HAIPHONG
B117
dock, capable of lifting vessels up to 330 feet in length and 2,500 tons displacement, is attached to a modern shipbuilding and repairing yard, where the most extensive repairs can be undertaken.
Haiphong proper is in the midst of an extensive rice swamp with low-lying swampy land all around it for miles, having in the distance the monotony relieved by rugged ranges of low limestone hills, and beyond these to the northward, at a distance of some 16 miles, is a range of mountains, the loftiest, known as the Grand Summit, being about 5,000 feet high. Though at the time of its origin in 1884 Hai- phong was but a mere native village in the midst of rice fields and muddy streams, it has rapidly developed into the most important commercial and industrial centre- of Tonkin and the port for all home and foreign traffic. Being a new town, it has been built according to modern ideas. The streets and boulevards are wide, clean. and well-shaded, and constructed for the most part at right angles. The town has a cosy and pleasing appearance, most of the houses being of the cottage type. The chief commercial and administrative buildings are the Central Post Office, City Hall, Banque Franco Chinoise, Banque de l'Indochine, Municipal Theatre, and Cus- tom-house. There is a Roman Catholic Cathedral attached to the Spanish Mission, and a Protestant church, also, has been erected in the town. There is a very pretty theatre, built in 1900 by the Municipality. The Hôtel du Commerce is a large and handsome structure, its lofty mansard roof dominating every building in the town. The Cercle du Coinmerce, which is a well-managed club, has its domicile in the boulevard Paul Bert. The racecourse is about a mile from the town on the Do- Son Road. The year 1922 saw the opening of the "Cercle Sportif Haiphonnais," with a large and handsome building and extensive grounds for all forms of sport.
Haiphong has two public gardens, where military concerts are given on Sundays and Thursdays. The small Botanical Garden of the Lach Tray, two miles out of town, is one of the evening promenades.
The appearance of this city, agreeably disposed among trees and tropical vegeta- tion, appeals to the eye of the traveller arriving by sea on a sunny day.
The city, originally comprised within the Cua-Cain and Song-Tam Bac rivers and the Bonnal canal, soon spread beyond these narrow limits owing to the development of its commerce and industry, foreign and indigenous. The principal industrial- concerns are cement works (whose products are known all over the Far East), cotton mills, rice mills, brick, tile and ceramic factories, foundries, shipbuilding yards, and an important factory (opened in the beginning of 1922) for the making of all sorts of chemical products.
The total population is about 80,000.
Haiphong is connected with Hanoi by rail, passenger-trains running five times a day each way, and is in communication by landline with Saigon and by radio with Hongkong.
DIRECTORY
MAIRIE DE HAIPHONG Administrateur-Maire-M. L. Lotzer
ADMINISTRATION MUNICIPALE Administrateur-Maire-M. L. Lotzer Chef du Secrétariat-M. Delpy Chef des Travaux Municipaux-Gautier,
ingenieur
Commissaire de Police-M Roumanet Payeur Receveur Municipal-M. Toustou Commissaire Special-Boubal
CONSEIL MUNICIPAL
Administrateur Resident-Maire: -M. A.
Bouchet.
lere Adjoint-M. le D. Fesquet 2eme Adjoint-M. Lavergne Conseillers Municipaux-M. M. Go- delu, Paquin, Dr. Forest, Javouray,
Bouchard, Boé, Péraldi,
Buisson, Lagauzère et Rochat
Brun
Président de la Chambre de Commerce-
M. Chenu
Ingénieur Chef du Service Maritime---
M. Gauthier.
S/Directeur des Douanes et Régies-
M. Castanet.
Directeur du Port Autonome → M.
Gauthier
Consulat d'Angleterre M. Moon
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.