Directory_and_Chronicle_1923 — Page 1040

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HONGKONG

A Parliamentary paper issued in August, 1905, showed Hongkong to be, in respect of tonnage, the largest shipping port in the world. The trade chiefly consists of cotton, sugar, salt, flour, oil, cotton and woollen goods, cotton yarn, opium, matches, metals, earthenware, amber, ivory, sandalwood, betel, vegetables, granite, etc.

There is an extensive Chinese passenger trade, chiefly restricted, however, to the Straits Settle- ments, Netherlands India, Borneo, the Philippines, Siam, and Indo-China.

Hongkong possesses unrivalled steam communication. The P. & O. S. N. Co. and the M. M. Co. between them maintain a weekly mail service to Europe. The China Mail S.S. Co., the Pacific Mail S.S. Co., the Toyo Kisen Kaisha and the Java Pacific Line maintain a service with San Francisco, and the Canadian Pacific Steamships, Ltd., maintain a regular mail service with Vancouver, B.C. The Bank Line, Ltd., and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha run regular steamers to Victoria, Vancouver, Seattle and to Tacoma; and the Bank, Admiral, Prince and Castle lines maintain regular services to New York. The Australian Oriental Line and the Eastern and Australian Line keep up a regular monthly service with the Australian Colonies, and the Nippon Yusen Kaisha maintains services to Europe, Australia, and the United States (Seattle). The Toyo Kisen Kaisha and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha both connect with South American ports, the latter line also calling at Cape Town. The Natal Line provides sailings to South-African ports. In addition to all these, several great lines of merchant steamers run between ports in Great Britain and Hongkong, of which the China Mutual S.S. Co., Ocean S.S. Co. (Blue Funnel line), and the Glen, Bank, Mogul, Ben, Royal Mail, Shire, Barber, and Shell lines are the most conspicuous. The Norddeutscher Lloyd, Hamburg-Amerika, Rickmers and Hugo Stinnes lines run between Hongkong and Ham burg and north Continental ports monthly. The Lloyd Triestino ships run to Trieste and south-east European ports. Regular steam communication between Java and Hongkong is maintained by the Java-China-Japan Line and the Nederland Royal Mail Line. Between the ports on the east coast of China, Formosa and Hongkong the steamers of the Douglas S.S. Co. and the Osaka Shosen Kaisha ply regularly, and there is constant steam communication with Hoihow, Manila, Saigon, Haiphong, Tourane, Bangkok, Borneo, etc. The British-India and Apcar lines sail between Hongkong, Calcutta and intermediate ports. With Shanghai, Tientsin, and the ports of Japan there is frequent communication by steamers of the Indo-China S.N. Co., China. Navigation, and other lines, in addition to the English and French mail steamers. Between Hongkong, Macao, and Canton there is a daily steam service, and steamers run as far as Wuchow on the West River.

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