י .
HANGOHOW.
30th September. The one thing which has distinguished this month above others, is the severe epidemic which raged during the first part of it.
The disease was cholera, and was sharp and quick in its work. People would fall in the street with it They would be taken with it at bed time, say, and die before daylight. The natives called if the disease that causes the tips of the fingers to draw up-shrivel up. They turned blue, around the nails. It is hard to form any satis- factory estimate of the number who died, but it is put down as five thousand. The disease has abated now.
is now on a boom.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
CHEFOO:
28th September. We have now for some time been enjoying the normal bright, sunny weather tempered by cool northerly breezes which makes Chefoo in autumn such a delightful resort; and this is the more agreeable inasmuch as the past summer has been most abnormally wet, chilly, and unhealthy. These depressing climatic conditions and the unusual amount of sickness, both among foreigners and in the native town, combined to deprive the season of much of its gaiety; very little leave has been granted to the crews of the various warships which for months havė crowded the anchorage, the U.S. flagship's band has never, until the last two days, been allowed- on shore; very reasonable restrictions, consider-
[October 16, 1895.
band was most kindly offered to the by the Admiral, and its music, after musical famine," added immensely pleasure. On the 26th, next day, unhappil a high N.E. wind detained it on board. Admiral and officers, hitherto hardly acquainted with the Chefoo public, and almost unswa that a race meeting was in progress, as racing matters had not been pressed on their attention, amply made up for lost time, and this after noon a U.S. Naval Cup is to be raced for. The humours of the Off Day I must leave for record in my next letter-N, C. Daily News
spondent.
CHUNGKING
24th September
There is much talk among the people of the foreign settlement which is to be located, asing how unhealthy the native town has been: every one thinks, just beyond the Great Customs
and the beach in consequence has never pre- Affairs in general here remain quiet, and we Barrier, outside the northern suburb. The spirit of speculation has struck some of the sented the festive appearance which was its hear of no more riots at fixed dates. Opinion ordinary condition last summer. The num-
among experienced residents is divided as to people, and property in that neighbourhood ber of visitors, however, has been larger whether this state of things is merely the Waste ground that under than ever before; the hotels and boarding ominous calm before the storm or whether the ordinary circumstances would bring ten dollars houses have been crowded to their utmost
wave of excitement has passed by, perhaps to a mow has sold as high as one thousand dollars capacity, and the demand for bungalows and break upon some less fortunate locality. After a mow. It is true that the whole price is not furnished apartments has been far in excess of the recent terrible events in other part of paid down, but only one-tenth of it, with the
the supply. There has in consequence been China, and the apparent apathy of the British understanding that the rest is to be paid "if quite a small boom in landed property; most of Government in securing redress, the residents they strike oil," if not the amount paid is lost the land skirting the east beach is now owned at unprotected outports may well harbour by the purchaser. The people are talking by foreigners, and by next summer there will gloomy forbodings for their reputation and extravagantly about railroads, foreign houses, probably be several new bungalows ready for hire. safety Fortunately the vigilance of the au manufactures, etc. To hear them talk, there
On 12th September a party from H.M.S. thorities has never relaxed, and we shall pro- is no telling what will be done in the foreign olus attempted to remove, with dynamite,bably never know how much they have done settlement, in the near future. The truth of the pinnacle rock which, visible only at neap for us. They are not in the habit of putting the matter is that nothing whatever has been
tides, has of recent years damaged many a man- their good deeds into print, or even of defend- done, so far. It seems to indicate, however, that of-war's boat as it made, in careless security, ing themselves against the wild charges some- the people are interested in the matter, and, in for the beach just opposite the Chefoo Club. times made by excited foreigners, very often my opinion, they are quite ready and anxious
An immense column of water was dung up without understanding the limitations of for the day of improvements to come. There is
to a height of over a hundred feet, affording official power. It is enough to say that the a great deal of latent energy and enterprise
a charming spectacle to a crowd of interested on- officials here have done all that could be among the great mass of the people, the middle
lookers, but an expert who chanced to be among expected of them, and perhaps more. The classes, merchants, and artisans, but it is sup-
these declared that this same lovely spectacle made retention of the Taotai in office has unquestion- pressed and smothered by the great weight of the
him certain that the energy of the dynamite ably had a good effect, and has served to prop mandarinate, which rests as an immense incubus had not been expended in the right direction; up the fragment that is yet left of foreign upon the peope: It seems to me that there is
and subsequent inspection showed that the rock prestige. Further developments of the and- abundant proof that if the people were allowed to
had only been cracked. Possibly the winter foreign spirit will depend upon the treatment act for themselves, and had the assurance thatgales will complete the work began by man. A accorded to previous demonstrations, and the their rights in property and various enterprises much more dangerous reef in the inner harbour, present calm is probably due to a desire to find would be respected and protected, that they
running out in front of the Savage Club, has out if it is safe to proceed a little further with would quickly furnish both the capital and the
now been buoyed; none too soon, as many a out upsetting the equanimity of the foreign brains to inaugurate and carry on various grand steam pinnace, and other boats as well, has come works of improvement. From all appearance
powers. Under these circumstances it is hardly to grief upon it.
necessary to say that all interested are looking the middle class really want to engage in such work. At least that is the drift of their talk.
forward, in many cases not without considerable The officials of this city have recently put out
anxiety, to the decision respecting the recent proclamations with the late Imperial Edict
outrages.
embraced in them. It was done, however, in the name of one of the military officers, whereas our native friends think it should have been done under the seal of the Governor himself.
