2
398
MANOHU STAKES (China Ponies.)
Mr. Macpherson's Kitchener.
...-1
Mr. Barey's Bose of the Roses
Mr. Hansa's Betha ...
Time, 3.0.3/5.
CONSOLATION Cur (China Ponies).
Mr. Crawford's Esperance
1
Mr. G. H. Potte's Forest King
2
Messrs. Eric & Ralph's Hasdrubal
3
Time, 2:32 1/5,
CHAMPION Sweepstakes (China Pon'es).
Mr. Duplex's The Dealer
...
M
1
Mr. John Peel's Se
...
***
***
2
Mr. Kannok's Ichimura,
Time, 2.04.
RAILWAYS IN BURMA.
3
THE HONGKONG. WEEKLY PRESS AND
rails, foo, are being imported into Rangoon: and it is too much to say that American iron and steel manufacturers have received from the railways of this province alone in less than two years a sum of £125,000, of which over 180,000 is on account of the Gokteik Viaduct.
There is nothing remarkable in the design of the bridge spanning the Gokteik gorge. It is what is known as a deck viaduct—that is, one in which the railway line is laid right on top. Its total length is 2,260ft., made up of ten spans of 120ft, each, seven spans of 60ft each, and 16 spans of 40ft. each. A natural bridge across the gorge greatly assisted the work, for the central tower, 32 ft high, springs from the natural bridge, which is 500ft. above the water. From the rails there is, therefore, an almost per- pendicular drop of 820 feet. The work on the bridge was started on 1st February last, when the first shipment of steel from America arrived, and it was completed on 6th December, that is, in a few days over ten months. Thirty American mechanics were engaged and, as there is practi- cally no local labour available, 250 natives of India were recruited in Bombay, Calcutta, and Rangoon, half of this number being skilled labourers and the other half coolies. A traveller," with an overhang of 160ft, that is, 40ft. greater than the longest span, was erected on the approach; the first span was lifted into its place and completed; the "traveller" moved its base to the first tower, and the second span was then erected, and so on to the 33rd and last span. From the day the work was started there was no serious hitch, everything worked smooth ly, and the gigantic task is now completed, re- acting the greatest credit on the contractors and their representative on the spot, Mr. J. C. Tark. Those who believe in the commercial necessity of constructing a railway into Yun- nan, and fear that the single metre-gauge line now being laid beyond the Gokteik gorge will be quite inadequate for the traffic to and from Western China, will like to hear that the viaduct has been built with a regard to future expansion, for while the girders have been made for a single line only, the towers, that is the really heavy work of the bridge, have been constructed to carry a double line.
Several years ago, writes the Rangoon cor- respondent of the Times, it was decided by the Secretary of State for India that the best route for a railway to China through British territory, having regard to the lines that had already been constructed in Burms, was from near Mandalay in a north-easterly direction to the Kualong Ferry, on the Salween river, close to the Chinese frontier and about 260 miles from Mandalay. The completion of the Gokteik Viaduct, 79 miles from Myohaung, the junction close to Mandalay, has made rapid extension possible, and before long the line will be open to Thibaw, the principal town in the northern Shan States, 127 miles from Mandalay, if not to Lasho, centre of some little importance east. As far as Lasho there will probably be an annually increasing traffic; but it is doubtful if even this part of the extension, which has proved, a very expensive one-the 39 miles from Myohanng to Maymayo costing over forty lakhs of rupees-will earn within the next generation enough to pay its working expenses. From Lasho to Kunlong Ferry there is little or no hope of any appreciable traffic, either in passengers or in goods; so there appears to be no reason why & commercial under- taking like the Burma Railways Company should extend the line further than Thibaw or Lasho, unless, indeed, it can be shown that the trade of that portion of Yunnan which would be "tapped" by a line from Kunlong to Shun- ning and Talifa is sufficient to hold out a fair prospect of a return on the enormous outlay involved. So far as can be judged from the recent reports of our Consular officers, and from the very able report on the trade possibi- lities of Southern China written by Mr.!F. S. Bourne for the Blackburn Chamber of Com merce, a railway into Yunnan from the Shan States would not pay for many years to come. Thus it is that the Burms Railways Company has of late directed its energies into other chan- nels; the Gokteik Viaduct, it is true, has been completed and the Shan Hills line is being constructed for half its originally proposed length; but frontier and trans frontier railway projects appear to have been dropped, while railways joining the ports of Bassein and Moul. mein with Rangoon are under way, the former being within measurable distance of completiononat eng notes in circulation and of
and the latter under survey; both these lines will certainly prove remunerative to the com- pany and advantageous to the public.
HONGKONG.
Mr. C. S. Sharp has been appointed a member of the Medical Board in place of Mr. Marshall resigned.
H.M.8. Aurora left on the 4th inst. for Tung The French torpedo-boatdes. Ying Island. troyer Takou arrived from Amoy. On the 5th inst. H.M.8. Algerine left for Singapore.
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[May 11, 1901.
The return of visitors to the City Hall Library and Museum last week shows that 383 non-Chinese and 97 Chinese visited the former, and 143 non-Chinese and 1,586 Chinese the latter institution.
The transport which is to take away the Remount Depot, Indian Contingent, now lying at Causeway Bay, is due here on the 10th inst., and she will leave the Harbour on the 13th for Taku to await orders. Capt. A. G. Turner 13th Bengal Lancers, is in command of the depot.
