Directory_and_Chronicle_1910 — Page 945

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

HANKOW

957

During the last few years foreign interests at Hankow have undergone a marked development, the chief factor in producing the growth being the construction of the Lu Han Railway, a trunk line connecting Hankow with Peking, the contract for which was let to a Belgian syndicate in 1897. It was opened in November, 1905, when trains passed over the Yellow River Bridge, which was immediately closed again as unsafe. Since December, 1905, through traffic with Peking has continued without interruption. Early in 1906 "trains de luxe" were started. The line has diverted much of the traffic that went by water to Chinkiang. Germany, France, Russia, and Japan have since 1895 acquired concessions, and the British concession has been extended. The German, Russian and British have Municipal Councils. Thus while there was formerly a bund of only half a mile in length, in front of the British concession, there is now a continuous line of concessions measuring in all over two miles of river frontage. Houses and godowns have been springing up fast of late years and the Commissioner of Customs in his latest report remarks that for some years yet Hankow will have to divert large sums out of all proportion to the value of its trade for converting swamps into building sites and destroying old building to make room for others more suitable to the requirements of a great city. The English Church was re-built, and consecrated in May, 1904. Messrs. Vrard & Co. a few years ago imported and erected, on the Wuchang side of the river, machinery for crushing antimony ore, which is dried, packed in bags, and exported abroad. were taken over by Messrs. Carlowitz & Co., who are making large additions to the plant. Antimony, lead and zinc ores are crushed. A large business is also done by a match factory, as well as by albumen factories. Messrs. Arnhold, Karberg & Co., who are agents for the Shell Transport Company, Limited, of London, have erected on the foreshore, several miles below the Foreign Concessions, oil tanks for storing bulk oil, to be tinned on the premises. Two tanks have a capacity of 2,500 tons of oil each. During the low-water_season small tank- steamers will bring the oil from Shanghai. The Royal Dutch Petroleum Company, Langkat, has followed suit and erected an installation. The Standard Oil Co. had three large tanks erected at the end of 1904. Each installation added another tank in 1906. An English Company commenced an export trade frozen pork, eggs, poultry and game in 1:09, the refrigerating plant costing upwards of £30,000.

These

Tea is the staple export. The total export in 1908 was valued at Tls. 14,900,000, representing about one-sixth of the exports. The net value of the trade of the port in 1908 amounted to Tls. 120,038,293 against Tls. 115,071,383 in 1907, Tls. 97,142,377 in 1906 and Tls. 111,043,046 in 1905.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1910 — Page 945

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