90
THE CHAMBER TO THE CONSUL.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 23rd July, 1897.
Sir, I have much pleasure in acknowledging receipt of your letter of the 21st inst. on the subject of the new impost on kerosine and matches in the province of Kwangsi, and beg to tender you the cordial thanks of this Chamber for the light you have thrown on the question, the unstinted trouble taken, and for the promptitude of your reply.
From the information so freely laid before the Chamber, I gather that the Governor of Kwangsi is on the point of withdrawing the privileges conceded to the syndicate, and it would therefore seem superfluous for this Chamber to take up the question at the moment inasmuch as the remedy for the grievance. has been already applied by the responsible authorities. The Committee cannot doubt that the share you have had in bringing the question to the attention of Her Majesty's Minister at Peking and his representations thereon have powerfully contributed to com- pass that end, and for which service the thanks
of those interested are due.
THE HONGKONG VEEKLY PRESS AND
THE NEW HOMIKONG CLUB,
28th July.
R&VIEWS.
Sketches in Lavender. Blue and Green. By
(July 29, 1897.
stantial, the lounge chairs and sofas being upholstered in leather, while the chairs in the dining rooms, writing and reading rooms, &e., To-day the members of the Hongkong Club are of plain teak. Many of the bedrooms are take possession of their magnificent pile of now ready for occupation. They are comfort- buildings recently erected on the sea frontage. ably furnished and from their situation will be The process of fitting from the d out-of-date,pretty cool in the summer months. structure to the now, commedions, and thoroughly up-to-date building we achieved with such considerable colerity that the mem- bers were deprived of clubland for one day only, and as that day was Sunday, few, if any, were inconvenienced. On Saturday the interior of the new building was receiving the final touches from the polisher and the painter, workmen were busy fixing the many necessary fittings in the various rooms and depositing the furni ture in the allotted places, while the polished floor of the library was strewn with hundreds of books, which looked woefully out of place down there and seemed to be pitifully pleading to be placed in the more elevated and sober at- mosphere of the numerous bookshelves. Doubt. less by to-day everything is in order, although perhaps not up to apple-pie standard; but it takes more than a day to get "things straight," even in a three-roomed cottage.
obtained.
With reference to your remarks contrasting the present opposition to this illegal lekin The new Club stands in a commanding farm erected in Kwangsi with the apparent situation on the Praya and there is an apathy displayed in connection with the farm- unobstructed view of the harbour on the North ing of similar taxes on a much larger scale inside and of the Peak on the South, so that it Kwangtung, I think it should not be overlooked is in an exceedingly fine position to catch the that whereas the Kwangsi farm aims at a
summer breezes; indeed, it is questionable whe- monopoly of the whole trade in the articles ther there is a lower-level situation from which memed the farm in Kwangtung is established
a better uninterrupted view of the hills can be farrely for the collection of the lekin and
The building is in the Italian taxes without interference with the trade such Renaissance style and the Doric and Corinthian as is designed by the Kwangsi syndicate. I
orders have been used, the whole block present. might further point ont that when the Kwang- ing a most striking appearance from either side. The main entrance to the building is perhaps tang farm was inaugurated there were many its chief fault, but it is a fault which was un- equally, and some even more, pressing questions (such as for instance the transit pass ques- avoidable, the architects, Messrs. Palmer and Turner, having had to sacrifice a handsome en- tion) which at that time it was apparently trance for the God of Bowls. The entrance is impossible. for Foreign Governments to enforce, and it is therefore less surprising that on the western side and is far from imposing. this particular breach of Treaty rights was. Torning immediately to the left is a billiard not then brought prominently into notice.
room with two tables, while to the right is a billiard room containing three tables. Passing behind the narrow stone staircase facing the entrance the bowling alley is reached, and in making this hall of pleasure the loftiest and best lighted in the colony the rather insignificant entrance had to be adopted. There are no fewer than four alleys and as the place is eighteen feet in height it may be imagined that there was no space for a grand entrance hall and staircase. Behind the bowling alley are wine cellars and the re- frigerating room, the latter being fitted with the latest appliances.
The Foreign trade in China generally has decided cause for congratulation in the watch ful and energetio attitude now adopted by its present consular and diplomatic representatives. I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient servant,
R. M. GRAY, Chairman. Byron Brenan, Esq., C.M.G., H.B.M.'s Consul,
Canton.
THE CONSUL TO THE CHAMBER.
H.B.M. Consulate, Canton, 26th July, 1897. Sir, Referring to my letter of the 21st inst. on the subject of a kerosene oil monopoly in the province of Kwangsi, I beg to inform you that I have received a despatch from the Viceroy here, stating that the syndicate entrusted with the collection of the tax on oil and matches has been instructed to suspend operations.-I am, sir, your obedient servant,
(signed)
BYRON BRENAN, Consul. The Chairman, Hongkong General Chamber
of Commerce, Hongkong.
The change from the ground to the first floor is very pleasant from an artistic point of view. Arriving on the first floor a very fine hall is seen, round which are Doric columns supporting the gallery all round the upper floor. Imme- diately to the left of the stairs is the Secretary's room, farther on is the match billiard room, and to the right of this is the spacious bar, which overlooks the harbour. At the other end of the hall are the reading and writing rooms and lavatories, &o., and behind these is the servants* waiting room.
