July 20, 1901.]
that gentleman, without delay, for reply, and on their monthly meeting held on the 9th inst., the Committee considered the whole- correspondence, and decided to forward a copy of Mr. Ritchie's rejoinder to Dr. Swan's state- ments to you for the information of His Excellency the Governor.
The Committee are of opinion that Dr. Swan has himself contributed, during this controversy, in no small degree to show the necessity that exists for the office of Health Officer being held by an official who is able to devote the whole of his time to the duties of the post. They accordingly respectfully beg now to suggest the desirability of (1) increasing the ents of this post, (2) of disallowing private practice to its incumbent except in the harbour; and (3) they would further re- commend the appointment of a junior practi- tioner to be Assistant Health Officer, and the employment of another steam-launch to the favourable consideration of His Excellency.
The work has greatly increased of late years, and it frequently happens that vessels enter > the harbour from both ends simultaneously, In order to prevent undue detention of ships, it is necessary that two officers be maintained. The revenue derived from the shipping will amply serve to defray the small additional cost involved in this change, the amount collected in 1900 for permits to work cargo on Sundays alone amounting to $48,550, or an in- over that of the previous year of
crease
$21,725.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary.
Hon. COLONIAL SECRETARY.
*
DIFFICULTY AND COST OF PROCURING BALLAST.
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong, 12th July, 1901. SIR,
'I am instructed to draw the attention of the Government to the hardship entailed on shipping by the difficulties placed in the way of vessels requiring sand or stone ballast, which are now so serious that they are either put to great and entirely needless expense or compelled to clear without ballast on account of the delay experienced.
Under the present system, application has to be made to the Public Works Department for a permit, and frequently a considerable time elapses before this is obtained and the stevedore receives authority to load ballast at some out of the way place where stones are scattered and
scarce.
per
Junks are then sent to this spot to collect the ballast, and as a rule from date of application fully four days pass before it can be placed on board. A practical royalty of six cents ton is charged by the Government, and, owing to the remoteness of the beaches prescribed in the permit, the cost of loading has advanced from 40 to 60 cents to about $1.40 per ton. The loss caused by detention of the vessel is of course still more serious, and entails positive loss and grave inconvenience on the shipping interest.
As an example of what takes place, I may mention the case of the troopship H. H. *Meier in March last. Although application was made to the Public Works Department on the 7th of that month, the agents were unable to get a permit to load ballast in time, though the steamer did not arrive until the 12th, and eventually she had to leave on the 14th idem without ballast.
The Committee respectfully submit to His Excellency the Governor that in matters re- lating to shipping time is necessarily of first importance, the loss by demurrage being very heavy. In a harbour of first class importance everything possible should be done to facilitate the movements of shipping both in order to protect the interests of trade and to maintain the reputation of the port for freedom from obstruction as well as from duties. My Committee would therefore venture to suggest, in the interests of the port and the colony, that the Government should frame some re- gulations rendering it easy to obtain ballast and sand from places near the harbour at reasonable cost and without any delay. Tak-" ing into consideration the fact that there is no lack either of stone or · in the colony,
A
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
there should be no difficulty in selecting suit- able spots for the purpose.
I have the honour t› be, Sir,
Your most obedient servant,
R. CHATTERTON WILCOX,
Secretary.
Hon. COLONIAL SECRETARY.
*
THE TARIFF QUESTION AND THE CHINESE INDEMNITY.
DEAR SIR,
London Chamber of Commerce, Botolph House, Eastcheap, London, EC., 17th May, 1901.
CHINESE INDEMNITY.
With reference to your telegram of the 3rd instant, on the above matter, which was duly communicated to His Majesty's Government through the Foreign Office, as well as a similar message received from the Shanghai Chamber a few days later, I now have the pleasure to forward for your information copy of letters received from the Foreign Office, which are self explanatary, and which I trust you will regard as satisfactory.
Yours faithfally,
KENRIC B. MURRAY,
Secretary,
Sir THOMAS JACKSON,
Chairman, Chamber of Commerce,
Hongkong.
(Enclosure.)
Foreign Office,
May 8th, 1901.
MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR NEAR AMOY,
87
More than a month ago Messrs. Jebsen & Co., of this colony, despatched, under command of Captain Koch, the steamlaunch Kiautschau to Tsingtao. The launch had been purchased by Messrs. Jebsen & Co. for the Kiaochau Lighter Co,, and was to be used for towing purposes. She had 30 tons of coal aboard, tons of water, and a crew of eight Chinese.
A month passed, and the launch failed to arrive at Kiaochau, nor could any tidings of its whereabouts be gleaned. On the 14th inst. the s.8. Daigi Maru brought two Chinose, one an engineer, the other a seaman, to Hongkong, They were apparently the only survivors of the missing launch, which, according to the rescued men's story, was lost by fire three miles off Dod Island Lighthouse, Captain Koch and the other six men being in all probability drowned.
