258
A CREMATION SOCIETY FOR
HONGKONG.
The lecture delivered last spring by the late Mr. Granville Sharp upon the subject of orema- tion has been reprinted in pamphlet form and is being oironlated by the Hon. H. E. Pollock, with the following circular:-
I am forwarding to you a pamphlet contain. ing lecture delivered this last spring by the late Mr. Granville Sharp, upon the subject of Cremation, in the hope that it may be found possible to start a Cremation Sopisty here in Hongkong
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THE HONGKONG: WEEKLY PRESS AND
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September 23, 1899
After the inspection of works, the party ad | buying and putting down new plant. We also journed to one of the buildings, when the toast found it expedient to purchase Fan Chong's me... of success to the China Inland Waterworks was chinery as an adjunct, which we are now working, duly honoured in bumpers of champagne, The and find it of valuable assistance in turning ont success of this enterprise, the first native water- the work. You will also observe the sailing ves-a works in China, which has now been successfully sel Drumeltan does not appear, as she has been sold launched, is largely due to the ability and energy to advantage. Our worthy colleague Mr. Gallen 1 of Mr. Tong Kid-son, who has successfully went home on sick leave for one year and wei contended with the difficulties which appear to hope the change will be beneficial to him. If surround all new enterprises in the official any Shareholder has any questions to ask I shall i and commercial world ofĊhi ns.-N. C. Daily do my best to answer them.
News.
There being no questions,
The Chairman proposed, Mr. Peebles second-l
"That.... ed, and it was agreed to unanimonsly.
the year ending 30th June, 1899, as printed and circulated be adopted and approved, and that - at the rate of Tls. 15 per share to the share the Directors be authorised to pay a dividend holders on the register at this date."
It appears to me that nobody who studies S. C. FARNHAM AND CO., LIMITED. the Report and Accounts of the Company for closely the facts and figures contained in the accompanying pamphlet (which is founded in the main upon the valuable writings of Sir Henry Thompson the President of the Crema tion Society of England) can fail to be struck with the dangers attending upon the disposal of the dead by burial, especially" in a small is- land like Hongkong.
It is not to be expected that the cause of Cremation will at once advance here by leaps and bounds, but, if an association were to be formed of those who are in favour of it, a valu- able start would be made which might lead in due time to important results.
It is generally supposed that members of the Roman Catholic community and also our Chinese follow oitsens entertain objections to the practice of Cremation, and I should be glad if any of those who receive this pamphlet would be kind enough to enlighten me as to the reasons upon which such objections to Cremation are founded. It may be that by friendly discussion and argument some of the objections can be mur. mounted.
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In venturing to address you in this way I am: simply acting as an ordinary member of the community and not in any official capacity. If I can succeed in directing the attention of the public to this important question my object will have been attained, and abler pens than mine will, I hope, help to carry forward the cause of Cremation to a successful issue.
THE SHANGHAI NATIVE CITY WATERWORKS.
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shareholders in this company was held on the The seventh annual general meeting of the 14th September at the Head Office, Shanghai, Mr. J. R. Twentyman presided, and there were also present, Mesurs. G. Peebles (Director), J. 8. Knowles (Scoretary), H. von Rücker, A. Korff, II. A. J. Maoray, J. Welch, 8. Ground. water, Zee Lan-char, D. T. Black, T. Pember- ton, W. Pearce, and J. Ferrier-representing in all 4,235 shares. The notice convening the meeting having been read by the Secretary.
The Chairman, in moving the adoption of accounts have been in your hands for some the report and accounts, said—Our report and time and with your permission we will take them as read. A glance at the accounts placed before you will show you the splendid position we have attained and we are gradnally im- proving it. A copy of the working account 18 011 the table and you are welcome to 800 it. The properties and machinery are in good working order and the repairs as The land and docks stand in our books very usual bave been charged to running expenses
much below their value; for instancs, the Tunka- doo Dock could not be constructed for anything like the amount standing against it without taking into consideration the land. We have a deep-water frontage extending the whole length of the property where vessels can lie at any state of the tide, and we expect it will soon be brought within the barbour limits, which will considerably enhance its value. We have been approached with regard to a sale, but it is not your Directors' idea to give it away by any On 16th September there was an official means, My remarks regarding the value of inspection of the new City Waterworks, to Tunkadoo also apply to the Old Dock and pro- which the representatives of the Press were perty surrounding it, including the Broadway lot, invited. Yang Taotai and Mr. Tong Kid-son, It must therefore be obvious, that our position is the two principal Directors, were present, to-
a very strong one. The Cosmopolitan Dook has gether with Mr. Lehmann of Messrs. Arnhold, proved so far a great success and when the whole Karberg & Co., the General Managers; Messrs. is completed. with the extensive workshops, it Atkinson and Dallas, the Engineers; Mr.
