaits...
Cotton Yarn
..
16,878,054 Tea
5,440,071 Textile Fabrics and Clothing
3,221,578 Sundries
8,438,457
Rice
Matches
Mats for Floor
Metals (chiefly Copper)
...
3,592,735
3,557,471
4,960,190
15,964,864
2,396,253 Total Exports Native Goods Yen 67,442,014 The quantity of tea shipped from Kobe-Hyogo during the season 1898-1899 was 13,948,634 lbs. Practically the whole of this went to the United States of America and Canada.
The following table of values in yen shows the rapid increase of the foreign trade of the port from 1893 to 1898. In 1899, however, imports show a decrease of yen 17,844,274 comparing with the year 1898, while exports increased from yen 60,119,645 to yen 75,320,884.
Total
Imports Exports Total 66,263,250 1897 110,741,830
| 86,348,616 | 1898 138,133,798 1895 63,098,427 38,307,955 101,406,382 1899 120,289,524 75,320,884 1896 82,546,593 40,317,817 122,864,410 1900 137,484,281 69,706,549
Imports Exports 1893 41,294,276 24,968,974 1894 56,910,503 29,438,113
51,408,080
T62,149,910
60,119,645
198,253,443
195,610,408
207,190,830
DIRECTORY
ABELL & RALSTON, Exchange and Bullion
ABRAHAM & Co., L. D., Comsn. Merchs.-51
L. D. Abraham
Brokers
J. C. Abell
J. Ralston
V. E. Abraham (absent)
J. W. Ottoson
REMINGTON TYPEWRITERS stand the test of constant service.
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