1
smiling surprise being caused by his appearance, which in Canton would possibly have been gres- ted with scowls and unpleasant remarks.
The streets of Wuchow, like all Chinese streets, are, narrow and dirty and the city pre- sents no particular features of interest.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
ebb-tide was encountered and at 5.15 we entered the channel. A little distance further and a halt was made at Wang- mun Customs Station, which is an old junk fitted up for the accommodation of the two European officers in charge. Fifteen minutes was sufficient to get the necessary olearance and we did not stop again until Wu. chow was reached. From now until bedtime we saw nothing but low, perfectly level land covered with paddy fields and banana planta tions. A lot of land here has been reclaimed and the whole of the delta is closely intersected by innumerable watercourses. In the distance, on either side, can be seen the hills which mark the limits of the delta.
The most striking feature on the river is the Ling Yang Gorge, which we went through at about 4 o'clock on Sunday morning when it was dark. Unfortunately, it was also dark (3 a.m.) when the return passage though the Gorge was made, but a few of the passengers saw it. The river in the narrowest portion of the Gorge is only about three hundred yards wide, and hills of 1,500 to 2,000 feet in height rise abruptly from the water's edge.
We cleared the Gorge at daylight, and from this point the river widens out and has more the appearance of a lake. At 7 o'clock we passed Shau- king. a walled city of considerable size. The river here is over a mile wide, and the low-lying rice fields were no longer to be seen. Passing through about fifteen miles of fairly level country the Shuihing Gorge was entered, and from here to Wachow the general aspect is about the same hills and valleys covered with refresh- ingly green grass and dotted over with small pine trees. The hills generally rise from the water's edge, which in many places is fringed with deuse groves of bamboo. At frequent intervals we passed villages, all very dirty look. ing, but picturesquely situated in little valleys and sometimes almost buried in clumps of trees. Pagodas and joss-houses are very plentiful; at Shanking four of the former could be seen on the surrounding hills. Every village possesses one or more tower-like pawnshops, which with the pagodas are the only prominent buildings. Several lekin stations were seen, and fishing and cargo boats in great numbers. One portion of the river is marked on the chart as being a famous resort of robbers and pirates; we, how- ever, saw only a few innocent looking fishing boats there.
Numerous herds of water buffaloes wallow in the mud. A towing path follows the river at high water mark, and it was very interesting to see the strings of coolies hitched on to ropes and towing deeply laden boats up the river. The loop of the rope was put over one shoulder, the other arm being free to use the fan with which most of them were provided and which they must have needed pretty badly in the blazing sun under which they toiled and sweated.
The telegraph line from Canton to Wuchow follows the river just above the towing path.
At 10 o'clock the town of Yuetsing, on the north bank, was passed and the cameras on board were used on the celebrated temple of the Mother of the Dragon, which is, however. a very aupretentions looking building. Abont mid-day a fine nine-storied pagoda uear Tak hing, was passed at close quarters, and of course photographed.
The anchor was weighed and the return journey commenced at 7.40 p.m. The heat in Wuchow was intense and everyone was glad to get on deck again and enjoy the cool breeze which blew up the river.
[July 15, 1899.
any sort of way, and the tube will again become a poor conductor. The tube of filings is au extremely sensitive revealer of the existence of electric oscillation in any given place. '
All the instruments have been constructed by Mr. da Silva, an electric bell being used in place of the ordinary Morse sounder, the signals transmitted from one end of the room being accurately reproduced by the receiving apparatus at the other. The experiments were a decided success and Mr. da Silva must be con. On Monday morning we found ourselves gratulated on being the pioneer of wireless below Samshui and passing some exceedingly telegraphy in this Colony. We may mention picturesque scenery. Turning into the channel that he also constructed and used the first tele- which we came up by, good time was made to phone in Hongkong; this was in February, Wangmun, which was reached just before tiffia, | 1878. and after stopping a few minutes for the Customs, the Canton River was entered and the course shaped for Hongkong. It was 2.30 in the afternoon when the Samshui reached the wharf, the trip having taken almost exactly fifty hours, including over an hour in Wuchow. The distance from Hongkong to Wuchow by the route taken is 214 miles.
Lovely weather was experienced during the whole journey; rather hot in the sun, but very pleasant on the upper deck under the shade of the awning, there being a delightfully cool breeze blowing the whole time.
Although the boat, crew, and everything on board was new, not a hitel occurred through out the trip, and everybody returned feeling improved by the change and very well pleased with the excursion.
WIKELESS TELEGRAPHY IN
HONGKONG.
On Wednesday afternoon, at 5 p.m.,
at the Club Lusitano, Mr. J. M.A. da Silva gave a practical demonstration of Marconi's wireless telegraphy. There were some forty or fifty per- sons present.
Mr. da Silva commenced by explaining the general principles of telegraphy,
and then went on to describe how, by means of two instruments, & transmitter and a receiver, to which must be added a pole of a curtain height, it is possible, by utilizing electric waves, to send messages to a rela- tively great distance without the necessity of employing a conducting wire between the trans- mitting and receiving apparatus.