A grand staircase, made of teak, leads from the first to the second floor, and here again the gallery above is supported by numerous columns, which add much to the pleasing effect of the hall. On this floor is the library, which faces the Queen's Statue. The room seems admirably suited for the purposes of quiet reading, being at so appropriate a distance from the bar, the billiard rooms, and the bowling alley. Near the library is the librarian's room, and further along the hall is the very large dining which will seat two hundred persons. There are also a private dining room and card
room,
room.
The N. Y. K. steamer Yamaguchi-maru (Captain Moses), which arrived at Kobe on the morning of the 18th July, with the English mail on board, made a very quick passage up from Hongkong, taking exactly 44 days from the time she left Hongkong until her arrival in the harbour at Kobe. The passage, the Kobe Chronicle says, would have been made some hours quicker if it had not been for a thunder- storm encountered in the Kii Channel on the previous night, when the rain came down simply as sheets of water, so that it was impossible to see a few yards ahead, and the engines had to be put dead slow. Captain Moses describes the lightning as the most vivid The servants will all be quartered on the East he ever experienced. The storm lasted for some side, where a mezzanine floor has been built be time and delayed the vessel considerably, but tween the card room and the third floor to in the passage made from Hongkong is neverthe-crease the accommodation for the Chinese staff, less one of the best on record. The mail The furnishing of the Club, which is being. brought up by the Yamaguchi maru arrived at done by Messrs. Lane and Crawford, under the Hongkong by the P. and O. steamer Tha nes, personal supervision of Mr. F. C. Wilford, has having been dispatched from London on the not yet been completed. The carpets, which are 11th June, and thus, owing to the quick passage of very fine quality, haveall arrived, and they will of the Yamaguchi, Kobe was in receipt of a mail be freely used about the building. All the furni- via Suez in just over five weeks.
ture has been made locally. It is plain and sub-
On the third floor are eleven fairly large sized bedrooms.
L
JEROME K. JEROME. London: Longmans, Green, and Co. 1897. THE latest addition to Longmans Colonial Library, which we have received through essrs. Kelly and Walsh, Limited, will be wel- gd by admirers of the author of “Three in a Boat." There are twenty sketches in Ok, written in Mr. Jerona's racy style,
anumour quickly following each other never giving the reader a chance to get In the first sketch, "Reginald Blake, Financier and Cad," we have a whole domestic tragedy placed before us in twenty pages, though the material might easily have been used for
and
tired:
three volumes. In other sketches Mr. Jerome
"1
happily bits off characters that the reader will probably think he has himself met and known. There is, for instance, "The man who would.
who, when a child, was always manage,"
**mind" children older than wanting to himself, while at school, all his energies went to the instruction of others, leaving none for ** He would take callow his own purposes. youths to his chambers and teach them to box. Now try and hit me on the nose,' he would say, standing before them in an attitude of de- fence. Don't be afraid. Hit as hard as ever he had recovered from his surprise, and a little you can.' And they would do it; and so soon as lessened the bleeding, he would explain to them how they had done it all wrong, and how easily he could have stopped the blow if they had only hit him properly."
Golden Haub. By the "Straits Times" Special, Commissioner. Singapore: Straits Times Press. 1897.
THE series of articles which appeared re- cently in the Straits Times under the title of Golden Raub are republished in pam- phlet form, together with three maps showing the Pahang gold region, the Raub lease, and the position of Raub and the neighbouring ports of Klang and Pekan, and a tabulated comparison of Raub with the Rand. In the latter the acreage of the concessions or claimsl the capital of the company, and all other essential particulars are given. Raub's concession is given as "12,400 acres 6 miles on the reef," which is more than twice that of any of the South African Companies mentioned, while its yield per ton in gold bullion from the mill is higher than all but one, but the number of tons of ore crushed per month is as yet paltry, With the increase of the crushing plant it would seem that the proprietors of Raub ought to derive handsome returns from their invest- ment. The articles reprinted from our Singa- pore contemporary are eight in number and are headed "The rise of Raub," "The journey thither," "Early development work," "Down the Mines," "Details of working," "Prospects of Raub," "Raub to Kuala Lipis," and "Kuala Lipis to Singapore."
Le Tonkin et l'Inde Anglaise. Par PAUL DE- JOUX, Ingenieur en Chef des Travaux Public au Tonkin. Paris: Augustin - Challamel, 1896.
M. DEJOUX was formerly on the staff of the Public Works Department of Bengal, and in that capacity has acquired an intimate know. ledge of the province, which enables him to make an interesting and valuable comparison of the French possessions in Indo- China with those of the English in India. Tonkin and Bengal, he says, are simfar in2 their climate, their rainfall, and the character of their watercourses. As to the population, the Tonkinese is a much better worker and stronger than the Bengalee; he lives better and spends more on his comfort, which Tonkin may proves that he earns more, therefore be consi ered richer than Bengal, though it is still in an embryo condition, regards irrigation works and works connected
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