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PORT ARTHUR-CHEFOO
for battleships. It has also been decided to construct a channel through the Isthmus of the Tigre Peninsula, so that in the near future Port Arthur will have direct .communication with the sea, which will be of great importance for both military and commercial purposes. The Russian budget for 1902 provided 5,200,000 roubles for the completion of the defence works at Port Arthur and Vladivostock.
The fortress has been beseiged by a large Japanese force under General Nogi since May 1904, and great efforts have been made to reduce the defences. Though after great sacrifices the Japanese have captured certain important forts from which they have been able to bombard and annihilate the remnant of the Russian fleet which had survived the encounters with Admiral Togo's squadron outside the harbour, there is apparently at the time of going to press much to be done before the fortress will be taken. General Stoessel is in command of the defending force which at the commence- ment was estimated at 25,000. The defence, it is universally allowed, will rank among
he finest in history.
Owing to the seige of the city, it has been impossible to revise the Directory list, which has consequently been omitted.
CHEFOO
罘之 Chi-fau Yen-tai
Chefoo, in the Province of Shantung, is the name used by foreigners to denote this Treaty Port; the Chinese name of the place is Yentai, and Chefoo proper is on the opposite side of the harbour. Chefoo is situated in latitude 37° 33′ 20′′ N. and longi- tude 121° 25′ 02′′ E. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1863. The number of foreigners on the books of the various Consulates is about 400, but more than half of them-missionaries-live inland. Chefoo has no Settlement or Concession, but a recognized Foreign Quarter, which is well kept and has good clean roads and is well lighted. A General Purposes Committee looks after the interests of the Foreign Quarter and derives the revenue at its disposal from voluntary contributions by residents. The natives are most orderly and civil to foreigners. There are two good hotels and at least three excellent boarding houses, all of which are full of visitors from July to the end of September. The climate is bracing. The winter, which is severe, lasts from the beginning of December to end of March; April, May and June are lovely months and not hot; July and August are hot and rainy months; and September, October and November form a most perfect autumn, with warm days, cool winds and cold nights. Strong northerly gales are experienced in the late autumn and through the winter, and the roadstead gives but an uncomfortable, though safe, anchorage for steamers. During the summer and autumn amusements are varied sea bathing, lawn tennis, picnics, &c.-and there is a good club. The races take place towards the end of September. Chefoo is two days' journey from Shanghai, and in the summer tourist tickets from Shanghai and return are issued by the Indo-China S. N. Co., the China Merchants S. N. Co. and the China Naviga- tion Co., Ld. Since the declaration of war between China and Japan (August, 1894) the port has been much frequented by vessels of the different foreign navies, and its close proximity to Corea will cause these visits to be continued; the result was that, until the British Government obtained the lease of Weihaiwei, Chefoo became a coaling station, and large stocks of Cardiff coal were kept to supply the foreign men-of-war; but trade in Cardiff coal, so far as British merchants are concerned, appears to have ceased since Weihaiwei' became the coaling basis in North China for the British flects. During the winter of 1894-95 the port was in a state of excitement owing to the close proximity of, and possible occupation by, the Japanese. In 1876 the Chefoo Convention was concluded at Chefoo by the late Sir Thomas Wade and the former Viceroy of Chilli, Li Hung-chang. An enterprise has been recently established by a Wine Company of substantial standing; the soil of the locality lends itself to such an industry and the future success of the proprietors of the first Far Eastern wine growing concern is a matter of considerable interest. Chefoo is noted for its large and increasing fruit growing industry; supplying Shanghai, Vladivostock,
Original from UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
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