Directory_and_Chronicle_1917 — Page 1026

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HANKOW

The port was opened to foreign trade in 1861. The British Settlement is located at the east end of the city. It is well laid out, the roads being broad and all lined with well-grown trees. The Bund affords a very fine and pleasant promenade, and has an imposing appearance from the river. There are a large Roman Catholic and small Protestant and Greek churches, the latter a rather handsome structure built by the Russian residents. Several brick-tea factories owned by Russians are located in the Settlement. Germany, France, Russia, and Japan have since 1895 acquired concessions along the river front, and the British concession has been extended. The French, German, Russian, Japanese 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 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 buildings 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. The river steamers go alongside hulks moored close to the shore; ocean steamers anchor in mid-stream. The current is very strong in the river.

The native city of Hankow was burnt by the Imperialist army in October, 1911, and a population of about 800,000 were thereby rendered homeless. At the end of 1914 it was estimated that fully 80 per cent. of the burnt area had been reconstructed, though unfortunately on the old lines, all the laudable plans for modernising the city having fallen through, owing to difficulties in obtaining the necessary funds. Another scheme for the development of a Greater Hankow, however, has been started, and as the latter has the backing of the Government and has been placed by Presidential Decree under the supervision of General W. S. Y. Tinge, Superintendent of Hankow Customs, there is a good chance of its being carried to a successful conclusion. This new scheme can be roughly outlined as follows. The first step will be to develop the land between the five Foreign Concessions and the Ching-Han Railway embankment. A boulevard is planned to start from the Yangtze bank, north of the Japanese Conces- sion, and run west to the railway embankment. It will then be continued alongside the embankment until it reaches a point opposite the Hankow Waterworks tower, where it will turn east and run into the existing road nearby the tower. Ultimately an attempt will be made to extend it from the water-tower, through the city, to the Yangtze. This area will be intersected by streets and properly laid out for building purposes, with a complete drainage system. The second step of the scheme will be to develop the land on the west side of the Ching-Han Railway embankment from the vicinity of the foreign racecourse, past the Chinese racecourse, up to Kiaokow. The third step will be the development of the remaining land up to the dyke. A railway along the dyke, connecting with the Ching-Han line, will be constructed and circular passenger trains started. Plenty of room will thus be provided for cheaply-built houses to accommodate workmen and the poorer Chinese classes. At present, owing to the rapid expansion of Hankow, the housing problem is a serious one, and rents have increased two and three-fold since the Revolution in 1911. Plans for a railway siding into the British Concession have been agreed upon and will probably soon be given effect to. The railway siding leading from the Peking-Hankow Railway's main line to the heart of the British Concession has been completed. This in conjunction with the siding terminating at the German Bund enables the merchants to have produce transported to their very doors from the interior.

Cotton cloth mills established by the Viceroy Chang Chih-tung commenced run- ning in 1892, and the ironworks at Hanyang have developed into a large and import- ant enterprise employing about 4,500 men. Hangyang iron is now being placed on the American market at a price which enables it to hold its own against the Steel Trust product. The output of the Hangyang Iron and Steel Works in 1915 was as follows:- Matin iron, 34,906 tons; foundry iron, 101,635 tons; rail steel 30,776 tons; mild steel 16,624 tons. The output of the Tayeh iron mines was 545,819 tons of iron ore and that of the Pingsiang colliery was 865,000 tons of coal and 278,000 tons of coke. In August, 1895, the Wuchang Mint was established. The Mint has had to be considerably enlarged in recent years to enable it to keep pace with the demand. The machinery was greatly damaged in the Revolution.

The local manufacturing industries include, besides the Government ironworks and arsenals, cotton and silk weaving. A carriage and wagon works to supply rolling stock to the Yueh-Han Railway, closely allied with the Hanyang Ironworks, which is turning out bridges and girders for railways, has been established on the Hankow side of the