Directory_and_Chronicle_1917 — Page 889

SHANGHAI

791

1910, but then gradually increased to 1,024 in 1915. The Health Officer in his report for 1910 thinks that deaths are liidden or intentionally returned as from other causes, as a result of disinfection being carried out. The thermometer ranges from 25 deg., to 103 deg. Fahrenheit, the mean of ten years having been 59'19 deg., the average being 41*42, 6494 77.20 and 52:43 for first, second, third and fourth quarters, respectively. Shanghai ap- proaches nearest to Rome in mean temperature, while the winter temperatures of London and Shanghai are almost identical. The mean daily range in 1915 averaged 16:56, being from 13:37 in February to 21.42 in May. In October and November there is generally dry, clear, and delightful weather, equal to that found in any part of the world; but when the winter has fairly set in the north-east winds are extremely cold and biting. On January 17th, 1878, the river was frozen over at Woosung. The heat during July and August is some- times excessive, but generally lasts only a few days at a time. In late years very severe gales have become more frequent. On 27th and 28th July, 1915, a typhoon of extraordinary violence visited the district doing much dainage. The mean of the barometer is from 29.77 in the third to 30 256 inches in the first quarter. The annual average of rainy days in Shanghai during eight years was 124; 55 wet days occurred in winter, and 69 in summer; the annual rainfall averages 44 33 inches, about 1425 in winter and 302 in summer; 1915 was an exceptionally wet year, the rainfall having amounted to 58.27 inches, the heaviest shower was on the 24th October, 1875, when 7 inches fell in 3 hours. The mean degree of humidity is from 76 in the winter to 82 in the summer months.

DESCRIPTION

The streets of the British and French Settlements all run north and south and east and west, mostly for the whole length of both, crossing each other at right angles. They were when first laid out twenty-two feet wide, but have since at very great expense been mostly made much wider. Under the new Regulations power to compel the sale of land required for public purposes has been secured. Notwith- standing the soft nature of the soil the roads are kept in remarkably good order, at least the main thoroughfares. In consequence of the introduction of trams the whole track of the Maloo, one mile in length, has been laid with Jarrah hardwood blocks, and the section of Nanking Road, between Kiangse Road and the Bund has been so paved in its entire width. The Municipal Council now leases a stone quarry at Pingchiao, in Chekiang, about 150 miles south-west of Shanghai, from which they obtained 20,174 fong (about 84,000 tons) of sound stone, and about 250 fong of inferior :stone in 1915. Owing to the nature of the ground, expensive piling or concrete founda- tions are necessary before any building over one storey in height can be erected, and all stone has to be brought from a long distance. The Soochow Creek, between the British Settlement and Hongkew, is now crossed by nine bridges, seven of which are adapted for carriage traffic. The scheme for filling in the Yang-king-pang was passed by the land-renters in 1914, the area thus gained being converted into a fine boulevard. The first tube of the Yang-king-pang culvert to be put under the Bund Bridge was laid in March, 1916, and the Avenue Edward VII., as the new thoroughfare is named, was finished in the same year. The Bund Bridge, which was carefully removed for re-erection elsewhere, and the levelling of the road surface at this point saw the com- pletion of the work, and the International Settlement trams now run the whole length of the French and International Bunds. The whole work of turning what was a foul- smelling creek into what will be one of the finest boulevards in the Far East, was one of the biggest single jobs undertaken by the local Public Works Department. Avenue Edward VII., from The Bund to Thibet Road, is a thoroughfare of consider- able widtlı, with spacious foot paths. All the roads leading off the new avenue, on both sides, have rounded corners with a wide sweep, and the engineers, planning the road, have made every arrangement possible for the accommodation of extensive traffic. In the straightening of the road the windings of the former creek are abolished. It may be mentioned that there is no tram line on Avenue Edward VII., the French tram company having removed the loop section which rau from the French Bund along the old Quai de Yang-king-pang and through Rue Montauban to Rue du Consulat. Instead, a double line is run from the Rue du Montauban corner down Rue du Consulat to The Bund. A new delimita- tion of the French Settlement was also undertaken during 1914, and the French author- ities were given full control of the roads that have been built beyond the old boundary. Six new bridges were erected in 1901 to connect the extended Settlements. There are 46 bridges within the Settlements, the number having been considerably reduced owing to the demolition of the bridges over the Yang-king-pang and the Defence Creek. Five are of steel. A new steel bridge over the mouth of the Soochow Creek was completed

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