Directory_and_Chronicle_1938 — Page 750

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WUHU

weaken demand from Japan, yellow beans increased from 34,000 to 74,000- quintals, green beans from 1,000 to 36,000 quintals, broad beans from nil to 18,000 quintals, coal from 18,000 to 340,000 metric tons, and Keemun tea from 700 to 5,000 quintals. In this connexion it should be mentioned that an ex- perimental station to improve the cultivation of tea in Anhui province was established at Keemun. The success of the export trade in rice and cereals, beans, and coal brought an increase in shipping to the port. The total ton- nage entering and clearing under General Regulations amounted to 10.8 million tons as against 9.9 million tons in 1935. Owing to the unprecedentedly low water-level of the Yangtsze this winter, Wuhu Harbour was well filled with vessels of the coaster class anchoring to transfer their cargoes to lighters for transhipment to up-river destinations. The whole line of the Hwainan Railway, with a distance of 215 kilometres, starting from Tienchiaan in Northen Anhwei, and terminating at Yukikow on the northern bank of the Yangtsze, was opened to traffic on the 20th January, 1936.

A large steel pontoon together with two small ones was moored alongside the railway station at Yukikow in May, and the transportation of coal from the Hwainan mines to the Yangtsze River was much facilitated. On the 1st. April a through train service between Shanghai and Sunchiapu was inaugurated, when a connecting line of 21 kilometres on the outskirts of the capital, Nanking, linking up the Kiangnan Railway and the Shanghai- Nanking Railway, was completed. Of the projected railways, construction

Of the work on the extension line of the Kiangnan Railway from Sunchiapu to Kweichi in Kiangsi, has been started, and is expected to be completed by the end of 1937. The Hofei-Yechiachi section of the Pukow-Hsinyang Railway is also under construction, and is scheduled to be opened to traffic in 1937. The network of highways in the whole province of Anhui is nearing completion, and almost all the neighbouring provinces are now connected by highways. The

The total

total length

length of highways

highways in this province is about 5,300 kilometres. Installation work

Nine Province Long-Distance Telephone, System was completed during 1936. Wuhu is now connected by long-distance telephone with 15 places in Anhui, 25 in Kiangsi, 25 in Kiangsu, two in Chekiang, four in Kiangsi, three in Hupeh, and one in Huan. No development was noticeable in industrial enterprise during the year, but plans for the resumption of the Yu Chung Cotton Mill were under con- templation. The provincial government have in recent years made great exertions in promoting the mining industry. Of the coal mines, the Hwainan Colliery is the largest one in the province. Equipped with modern devices. and operated under efficient management of the National Reconstruction Commission, it turns out 2,000 metric tous of coal daily, and its market extends to river and coast ports. The construction of a macadamised road on the site of the demolished city wall was formally started in August. Owing to the lack of funds, other important reconstruction programmes mapped out by the Wuhu Reconstruction Committee have not yet materialised. Since the enforcement of the new monetary measures in November, 1935, the local banking business has been attaining increasing stability. New subsidiary coins were put into circulation in March.

on the

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