Directory_and_Chronicle_1924 — Page 672

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TIENTSIN

津天 Tien-tsin

Tientsin-or the Ford of Heaven, according to the Chinese meaning of its name may now well be called the commercial capital of North China. Situated at the junction of the Grand Canal and the Pei Ho in Lat. 39 deg. 4 min. N., Long. 117 deg. 4 in. E. (approx.), it is some 80 miles distant from Peking by road and somewhat further by river. Railway connection with the capital was established in 1897. A road between the two places, 94 miles long, was completed towards the end of 1922, and communica- tion was further facilitated by the inauguration of a wireless telephone service on March 7th of that year. The expeditions of the Allies in 1858-61 greatly enhanced the importance of the city, as it then proved to be the military key of the capital and an excellent base. It was here on June 26th, 1858, that Lord Elgin signed the treaty which was to conclude the war, but which unhappily led to its prolongation. The famous temple in which the treaty was signed, about a mile distant from the West gate, was destroyed by British shells in July, 1900.

Tientsin owes its early importance to its location at the northern terminus of the Grand Canal, and its later development is mainly due to the opening up of North China to foreign trade, to improved railway communications with the Interior, and to the deepening of the Bar and the Hai Ho by the agency of the Hai Ho Conservancy Board. Before the advent of steamers, however, Tientsin had become a flourishing centre for junk traffic, and when the tribute rice no longer followed the Grand Canal route-owing to the shoaling of this ancient and celebrated waterway-it was sent to Tientsin in sea-going junks until comparatively recent years. It may be mentioned here that a Coinmission, composed of Chinese and foreign engineers, has been estab- lished to draw up plans for the improvement of the Grand Canal, and hopes are entertained that this waterway will ultimately be restored to something like its former usefulness. While it is improbable that it will ever again be used for through traffic from the Yangtsze it will doubtless serve a very useful purpose as a means of com- munication between many busy trading centres in this Province and Tientsin. The natural expansion of trade to be expected from Tientsin's unique position as the distributing centre of North China has been arrested from time to time by the defective communications with the sea; both the Hai Ho and the Taku Bar have stood in the way of development and limited the carrying trade of the port to light-draught coasting steamers. It would be difficult indeed to find another city in the world of equal com- mercial importance, or serving so rich and extensive and so densely populated a hinterland, with so poor shipping facilities. A river improvement scheme of some importance was inaugurated in 1898 under the direction of Mr. de Linde, a local engineer who had studied conservancy matters here over a number of years, and later on raking operations on the Bar on a plan devised by Mr. T. T. Ferguson, of the Maritime Customs, resulted in deepening the channel and facilitating navigation for the time being. But it reinained for the Hai Ho Conservancy Board, established by the Peace Protocol, to prosecute the work of improving the navigational interests of the port and thus render great services to shipping by successfully overcoming some of the chief difficulties. Four important cuttings have been effected in the river, for example, which have not only facilitated the movement of the flood tide but have shortened the distance to the sea by some 20 miles by the removal of some corkscrew windings and dangerous bends; and powerful dredgers have been acquired for work on the Bar.

During the first half of the year 1917 the country suffered from a prolonged drought, lasting for over six months. Later on there were incessent rains in the neigh- bouring province of Shansi, and reports of floods were circulated. Early in September the Hunho was in flood, and, finally, the Grand Canal burst its banks a few miles west of Tientsin, carrying away the main line of the Tientsin-Pukow Railway, which resulted in the Concessions being flooded before much warning of the impending danger could be given. The Racecourse and all the surrounding country were soon under water. Ef- forts were made to raise the bank of the Haikuangssŭ Canal, on the west of the British Concession, but the available time and labour were insufficient, and during the night.