The steamer Hatching, Messrs. Douglas Lapraik & Company, arrived from coast ports on Thursday, and proceeded at once to Kowloon Dock to be fitted up as a transport. The Haiching has been chartered to convey some of the Indian troops back to Calcutta.
In a case at the Supreme Court on Thursday in which Mr. Samuel Meggett sued Messrs. Lane, Crawford and Co. for $1,000 damages for alleged wrongful dismissal, Mr. J. S. Härston appearing for plaintiff, and Mr. H. E. Pollock, K.C. (instructed by Messrs Deacon and Has- tings) for the defendant firm, judgment was entered for the latter.
We are requested to state for the information of the Portuguese community of this Colony, that Conselheiro A. G. Romano, Portuguese Consul-General at Hongkong, has been informed by the Acting Colonial Secretary that the Rt. Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colenies has laid his letter of condolence on the occasion of the late Queen Victoria's death before H. M. King Edward, who has commanded him to convey to Conselheiro Romano the expression of his Majesty's deep gratitude for the sympathy of the Portuguese Community of Hongkong with him in his bereavement.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The death is reported from Bangkok of Mr. H. M. Grigson, late head constable to the British Consulate.
Mr. E. C. Werner, H.B.M. Consul at Kiung. chow, has been appointed Consul for Pakhoi în addition to his present post.
It is reported from Manila that the war has ended in Marinduque, and complete pacification restored. It is stated from Ilocos Norte that General Tinio has surrendered.
A report forwarded to headquarters by the Japanese Consul at Chefoo, dated the 16th alt., states that the harbour works in progress there are proceeding rapidly, and will be finished within two years,
at
Mr. John Schmidt, whose death from typhus
Hamburg is recorded elsewhere, was the head at Shanghai of the firm of H. M. Schults and Company. Mr. Schmidt, whose loss is greatly regretted by his many friends, went home last the fatal attack took place. year, and was about returning to China when
We have received a copy of an Eulogy on the late Queen Victoria, delivered by the Pre- sident of the Geographical Society of Lisbon, Councillor F. J. Ferreira do Amaral, at a meet-
The proceeds, after paying expenses, of the recent concert, given in the Hon. C. P. Chater's Bungalow, Kowloon, by the members of St. John's Cathedral Choir on behalf of the local work of the Missions to Seamen, amount to $238.25. A cheque for this amount has been sent by the Hon. Secretary of the Choir to the Rev. J. H. France, the energetic and popular chaplain of this most deserving Mission.
speech is published in Portuguese and English. The following are the returns of the averageing of the Society on the 4th February. The specie in reserve in Hongkong, daring the Senhor do Amaral is a former Governor of month ended 30th April, as certified by the Macao and son of Governor Ferreira do Amaral, who was barbarously murdered by the Chinese Managers of the respective Banks:-
at the Porta Cerco, Macao, in 1849.
Banka.
Chartered Bank of India, Aus-
tralia and China Hongkong and Shanghai Bank-
ing Corporation. National Bank of 、 hina, Limited
Average Specie in Amount. Reserve,
$
$ 2,574,453 1,500,000
9,061,867 5,000,000
429,151 150,000
When it became known that the construction of the Atbara bridge had been entrusted, to American contractors, British bridge-builders complained. The Gokteik Viaduet was a much more formidable and more costly task than the Atbara bridge, there being more steel in the central tower alone of the former than in the whole of the latter, yet by few protests were
Total.. $12,065,471 6,650,000 heard when the contract was given to the Phila-
We regret to have to record the death of delphia Steel Company. The plain fact is that one European from plague that of Mr. H. C. the British contractors were not "in it." The Howorth, who died in the Peak Hospital on American firm tendered at £20 a ton; the best the 5th inst., after a very short illness. English tender was nearly twice as much. The The deceased has been for some little time an American firm engaged to complete the work in assistant with Messrs. Watson & Co., at the half the time asked in the most favourable Hongkong Dispensary in Queen's Road An- British tender... Of course the Americans other of the firm's employees, Mr. H. Thorne, secured the contract, just at about the same who has not been a year yet in Hongkong, time another American firm secured the con-was removed to Kennedy Town on the 4th tracts for 80 locomotives for Indian railways, of which 20 are now at work in Burma, prin- cipally on the extremely heavy gradients (one in 25) on the Maymyo line; and I believe they are giving every, satisfaction to officials who would much prefer to be able to place their con- tracts with British manufacturers. American
inst., suffering from plague. He has since died. It is, of course, not known for certain how they contracted the disease, but numbers, of dead rate, we learn, have been found recently on the premises, from which it may be suspected that these vermin carried the infection.
The Foochow Daily Echo of the 27th ült. has the following items:-The Flower Show is to be held in the godown of Messrs. H. S. Brand & Co. this afternoon.—A very successful ball was given at the Club on Monday evening by the Bachelors of Foochow Between seventy and eighty were present, and dancing was kept up till the small hours of the morning, An im- portant feature of the evening was the intro- duction of instrumental music provided locally. By the kindness of the Viceroy some seventeen members of his native band played several of the dances with great success, The decoration of the Club and the refreshments provided for the etertainment, reflected great credit on the hosts-News was received here late on Thurs- day night of the wreck of the P & O. Steamer Sobraon. Full details of the damage have not reached us yet, but it is probable that she will become a total wreck. Tang Ying lies between thirty and forty miles nor Peak. It is inhabited by a large tion, which has already made attempts to loot
the steamer,
harp
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