The survivors' story, while clearing up un. certainty as to the fate of the launch, envelops the disaster in yet a deeper mystery. One of them states that, about 9 p.m. on Sunday, the 30th ult, he heard cries of "Fire." He at once ran on deck and found a fierce fire raging in a compartment filled with coal and engine oil. How the fire broke out he did not know. It was probable that the lamp hanging up above the coal exploded and so set fire to ooal and oil.
The captain at once ordered water to be thrown on the blazing mass, but without avail.
tion useless, he at once steered at full steam
SIB,
"I am directed by the Marquess of Lans-Finding all efforts to extinguish the conflagra- downe to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 3rd instant, enclosing a telegram from the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce protest ing against an unconditional increase of the Customs tariff in China as a means of raising the funds required for payment of the Indemnities.
I am to state that the question has received and is receiving careful consideration by His Majesty's Government.
The telegram is returned herewith.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
F. H. VILLIERS.
KENRIC B. MURRAY, Esq.,
London Chamber of Commerce,
Botolph House, Eastcheap, E.C.
(Enclosure.)
SIR,
I am
Foreign Office,
16th May, 1901.
directed by the Marquess of Lansdowne to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th instant, transmitting a copy of a telegram from the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce protesting against the immediate and unconditional increase of the Chinese Customs Tariff as a means of raising funds for the payment of the Indemnities claimed by the Powers.
In reply, I am to r.fer you to my letter of the 8th instant, in which you were informed that this question had already engaged the care- ful attention of His Majesty's Government.
I am to add that His Majesty's Government are fully alive to the importance of the con- siderations urged in the telegram.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble servant,
FRANCIS BERTIE.
KENBIC B. MURRAY, Esq.,
London Chamber of Commerce,
Botolph House, Eastcheap, E.C.
An Adelaide telogram of the 26th ult. says that General Chaffee, the commander of the American forces acting in China during the late crisis, has furnished the authorities at Washing. ton with a report in which he "substantiates the charges which have been made against the allied troops of having been guilty of the most inexcusable and horrible barbarities in their treatment of innocent Chinese, looting and shooting indiscriminately, and acting generally more like savages than the representatives of civilised Powers." We suppose, however, that those who have (without having been on the spot) denied the atrocities will still continue to disregard all evidence.
directly for the coast. Things went on without any visible change for fifteen minutes, when it was found impossible to steer any longer, the heat being so great that no one could stand at the wheel. The captain and four mon were standing at the bow, the rest of the crew at the stern. The fire being amidships, it was im possible for the two parties to unite. About three miles off Dod Island Lighthouse the captain jumped overboard and the men followed him. As the life-belts wore amidships they were unable to obtain any.
|
The two survivors saw nothing more of the captain or the rest of the crew, though they saw the launch go down. They were picked up by a junk, and later trans- ferred to the Daigi Maru. After returning on that vessel to the scene of the disaster and searching for some signs of the captain and crew, but finding absolutely nothing, they were brought down to this port.
We are informed that the German Consul has written to Amoy to make minute enquiries into the disaster and to find some trace of Captain Koch. No reply has been received as yet. It is curious that the burning of the launch at night should not have attracted attention at Amoy, close to which place is the Dod Island Lighthouse, which was, according to the story of the survivors, only three miles from the burning launch.
The following apointments were made last month at the Admiralty-Commander: R. Nugent, to the Pembroke, to dato Juno 20, and to the Albion, on commissioning, to date Jane 25, and to the "Barfleur (N.), undated. Lieu- tenants: V. B. Molteno (Istand G.), &. De K. L. | May ('T.), J, Man, W. B. Drury, H. J. Tweedie, and H. L. Boyle, to the Albion, to date June 25; E. B. Kiddle, to the Albion (N.), undated. Midshipmen: H. M. Garrett, W. 8. Hargreaves, R. Wigglesworth, E. J. F. Tisdall, W. U. H. Parry-Ŏkeden, the Hon. E. R. Drummond, N. St. J. S. Nicholl-Carne, T. G. Carter, C. W. Craven, and R. Crosbie-Hill, to the Albion, to date June 25; 9. Hopkins, H. P. Wilson, and R. B. Ramsay, to the Albion, undated. Fleet Engineer: H. J. Rampling, to the Albion, to date June 25. Engineers: A. E. Drought and A. G. V. Salter, to the Albion, to date June 25,
|
Assistant Engineers: C. Wain, J. K. Kirwin, T. E. Hughes, and A. E. E. Rayner, to the Albion, to date June 25. Captain W. W. Hewett, to the Albion, to date June 25. Commanders: H. W. James, to the Albion, to date June 25; W. Carey, to the Algerine, in command, to date June 27. Naval Instructor G. V. Rayment, B.A., to the Creary, to date
June 21.
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