Directory_and_Chronicle_1932 — Page 845

HANKOW

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cially those of British manufacture. A slight improvement was, however, noted in the last quarter of the year, due to replacements of depleted stocks in cer- tain classes of goods. A revival is noticed in those of Japanese origin, 1929 having been a bad year on account of the anti-Japanese boycott. The competi- tion of cotton mills in China, the products of which can, as a result of the fall in exchange and increased import duty, be sold more cheaply, has helped to reduce the demand for the foreign article. A noticeable increase is that of Indian raw cotton, of which arrivals for the year amounted to nearly 21,000 piculs, due to demand by the local mills, as against 3,000 piculs in 1929. On the other hand, cotton yarn almost vanished from the list of imports, only 88 piculs having been imported. The autumn cotton crop was good, but, due to unsettled conditions, some of the farmers were unable to gather in their crops. The quantity of raw cotton exported during the last quarter was under 300,000 piculs, being a decrease of nearly 80,000 piculs as compared with the corresponding quarter of the previous year, while re-exports dropped from 146,000 to 41,000 piculs. The opening of a press-packing plant in Shasi caused a considerable quantity of cotton from that district to be shipped direct to Shanghai instead of via Hankow as formerly. The large 1929-30 crop of wood oil arriving on the Hankow market resulted in a considerable trade during the first seven months of the year, which later declined as the American market became overstocked. The year proved a very unsatisfactory one for the tea trade. The total tonnage of all classes of vessels, including lighters and chartered junks, entered and cleared under General Regulations during the year was 8,056,000 tons, a decrease of 280,000 tons, ocean steamers, which include coasting vessels, declining by some 419,000 tons. General trade depression caused tonnage to be far in excess of space requirements, and export cargo loaded by direct ocean steamers to Europe and America was about half that of the previous year. General iver freight rates were lower than during 1929, but the companies were compelled to advance their rates by 15 to 20 per cent. in order slightly to offset the depreciation of silver. Two new passenger ships were placed on the Shanghai-Ichang run, and a new small motor vessel of 300 tons was built for the Changsha trade. The proportion of the trade financed through Shanghai was somewhat smaller than formerly, and this probably accounted for the lower tael market rate on Shanghai, the rate fluctuating between 96.40 and 98.20. The portion of the road-bed of the pro- jected Hankow-Ichang Railway, which was competed as long ago as 1919 for a distance of 100 miles, has been leased by the Hupeh Provincial Government as a highway for motor-car traffic. There was great activity in city road- building, in opening new roads, in street-widening, and particularly in re- surfacing. In Hankow city and the French and Japanese Concessions com- pleted asphalt roads laid down totalled 1,442,000 square metres. A section 580 metres long of the new bund along the Yangtze in the city of Hankow was completed under the supervision of the Public Works Department of the Han- kow Municipal Government from the Custom House up river to Chowkiahang. The new bund is 40 metres wide and provides room along the edge for a broad walk for pedestrians, bordered by grass plots, trees, and benches, a broad asphalt road for traffic, and an inner walk along the building frontage. Elec- tric street-lighting has also been installed, and the whole project has been constructed with an eye to the future and has markedly improved the water- front of the city. A further section under construction stretches up river from Chowkiahang to Takowhang, and a continuation is also under consideration from Takowhang to Kiaokow, on the Han River, 4,250 metres in length. Plans have been drawn up for a new bunding with warehouses to be built on the reclaimed land from the Custom House down river along the Special Admini- strative District No. 3 frontage. The Wu-Han Telephone Administration began installing an automatic telephone system capable of handing 8,500 automatic telephones, and an additional cable to make this service possible has been laid across the Han and Yangtze Rivers. The health of the port during the year was on the whole good. The summer heat, although excessive, was not unbroken by rain, and the river was low, so that flooding of the drains and backwash