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Jay 88, 1899,3.
FILIPINO LEADERS 'INTERVIEW
dup CONSUL WILLIAMS,
THEY WILL BE BATISFIED WITH NOTHING
FIL SHORT VOF INDEPENDENCE.
The last mail from Manila brought informs tion that a deputation of the Radical leaders of the Cabinet now in power at Malolos waited apon Consul Williams at Manila the other day and informed him that they wished him to know that they intended to have independence with of without Aguinaldo, and that nothing which could be said or done would affect them in the leet. They added that if Aguinaldo or any outer Filipino leader got in the way he would be putout of the way, as no one man's life could stand in the way of their desires. It has been citeulsted among the Filipinos that the Filipino Commission has simply been appointed by the President of the United States in order to maintain the status quo until more troops and shápa can arrive that in fact the Commission
Glommission is nothing but a blind.
"THE SITUATI 'N AT (L'IĻO. {PROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
Iloilo, 13th January.
At Iloilo the situation is very little changed. The great activity of the last ten days in forti- fying the city is now almost unnoticeable, prob ably because the Filipinos have done all they can. Guimaras Island, just opposite Iloilo, is being filled up with natives from Panay, who are throwing up entrenchments all along the high cliffs. The Americans are supplied with water from Guimaras and do a little buying from the natives, but small parties only are permitted to land WWith one or two exceptions the foreigners are all out of the place and for the time living on the sailing ships and small lighters anchored off shors: "They are all safe and their goods have been taken out of the city, so beyond the loss of time and money, nothing is in danger. Many meetings have been held between the Amaricans and natives and a better feeling is growing, as the natives are anxious to learn of the American "system of government, taxes, and so on. They have given permission for the American officers to go ashore and return af pleasure provided no fortifications are ap prosohed. They still adhere to their first pro- position that without instructions from Agui- naldo they cannot dot, and they pledge them selves to abt áccording to his wishes even if it be to give up the city. For the destruction of the city they care very little, as it is owned al- most entirely by foreigners.
L
CHINA: OVERLAND TRADEREPORT.
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69
carefully examined, they will readily betray their extremely modern origin,
natives have reached a state when some action aust take place immediately or the town will be destroyed and the whole population escape to The first consignments of Chinese porcelain the hills. The strain is proving a little more. were made through Portuguese merchants at than they can bear. However, as far as can be Macao early in the sixteenth century ® Before ascertained, in spite of these warnings the the end of this century the Jesuits were es- machinery of the native government and milit-tablished in China, and about the same period ry seems to be running as smoothy as on the the English East India Company established a direct trade with China and amongst other day the Americans arrived.
products exported Chinese porcelain from their first establishment on the Persian Gulfat Gombron. The ware was in consequence first known as Gombron ware. From this time forward considerable quantities of Chinaware were exported to Europe, and the influence of the Jesuits in the suggestion of new coloura and patterns is traceable in the ware after this erd. It was, however, in the long and prosper- greatest advance was made in the art. ous reign of the Emperor Kienlang that the
STEAM: LADNCHES. FOR U.S. SERVICE AT MANILA.
On the 23rd January three steam launches, left Hongkong, for Manila. They have been purchased, by a Mr. Robinson for the American Government, and will be used at Manila in its service. When they arrive there, they will be renamed. At present they are known as the Karshun, Leefat, and Kumhing. The former is a boat of 70 tons, is 70 feet long, with 14 feet 2 inches beam, and a draught of 6 feet, has compound condensing engines, ordinary marine boilers of about 110lb... steam pressure, and can be run at a speed of 10 knots. The Leefat will be captained by Mr. Hately. She is a 90- ton boat, 77 feet long, 144 feet beam, with 8 fest draught, and her speed is about 94 knots; her engines and boilers are new. The Kumhing is the largest of the three, and will be taken down by Captain Walls. She is a 100-ton boat 87 feet long, 14,7 beam, 8 feet draught, and will go 11 knots. About 90 tons of coal. are stored on the three boats, and, if all goes well they should arrive at Manila in five days. In case of rough weather, half whale-backs have been fixed fore and aft on each boat.
REVIEWS.
Chinese Porcelain. By W. G. GULLAND, with Notes by T. J. LABKIN. London: Chapman and Hall, Limited. 1898. Hongkong: Kelly and Walsh, Limited. |
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commenced, when it will seem all at once to be a hundred years older, which cannot bat increase its value in the eyes of the world at large.
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in China, having been made for the use of the The finest porcelain has always been retained Imperial Palace. Vast quantities are made for the Emperor's use and for presents to officials. Good specimens of the five claw dragon ware are indeed only obtainable through their sale by mandarins to the dealers at the capital, from whence it filters southward. The principal factories are now as of old at King-ti-chen in the Yangtsze Valley, some thirty miles from the Treaty port of Kiukiang. In 1722 there were said to be upwards of 3,000 furnaces at King-ti-chen, but these have been greatly re- duced since, and the factories have not yet recovered from the destruction which overtook them during the Taiping rebellion. At the present time the most persevering efforts are being made to imitate all classes of old por- celain, and little attention is being paid to the production of new patterns or to the improve ment of the ware. The Chinese of the present day are not original; they are only anxions, in porcelain, as in other things, to perpetuate the past.