should prove very remunerative to the Fowler of the Laidlaw, Dunn, Gordon Co., shareholders. As it was necessary to do away who will be the Engineer in charge of the with the old Collier Dook, the site being re- Waterworks upon its completion, and Messrs.quired for the new one, your Directors consi Blechynden and Ord, of the Shanghai Engineer-dered it advisable in the interests of the share- ing, Shipbuilding and Dock Co. Ld., the con- holders to write off Tis. 50,000 from depreciation tractors for erécting the machinery and water and maintenance fund, thereby strengthening tower, and laying the pipes. After visiting the
our hands and making the business a profitable town office on the Chinese Bund, the foundations and safe investment to the shareholders. Every of the water tower were inspected. The tower, economy was observed in the construction of which will be constructed of steel, is 80 this dock, and I feel sure the shareholders are feet high, supporting a tank 20 feet in diameter, satisfied with the result. Several vessels of capable of holding 50,000 gallons. The water heavy tonnage have been docked there and we tower has been constructed by Messrs. Ritter have not observed any settlement or shrinkage and Conley, N. Y,
in any way. As Mr. Galles drew your atten- The pumping station is situate about two tion last year to the cost of our land and bund- miles further up the river and a little less than ing at the Cosmopolitan Dock being put down a quarter of a mile beyond the Franch Water- at Tls. 335 per mow, further comment is un- works. There will be two settling tanks, a se- necessary. Another important and interesting condary tank for feeding the filter beds, of which matter for you is, the Company continues to there will be three, and a clear water reservoir. prosper, and from appearances your dividend, Arrangements have been made for a consider-gentlemen, is assured for next year also. One able extension of the works as occasion arises. The engine and boiler house are well forward, as well as the godown and engineer's residence. The engines have been supplied by the Laidlaw, Dunn, Gordon Company; the cast.iron pipes are from the well-known firm of R. D. Wood & Co., Philadelphia, and the hydrants and valves have been purchased from the Kennedy Valve Co
The main, from the pumping station to the water tower will, for the first section, be laid across country for a distance of 1,000 yards, connecting with the Arsenal Road at a point 250 yards from the Chinese Bund, it will then be laid along the inner side of the Chinese Bund as far the Tamat on (Big Jetty) where the water
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drawback is, notwithstanding the increase to our machinery and machinery account, we have been unable to cope with the amount of work offered us and have been compelled to refuse large orders. We have now new work on hand amounting to one million and a quarter taels; it therefore appeals to you, gentlemen, that we should not sit still, but should be ap and doing; and the question arises whether we should not at this juncture do something to increase our business capacity to meet the pres- sing demands. It is not in my opinion fair to the present shareholders to go on buying new machinery ont of the profits; some other means should be adopted to meet the exigencies of the case. Yon will observe the machinery acount very much increased, and we are still
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by Mr. T. Pemberton, "That Mr. Geo. Peebles It was proposed by Mr. A. Korff and seconded
be re-elected a Director of the Company."
Carried.
by Mr. Black, it was also resolved"That Upon the motion of Mr. J. Welch, seconded:
Messrs. W. H. Anderson and Geo. D. Sodtt bə-- elected Auditors for the present year.”
The Chairman-That appears to be all the business of the meeting. The dividend war- rants will be issued to-morrow.
new machinery; is there any scheme at present ?
Mr. Weloh-Yon mentioned something about...
The Chairman-There is no scheme before - the Directors, but still something will have to be done. I think we have the biggest plant in Shanghai in this business, but still it is not big enough to meet the demands upon us. We are working day and uight, and although wo ̈ have a new place of work with the lower dook, ' it is still not enou rh, and I think we could con-- veniently double the capacity of the business. If we anticipate anything of that sort of course it will be put before the shareholders in the usual way, but at the same time we have to do something, as our buisness is daily increasing.
Mr. A. Korff-May I ask Directors whether“ it is their intention to increase the Reserve" Fund, because I see it is a considerable amount?
The Chairman-In my opinion it is nearly big enough now, that is why I made those? remarke just now. We have now approached about two-thirds of our capital, and if you put a value on our plant and the whole thing, it would come to very large figures, certainly over Tis 8,000,000 at the present day, and I think we ought to consider something about enlarging the business. If you have any proposals to make the Directors will be pleased to take them into consideration. I should mention that we have still 500 shares unissue, but at the same time? even that would be insufficient.
Mr. Korff-They have been taken at their original value of Tis. 100 F
The Chairman-They are not teken into so+ count at all. The capital stands at Tls. 750,000," but we are allowed to issue up to Tls. 800,000, but that would be inadequate to meet the need. Something will have to be done to increase the business. We have got three docks and can take- the largest or smallest vessel that wants to come... in, but still we cannot cope with the work.
A vote of thanks to the Chairman, proposed · by Mr. Welch concluded the proceedings.-N. C;
Daily News.
KANG YI'S PICKINGS.
The local vernacular papers publish letters from their Northern correspondents reporting the arrival recently at Tientsin, by the Chins Merchants' steamer Heinyü, of two of Kang Yi's confidential retainers in charge of no less than 367 large boxes and trunks, on all of which- were pasted slim strips of paper bearing the name and titles of the Empress Dowager's henchman and with his great seal impressed impressed thereon, to notify the public that these were the "private property" of the pos- sessor of the seal and as such were to be passed through the I.M., the Likin, and other Cus.
toms
* en route to the Banner Reservation of the great man. The contents of these big boxes are popularly supposed to be valuable “ private pickings.”—N, C, Daily News.
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