Directory_and_Chronicle_1924 — Page 739

Directories & Chronicles 香港指南 All

DAIREN

673

with 5,000 kws. power was added in June, 1923, the total now being 11,750 kws. The town has macadamized lined roads with rows of shady trees, and is well equipped with waterworks, drainage and sewage systems. With the growth of trade, more particularly in Manchurian beans, a number of influential business houses, Japanese, Chinese and foreign, have established themselves at the port. The foreign and Japanese communities in April, 1909, organized and opened the Dairen Club. A Gun Club, Golf Club, and Marine Association are among the other institutions of the port. Of places for public amusement, the so-called Electric Park, designed on an up-to-date plan and con- taining all devices for recreation, forms the chief attraction.

The Chinese quarter,. situated on the western fringe of the city, has also grown considerably. There is a Railway Hospital affording accommodation for 200 patients. The Railway Co. are now constructing a new five-storeyed reinforced concrete, fire-proof hospital, which is to be equipped with every modern appliance. The contract is let to an American firm and the work is expected to be completed in 1925. Another hospital has recently been constructed on a large scale, accommodating over 500 patients, and is one of the finest and most up-to-date hospitals in the Far East.

A direct steamship service is maintained twice a week by the South Manchuria Railway Company between Dairen and Shanghai, one outward bound steamer and one homeward bound steamer calling at Tsingtao each week, by which means communication is obtained between Shanghai and the trans-Siberian route to Europe. Regular and "half-regular" steamship services are maintained to and from all the important ports of Japan, U.S.A., China and Chosen (Korea). Shanghai can be reached in 42 hours, Chemulpo in 24 hours, and Moji and Nagasaki in about 50 hours.

In 1922 the net value of the trade of Dairen was Hk. Tls. 248,041,177, as compared with Hk. Tls. 210,431,265 in 1921, and Hk. Tls. 203,773,599 in 1920. The export trade in 1921 suffered a set-back owing to the adoption of a gold standard on the Dairen Staple Produce Exchange by order of the Japanese Government, who disregarded all protests made to them on the subject. As from November 1st, 1923, however, trans- actions on the Produce Exchange have been conducted in both gold and silver currencies. According to the census taken in June, 1922, the Japanese population of. the town and suburbs was 73,245 persons in 18,055 houses. Chinese numbered

Directory_and_Chronicle_1924 — Page 739

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