Directory_and_Chronicle_1924 — Page 724

658

MUKDEN HARBIN

TEXAS OIL Co., THE, Petroleum and Pro-

ducts-Tel. Ad: Texaco

M. F. Byrne, manager

H. A. Edgar J. M. Hansen

J. W. Skains

L. L. Loucks (Harbin)

W. Yoshino (Dairen)

THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE

Rev. T. C. Fulton, M.A., D.D.

Rev. J. W. Inglis. M.A.

Rev. W. MacNaughton, M.A. Rev. J. Stevenson, M.A.

YAMATO HOTEL-S.M.R. Co. Hotel, S.M.R.

Station

YOKOHAMA SPECIE BANK, LTD., THE

YOUNG MEN'S CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION

J. E. Platt

J. Rasmussen

P. Norgaard J. Stewart

HARBIN

Harbin, the junction of the railways from Irkutsk to Vladivostock, and from Harbin to Kwangchengtze, where the latter joins the Japanese line to Dalny, has been made the seat of a Chinese Maritime Customs House to control the railway traffic by means of sub-stations at Manchuria Station on the western frontier and Suifenho (Pogranit- chnaia) on the eastern frontier. Its situation on the railway is within comparatively easy land communication with large grain-producing districts as yet but sparsely populated and far from being fully cultivated, though development is increasing. It is on the banks of a river navigable for large but shallow-draught steamers, and is in direct and uninterrupted communication for six months during the year with the fertile land about Petuna S.W. and of Sansing N.E.; also with vast districts watered by the Amur River and those on the banks of the less important Ussuri River, near Habarovsk. Possessing advantages such as these, Harbin promises eventually to become one of the greatest trading centres of China when the present disturbances in the surrounding country ceasc. The country around is a bean-growing country par excellence. North Manchuria being also essentially a wheat country, it follows that the flour industry at Harbin is a flourishing one, though less than formerly owing to restrictions on import into the Priamur. The estimated daily output of the milling industry in 1920 in Harbin, Fukiation and district was equivalent to an annual production of 500,000 tons. A contract has been signed for the erection of grain elevators on the American plan; these will be a great boon to merchants. There is a sugar factory at Asiho on the railway, 26 miles east of Harbin, with a capacity of some 300 tons of beetroot daily, which it is intended to increase to 400 tons. The timber trade has recently shown marked development. The net value of the trade of the district, as shown by the Maritime Customs returns, was Hk. Tls. 45,377,930 in 1922, as compared with Hk. Tls. 45,210,453 in 1921, and Hk. Tls. 25,989,216 in 1920. The Harbin Municipality have a number of plans for improving the town, and a loan of some Roubles 3,000,000 gold (roughly equivalent to yen) has long been in contemplation, the proceeds of which are to be applied to drainage, watcrworks, tramways, electric lighting of streets, improvement of telephone system, erection of a market building, town hall, etc. In 1919 the population of Harbin was estimated at 130,000, a figure considerably in excess of the pre-war population of any city in Siberia. This high figure was due to a sudden burst of prosperity and to the constant influx of refugees, and it resulted in a veritable building boom. The palatial new building of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank is evidence of the importance attached by the Bank to its Harbin branch. Private enterprise and the Chinese Eastern Railway have done a good deal in the direction of town improvement. The roads are being macadamised and a tramway contract was signed between the Town Council and the concessionaries some time ago. Meanwhile, motor-'buses are supplying some portion of the demand for cheap locomotion. The railway continues to do much to beautify the town with public gardens, squares, etc. Many children's playgrounds, under excellent supervision, have been opened and well equipped with apparatus. A new British school for Juniors and Kindergarten, under private management, has begun to supply an urgent need.