CANTON
A 459
Roman Catholic church on the French Concession. The Settlement has the Victoria Hotel providing good accommodation. During an anti-foreign riot on the 10th September, 1883, 16 houses and the Concordia Theatre on the Settle- ment were burned by the mob.
MODERN CANTON.
Ample means of communication exist between Canton and Hongkong, a distance of 112 miles by railway and about 95 miles by water. British steamers with luxurions accommodition and a large number of native craft ply daily between the ports. There is daily steam communication with Macao and regular connection with Wuchow and West River ports, and with Shanghai, Newchwang, and Kwangchauwan. The steam-launch traffic under the Inland Steam Navigation Regulations has proved a great success, though since rules were enforced in December, 1901, compelling all Chinese launches to undergo inspection at the hands of an engineer appointed by the Customs before obtain- ing licences to ply, the number of launches is not so large as previously. There is a safe and commodious anchorage within 150 yards of Shameen. Canton was connected by telegraph (an overland line) with Kowloon in 1883, and an- other overland line was
was completed from Cantor to Lungchau-fu, on the Kwangsi and Tonkin frontier, in June 1884. An agreement was entered into with the South China Wireless Co., a British concern, in the latter part of 1923, for the installation of a powerful wireless station, to give a continu- ous commercial service with Hongkong and Shanghai and communications with Peiping, Japan, the Straits Settlements, etc. The electric light service of the city since it was placed under government supervision has improved and leaves little room for complaint. The automatic telephone system, the installation of which was completed in 1930, is very efficient and the number of subscribers is steadily increasing and already exceeds, 7,000. A long- distance telephone service between Hongkong and Canton was opened on. September 1st 1931 and three minutes conversation may now be had between. these two cities for a fee of three dollars. Transport facilities on the Canton- Kowloon Railway, which consists of 22 miles in British territory and $9 miles in Chinese, and was completed in 1911, have also greatly improved in 1931 with the introduction of new locomotives and general reconditioning of the line. An express train now takes a little over three hours to cover the journey whereas a year ago it took half again as long. Real work has also begun on the completion of the Canton-Hankow Railway which has already been extended from Shiukuan, 140 miles north of Canton, to Lokcheong. The mountains to be traversed to complete the Canton-Hankow Line offer, however, great engineering difficulties which will involve very heavy expenditure. A branch line of this railway runs from Canton to Samshui on the West River and therefore brings West River ports within easier reach of Canton. The two. Canton terminií of the railway are situated on opposite banks of the Pearl River and work has started to link them together by the construction of a bridge. An extension of the Canton-Samshui line to Shiu-hing and thence via the West River ports to Kwangsi is planned by the authorities who also contemplate the construction of an east bound line from the Canton-Kowloon Railway to Swatow and eventually to Amoy.
In accordance with stipulations in the Supplementary Commercial Treaty between Great British and China, concluded in 1902, the various barriers or artificial obstructions to navigation in the Canton River were in 1905 partially removed. Extensive wharves and godowns have been erected at Peak Hin Hok on Honam Island, about two miles below Shameen, which enable ocean-going vessels of considerable draught to proceed up to Canton,
TRADE IN 1933
There were no civil, military, or political disturbances of a serious nature during the year in the Canton district; there were no serious epidemics or floods to contend with; banditry was less in evidence: and the communist forces on the Kiangsi border gave no trouble inside the boundaries of Kwangtung. In these first essentials,
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