Directory_and_Chronicle_1923 — Page 587

FORMOSA

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mined is put at rather over Yen 9,000,000. The output of petroleum was Yen 209,938 only; in fact, owing to the enhanced cost of living, etc., work on mining generally has been considerably curtailed, and the total returns for all descriptions do- not exceed Yen 10,875,621.

Amongst miscellaneous factories and mills at various places throughout the island may be mentioned a brewery, ice-works, two flour-mills, a ramie factory, a jute factory, cement works, several brick-works using Manchester kilns, numerous oil-extracting and rice mills, and several electric-light plants, also a gas factory in Taihoku. The manufac- ture of alcohol has recently been included in the list of Government monopoly items,. as also its sale and that of wines and spirits generally.

One great drawback to the island is its lack of good harbours, which is more especially felt on account of the strength of the monsoons in the Formosa Channel. Those on the eastern side are few and neither commodious nor accessible; whilst on the west coast, with the exception of Keelung in the north and Takow in the south, they are little better than open roadsteads. Harbour improvements are still being car- ried out both at Keelung and Takow and these, when completed, will greatly increase the existing accommodation. At present not more than four vessels at Keelung, and six at Takow of above 6,000 tons each can be berthed on the quay fronts at one time. The depth at low water at the entrance to the harbours is 30 feet and 23 feet, respectively.

Taipeh is the capital of Formosa, and Tainan is the chief city in the south of the Island. The open ports are four in number, viz., Takow and Anping in the south, and Tamsui and Keelung in the north. The latter was held for some months in 1884-5 by the French, under Admiral Courbet, but was evacuated on the 21st June, 1885. The rivers of Formosa are few, shallow, and winding, only navigable to small flat-bottomed boats. The scenery is delightful, and the climate is very pleasant in the winter, but hot in some parts of the island and malarious in the wet season.

A railway traversing the west side of the island, from Keelung in the north to Ako in the south-a distance of 275 miles-was officially opened by H.1.H. Prince Kan-In on October 24th, 1908. A short line also connects Taipeh and Tamsui in the north. The total length of Government railways in existence at present approximates 433.6 miles, but light railways and tramways, mostly privately owned, have a mileage of 1,122 and 578 miles, respectively. A line along the east coast is in course of construction; it has been completed and opened from Keelung via Hatto and Zuiho to Sanshorai and Butanko. The connection with Giran and Suwo is not yet completed, and between the latter and the Karenko-Gyokiri section (of 55.1 miles) is a wide gap, still to be undertaken. The same remark applies to the other side of it, between Gyokiri and Panryo, near the southern extremity of the island. From Takow to Ako the line has been extended to Choshu, and work is now proceed- ing between the latter place and Panryo. On the west coast a loop line of 56 miles between Chikunan and Oden (near Shoka) has just been completed and opened for traffic. Hugging the coast, as it does, it avoids the steep gradients and numerous tunnels of the main line between Chikunan and Kori. On the through line sleeping- cars are now run for the accommodation of first-class passengers.

Notwithstanding the adverse conditions through which business generally is passing, the trade of the island is steadily developing, and building and municipal improvements are progressing. In all the principal towns there are water works, electric lighting, large markets, etc., and many of the former Chinese centres have been practically rebuilt. In Taipeh there is a first-class European hotel.

Great attention is being paid by the Government to education, and schools of various denominations are numerous.

From the north of the island tea forms the principal export, the value shipped in 1920 to foreign markets being Yen 6,400,258, and to Japan Yen 292,801. Owing to the war the past three or four seasons have been unsatisfactory ones as regards- most industries, and especially so in the case of this article, the business transacted- being far smaller than usual. The camphor export to foreign countries in 1920- was Yen 4,335,545, and to Japan Yen 3,903,939. Rice to a value of Yen 17,118,664 was sent to Japan in 1920. Flax, hemp, and jute are amongst the articles of export, and there is a factory at Toyohara (formerly Konoton), about the centre of the Island, erected under official auspices, for the manufacture of Hessian cloth and jute bags for packing rice. Sugar has become the leading industry of the island, the shipments. during 1920 amounting to Yen 6,718,703 to foreign countries, and Yen 135,224,655 to Japan. The importation of Java sugar by some of the factories, first tried in 1918