Directory_and_Chronicle_1916 — Page 1072

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

: 976

SWATOW

made themselves notorious in the early years of the settlement by the kidnapping of coolies, and so strong was the feeling shown against them by the natives that no foreigner was safe far from Double Island, while they were strictly forbidden to enter Swatow, and it was not until 1861 that they could do so. In the country round Swatow the antipathy to foreigners was of much longer duration. The British Consul was held technically to reside at Cha'o-chow-fu, and subsequent to 1861 several ineffectual attempts were made to pass through its gates. In 1866 a visit was made under more favourable circumstances, but it is only within very recent years that the population has refrained from annoyance and insult to foreigners within its walls. In 1862 the lease of a piece of land was applied for and granted to the British Government on the north bank of the river about a mile from Swatow, but so strong were the demonstra- tions of the populace against it that the matter fell through. Foreign residences, however, commenced to spring up here and there, and many of them are consequently somewhat scattered, though the majority are in or near the town of Swatow. The yearly increasing traffic of the port led to much overcrowding on the narrow strip of land on which it is built, and since February, 1877, no less than 21 acres have been reclaimed from the sea, the greater part of which is now covered with shops and houses.

The climate of Swatow is reputed to be very salubrious. The town occupies, however, an unenviable position as regards typhoons, on account of being opposite the lower mouth of the Formosa Channel, and it has on many occasions been subjected to all the violence of these terrible storms, which almost every year sweep across the lower coast of China. The population of Swatow is estimated at 7,060 families, representing from 50,000 to 60,000 inhabitants.

A Chinese syndicate with a capital of two million dollars obtained the necessary sanction for the construction of a railway from Swatow to Ch'ao-chou-fu, and work was commenced on the line in 1904. The line, which is 243 miles in length, was opened to traffic on November 25th, 1906. The contractors were Japanese, who supplied all material, the rails and engines coming from America and the carriages from Japan. The construction of the line has brought about a great inflation of land values, as well as a notable influx of Japanese traders.

Swatow has now an electric light plant of its own, and on account of the cheap price at which the current is supplied this method of lighting is finding favour with the Chinese, and to some extent replacing the use of kerosine lamps. A new waterworks was completed early in 1914, the reservior being at Kia-kun, about eight miles inland.

The foreign trade of Swatow has never been large. Tea and sugar were formerly the principal exports, but the tea trade here, as in other China ports, has to a very large extent passed away, and the sugar trade seems to be rapidly following it, the chief reason being that the superior sugar exported from Hongkong is finding increasing favour with consumers in the north, who formerly drew their supplies from Swatow. The China Sugar Refining Company of Hongkong have a large sugar refinery here, but work has for some time been suspended. Refined sugar from Hongkong and Java and Malay sugars have taken the place of Swatow sugar in the Northern markets. In place of sugar increased attention is being given to the cultivation of vegetables, fruit, and indigo. The net value of the trade of the port coming under the cognisance of the Foreign Customs for 1914 was Hk. Tls. 53,245,153, as compared with Hk. Tls. 51,351,756, in 1913, Hk. Tls. 57,391,124 in 1912, Hk. Tls. 51,415,699 in 1911, Hk. Tls. 54,422,111 n 1910, Tls. 47,679,174 in 1909, Tls. 46,873,268 in 1908 and Tls. 45,342,001 in 1907.

Directory_and_Chronicle_1916 — Page 1072

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