*
Everything is very quiet here, though there is considerable talk about Formosa and the gallant fight the little island is making with the Japanese. It surprises me to hear nothing about the Kucheng massacre, but my native friends tell me that there is but little known about it among the people. They do not seen to have got hold of the facts, or facts do not seem to have made any impression on their mind. A native pastor was telling me, a few days ago, of a letter he has received from the pastor of a church in a town called New Market, about fifty miles from here. He wrote that the magistrate of the district had paid a visit to the town and in his talk with the gentry, among other things, he said: Why do you not destroy this church here, as the people of my province, Fukien, have lately done down there" The gentry replid :-
:-" Oh! this church has been here a long time and has done us no harm, but we would like you to remove the Hunan men from The pastor of the church vouches for the story, as one of the friendly gentry told it directly to one of the native Christians. He remarked that the magistrate was quite taken aback by the reply he got and was not able to make any reply himself.
our midst."
4
On the other hand, one of the C.M.S. mis- sionaries was telling us that there had been petty persecution at one of their out-stations in a very small town, and he sent a polite note to the magistrate of that district calling his at tention to the fact, and the next day proclama tions with the Imperial Edict were put up and protection guaranteed.-N. C. Daily News correspondent.
The last two days have been given up entirely to racing; for many weeks our conversation, like at the Club bar and at the dinner table, has been monotonously equine. The more rigorous of us have been conceited every fore- noon and sleepy, every afternoon, as a result of turning out long before sunrise and exercising our ponies along the west beach or round the race course, when the latter was not under water, as during August was only too often the case. The death of our popular Commissioner's crack. Bedad, better known to the hippophilist public as Plebeian, on 5th September. from an acute attack of colic, was a cause of general regret and sympathy with a man whose sports- manlike character and native energy, well backed up by one or two others of like mind, prevented the breaking this year of the annual fixture which since his arrival amongst us has wound up the Chefoo season
with a few days of healthy and delightful recreation. The report, however, shows that this personal loss was really a public benefit, as otherwise. the "B's" might have swept the board, leaving very few crumbs to the other competitors. The equally sudden sickness of our other leading owner's (Mr. Hokee's) crack, Recruit, on the day before the races, roused general interest and sympathy, and had it ended equally un- happily would have excited unpleasant suspicions as to the integrity of mafoos, etc.; fortunately it proved very evanescent, and served only to stimulate the ambition of the small owners.
On 22nd September H.M.S. Swift arrived from Tientsin, and on 25th H.M.Š. Rattler, from Newchwang, where they appear to have had a very gay time. H.M.S. Archer left early on the 27th for Woosung, very unexpectedly. Admiral Carpenter's fleet, consisting of the Baltimore, Yorktown, Concord, and Petrel has been here now for some time, busily engaged in various drills, steam tactics, etc. A great many American officers thronged the Grand Stand and the enclosure; the flagship's
There are, however, two sides to every ques tion; and, even at the risk of being denounced as an advocate of the devil," it may not be out of place to present briefly the Chinese side of the case. From time immemorial' the Chinese have arrogated to themselves the right of ejecting those whom they consider undesir able members of their community. This right, or supposed right, is frequently exercised in the case of natives, including officials, and there is no apparent reason why foreigners should be exempt from the popular mandate. Now the Chinese do not like foreigners of any sort, and they actively dislike any attempt at religions propagandism. It is not because the general behaviour of foreigners is such as to render them undesirable residents among the Chi- nese, but because they are strongly suspected of ulterior motives that they are unpopular. A Chinaman is said always to have an object in view, which governs his every act, and it is quite incredible to him that foreigners should try to change his religion and customs without some deep seated scheme for their own aggran- disement and his consequent injury. In ejecting missionaries from this province they have only exercised what they supposed to be their right and they would probably be intensely surprised to find their action resented by the foreign govern- ments concerned. It is true that foreigners have been misrepresented to the people, their action proceeded from erroneous beliefs nevertheless, considering the ignorance and credulity of the people, and the terrible nature of the charged circulated against foreigners, we may well be surprised at their moderation in clearing off the whole lot without bloodshed. The despatch of an armed force would no doubt overawe the people who have had no experience of the summary fashion in which foreign troops deal with such matters. The Chinese idea of settling a disputed
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