Directory_and_Chronicle_1913 — Page 1103

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WUCHOW

this, the principal steamship offices, the foreign Custom House and the native Customs and Lekin stations, together with numerous shops and hotels, are located on pontoons (locally known as Pais) moored alongside the river bank. The situation of Wuchow makes it the natural distributing centre for the trade between Kweichow, Eastern Yunnan, Kwangsi, and Hongkong and Canton. The hopes that were entertained at its opening have not, it is true, been realised, hut with the agricultural and mining development of the province, Wuchow bids fair to become one of the principal trading marts in South China. The gross value of the trade coming under the cognisance of the Maritime Customs has steadily grown from four to nearly thirteen million Taels, and the revenue is considerably over half a million Taels, while the Native Customs co trol a junk trade worth fifteen million taels and collects approximately 180,000 taels duty. The principal articles of export are timber, oils (aniseed, cassia, wood and tea), indigo, hides, and live stock. The coal, which should form one of Wuchow's largest exports, still lies buried in the surrounding hills. There is daily steam communication with Canton, the two steamers of the British West River Steamship Co. affording excellent passenger accommodation. The round trip from Canton takes four days: the boat leaving Canton on Friday mornings remains over Sunday in Wuchow. The direct trade with Hongkong is now carried on by nine cargo steamers. During the last three years a large native passenger trade has sprung up between Wuchow and up-river towns: launches leave daily during the summer months for Konghau, Kuaiping and Kueihsien, and weekly seven motor boats make regular, and five launches make irregular, trips to Nanning, averaging three trips a week. The floods in 1902 were the highest on record, the water in the river rising to 68′ 3.′′ The lowest winter reading was 1.10 deg. below zero in December, 1906. In winter the only local industry worthy of mention is boat building; when the river falls the foreshore is lined with matsheds, where native craft of all descriptions, from a huge salt junk to a diminutive sampan, are constructed. Wuchow itself offers few attractions to the tourist, but the river scenery on the way up, especially between the Shuihing and Takhing Gorges, where the stream winds in and out among the green hills to form a succession of apparent lakes, is extremely picturesque, and has not altogether unjustly been compared to the Rhine. Wuchow is connected by telegraph with Hongkong, Shanghai, etc.; and the Imperial Chinese Post has established postal communication with the principal towns in Kwangsi.

亞細亞 A-8i-a

DIRECTORY

官事頜總利大義大

ASIATIC PETROLEUM Co., LD.

C. Brown, local manager

和天 Teen-Woo

BANKER & Co., Merchants and Commission

Agts.; Shipping Office: Banker's Pontoon

Geo. Banker

Pang Shui-ming, signs per pro.

Agency

Commercial Union Assurance Co., Ld.

CONSULATES

官事國比大

TOBEX

BELGIUM

Tai-peh-kwok Ling-sz-kun

Consul-Residing in Hongkong

GREAT BRITAIN

also

AUSTRIA-HUNGARY

Consul-H. A. Ottewill (abt.) Acting Consul-O. R. Coalos Constable-J. Wisher

Tai I-tai-li Chung-ling-sz-kun

ITALY

Consul General - Commendatore Z.

Volpicelli (residing in Hongkong)

Chinese Writer-Ch'ing Yao

CUSTOMS. MARITIME

Acting Commissioner — J. H. W.

Houston

Assistants-A. T. Nelson, Lau Honchi, R. D. Mansfield, S. V. dos Remedios, Hü Kam shui

Medical Officer -R. B. Vickers Act.Tide-Surveyor and Harbourmaster

-H. Clive

Examiner-P. H. Martin

Asst. Examiners-W. Howard, H. P.

Singer, W. A. Hempel

Tidewaiters-G. R. A. Dittmann, A. Mitchell, S. B. de Brito, J. Murphy, Digitize W. A. Palmer, V. de G. Lopes