Mr. Gulland has furnished chinomanings with an admirable guide in his exceedingly useful compilation. He gives a most interesting des- bription of the symbols, emblems, and charms, the fabulous and other animals, the trees, fruits, flowers, and plants depicted; the colours, tints, and glazes used, and gives a useful list of the various marks stamped on the pieces, pointing out the value to be attached to these or other wise as the oase may be. There are no less. than four hundred and eighty-five illustrations to the work, most of them being full page reproductions from photographs, admirably exe- outed. We could have wished that these had been in colours, but of course the cost rendered such an idea out of the question. The posses- sion of this volume will, however, enable collec tors to find new beauties and greatly enhanced interest in their specimens. Designs that have heretofore been unmeaning and grotesque will, with the aid of Mr. Gulland's work, sequire a new interest and attain a value quite apart from the possible age or rarity of the pottery: The Resident-Councillor. By Mrs. EGERTON EASTWICK. Singapore: Straits Times Press. 1898.
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good deal has been written about the Ceramic Art as practised in both China and Japan, but nevertheless very little is actually known or understood of either. More especially is this the case with regard to Chinese por- celain, and there are many collectors in a small way of this ware who have but the faintest idea of the mysteries, motives, and scenes which the seemingly grotesque figures and apparently inythical monstera, depicted on vase, bowl, or plate portend, signify, or represent. Most per sons are aware that ceramics have been known in Chins for centuries, and residents here are familiar with the claims put forward on behalf of many specimens frequently offered for sale in so conference with General Miller on
as being Ming pottery, ie, produced during January seth President Lopez very clearly ex- the Ming dynasty, some centuries back. Our pressed his position as follows: The Council author is rather disposed to discount the antiquity of State of the District of Bisayas sees itself of very much of the Chinese porcelain, but as he between the authority which the United States remarks in his preface, speaking of the age of pretends to impose, and the authority of the the bric-a-brac we are apt to gather, "in a very Central Government at Malolos. The sup-short time now another century will have posed authority of the United States was born in the Treaty of Paris, 10th December, 1898, while the authority of the Central Govern- mani at Malolos, besides being founded upon sacred ties of blood, language, customs, and The volume before as seems to fulfil very sacrifices, is founded principally upon our well the conditions required from a guide to MRS. EASTWICK's plot is ingeniously constructed political constitution, which was born with the those interested in its subject matter. Com-and the story is told in a style that makes it a evaption and has shown itself in all its steps, mencing with a brief but useful chronological pleasure to read. The scene is laid in Penang nd finally, the authority of the Government table, in which the first real rise of the industry and additional interest for Far Eastern readers alolos over us is dated from a time much in the Sung Dynasty (A.D. 900 to 1127) is lent to the book by the accuracy of its nterior to the treaty of Paris. Now bow, Amis traced down though the Yuan, Ming, and local colouring, which, we may add, is always in
ican General, can we respect with preference Tsing Dynasties, the work the authority of the United States, born with with the history of the manufactured to deal good taste and not exaggerated. When it is and then necessary to describe a scene the word painting the Treaty of Paris, of which we have not been proceeds to show how the art was affected by is done in a few clearly drawn lines; and there legally formed, over the legitimate authority that of painting, by the religions, the history, are no long disquisitions on social or moral of Malolos founded upon deeds of conquest pre- the drama, the poetry, and the mythology of the problems to interrupt the easy course of the vigns to the treaty of Paris and on the national Chinese people. The manufacture of porcelain narrative. "The Resident-Councillor" is not jes grested by the politics and constitution is believed to have commenced during the a novel with a purpose, but simply an intereste established from the first moment of the Re- Han Dynasty (206 B.C. to 25 A.D.) but for ing tale of colonial life exceedingly well told.
11th August, 1896 ?'*
all practical purposes, the author tells us, if Local tales frequently possess an element of Answering this, General Miller stated there except the celadon class (very pale green epite in their allusions to the social rivalries and of the United States due to con, monochrome) it is unnecessary for collectors jealousies that play so large a part in small land and sea. Cuba, Puerto to concern themselves with anything earlier communities, but we have failed to discover nd the Philippines, and their final than the productions of the time of the Ming anything of the kind in Mrs., Eastwick's book. tion by the treaty with Spain. He Dynasty (1368 to 1644 A.D.), while it is pro that the Filipino Republic had never bable that most of the ancient specimens now Pingognised by muy nation and could not be met with only date back to the reign of the he United States. In conclusion he re- Emperor Kang Hi, of the present dynasty the determination of the Filipinos to (1661-1722). As a matter of fact, very fow the just rule of the United States. pieces said to be of the Ming period are really there is any weakening there are no signs genuine they are for the most part, clever re- visible at present. The foreigners say that the productions of old patterns, and if the glase is
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The Resident Councillor of Penang, the hero of the book, is a Mr. Bellairs, a bachelor, who has living with him a young half-sister, while a younger half-brother is a cadet in the service. It is perhaps hardly necessary to remind the read- er that Penang, being part of the colony of the Straits Settlements, does not possess a Governor of itaown, nor yet a Lieutenant Governor, but in the
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