The transmitter was placed in a corner of a long room, and the receiver in the opposite cor- ner. The transmitter is a sort of radiator, that is to say, an apparatus for radiating the waves. It consists of a small induction coil worked by six cells of bichromate battery, as manipulator, like the Morse, to send dots and dashes, and a pole about 10 feet long carrying a metal flag at the top and connected by a covered wire with one of the terminals of the secondary wire of the induction coil.
14
The principal part of the receiver is the sensitive tube, or coberer" or radio-conduc for," which was discovered by Professor Oresti, of Fermo, in 1885, and was improved by Professor Beauly, of France, in 1890, and modified by Professor Lodge, of England, and lastly modified by Sigor Marcoui. It consists of a small glass tube into which two silver bells connected with brass balls are tightly fitted; these are separated from each other by a small A few miles above Takhing, on the north gap, which is partly filled with some metallic side, is an extraordinarily prominent rock, which powder. This coherer forms part of a circuit rises to a height of about 1,400 feet above the containing two small cells of Leclanchi battery river. It is called on the chart "The Monks' and a small telegraph relay, actuating an Head," and the Chinese name is Wah Pin Shek. other circuit which works a trembler, or When about eight miles below Wuchow a tigerde-coherer," to strike the glass 'tube, and an was seen in a bamboo copse on the south bank, and this was about the most exciting incident which occurred on the whole journey.
The anchor was dropped at Wuchow at 6.20, pimi the voyage up having taken thirty hours.
As time would not permit of a longer stay than an hour, most of us went ashore at once, in order to see as much as possible of the city. It was rumoured a few weeks ago in Hongkong that there was a strong anti-foreign feeling at Wuchow, bat during our brief stay there we saw nothing of it, but on the contrary were treated with the greatest civility by the inhabitants. The writer went into the city alone with a camera, and never saw an unpleasant gesture or heard any re marks about fan kwei, nothing but polite and
a
electric bell to give Morse siguals. When at rest the filings in the coherer conduct no current, but when the filings are influenced by electric waves or surgings, cohesion instantly takes place and the tube becomes a good conductor. This allows the current from the two cells to actnaete the relay. One end of the tube is connected to vertical conductor similar to that of the transmitter. The electric andulations that are propagated through the air meet with the tube of filings, between the particles of filings there occur microscopic sparks, such sparks are conducted, perhaps even solder them together to some extent, and thus establish a more conductive chain. If then the tube hap- pens to be struck the conductive chain will be destroyed, the filings will arrange themselves in
EXTRAORDINARY CASE AI THE
MAGISTRAVY,
MAJOR LONG CHARGED WITH ASSAULTING
A CONSTABLE.
A somewhat exceptional case came before Mr. H. Gompertz at the Magistracy on Wednesday, Major Long being charged with assaulting Chinese constable 285, Lo Hiug, while in the execution of his duty on the 7th inst.
Inspector Duncan, who was in charge of the Hill station at the Peak on the date in question, said-On the 5th inst. I sent out P.C. 285 with instructions to catch two dogs, one yellow chow dog and one black, which were running about without collars and which I believed to te ownerless. I also told him to take which up any other dogs without collars might not have owners. I gave him a bam- boo with a running noose for the purpose. He went out about noon in uniform. When he returned he said he could not catch them in uniform, as the dogs took fright and ran away. He thought he could catch them in plain clothes. He accordingly went out in plain clothes on the 6th but without result, and also on the 7th.
In answer to Major Long, the Inspector said no notice was published of this.
Constable (285) Lo Hing said-On the 5th July the Inspector gave me orders to catch dogs at the Peak which had no license. There were two specified dogs-one brown and one black- which I had to catch as they had no owners. I had also to catch any other dogs which had no collars. I had a bamboo pole and a rattan noose. On the 5th I went out in uniform. Ou the 6th I went ont in plain clothes.
I was also in plain clothes on the 7th, when I was at the Tram terminus at the Peak. I found I could not catch the dogs in uniform because they ran away. I saw near the Peak Station a yellow dog with shaggy hair. The dog had no collar. I made sure by looking closely. I set about catching the dog when a European lady told me not to catch it. I said, "More better go to the Station and get a dogs license." She said, "All right, ask master." Major Long came on and the lady spoke to him. Defendant called the Indian constable there and spoke to him. I went up and Major Long snatched away my pole and threw it down the hill I wanted to ask him why he threw away my pole, 1 being a constable. He would not speak to me and asked me to go away. He seemed very angry. I went to No. 6 Station and called a European constable. When we got to the spot defendant had gone away.
In answer to Captain Superintendent May, witness said-I have been four years all but two months in the police. The pole has been used for this purpose before.
By Major Long-When I was in uniform the dogs ran away. A dog is afraid when he sees a lukong with a pole. He is probably afraid when he sees a coolie with a pole. I saw the dog near to the lady. The chair coolies did not tell me the dog belonged to the lady. I did not want to catch the dog; only to look at it. I spoke to the lady in English. Defendant was not there then. 1 did not speak to defen- dant at all.
By the Court-I was in some old clothes of my own.
Indian Constable 634 said-I was on duty at the Peak Tramway Station at 4.40 p.m. on the 7th inst. A European lady came on in a chair followed by two dogs, one being black and the other brown. A Chinese police constable with a pole tried to catch one of the dogs. The lady
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