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themselves in the most primitive manner, in the middle of a swamp has been replaced by small houses built by the Public Works De- partment on the side of a hill hard by. Farther than this supply of proper shelter I have not felt it necessary to go, as the neighbours, with that ready charity that I have found so con- spicuous in the Chinese people, support the unfortunate sufferers with sufficient supply of food. You point to the development of the Colony, and I agree with you that its develop. ment is everything that could be desired. As the trade of China increases so must Hongkong take its toll of the ever-increasing mass of shipping passing through our port. But that increase of business means an increased influx of people and increased difficulty in their accommoda- tion. I hope that the many honses now being erected in Kowloon, and the encouragement to building outside Victoria that will be given by the construction of a tram line from West to East, will relieve the over- crowding in the town of Victoria, where we cannot continue to tolerate a pressure of population declared to be dangerons to the health of the community and unequalled in any oity in Chins or in any part of the world. And now, gentlemen, once again I thank you for your expression of good feeling, which I assure you is warmly reciprocated by Lady Blake and myself. I hope to be back before the summer, and I earnestly pray that Hongkong may be spared from a visitation of plague this year. But, whatever Providence may have in store for us, I am certain that should we unhappily have to face another epidemic you will meet it with fortitude and in any case that you will be in the future as in the past patient, practical, peaceful I look subjects of His Majesty the King. forward to our return with pleasure and I wish you one and all a happy and a prosperous New Year. (Applause).
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[January 4, 1902.
ment who reside here, it might well and CHINA SQUADRON HEAVY GUN reasonably be asked, what the local police are doing to allow such a state of things to exist? Surely the police know what is going on.
SHIPPING DISASTER IN HAINAN STRAITS.
8.8. CLARA BUNK.
The master of the s.s. Hanoi, which has
CHALLENGE TROPHY.
We hear from a reliable, though unofficial, quar- ter that the China Squadron Heavy Gun Chal- lenge Trophy arrived from England on the Cressy for presentation to H.M.S. Terrible, which beat the rest of the Navy in the competition for it. Strange to say, however, the naval authorities here state that they have no cognisance of the arrived in the Harbour, reports having picked arrival of the Trophy, the obvious intention up part of the crew and pasengers of the being to send it on board the successful ship German steamer Clara (Messrs Jebsen & Co.) without any formality, as if it were a parcel of on the 29th ult., in Hainan Straits. It tran- provisions. Should such turn out to be the case, there will be no two opinions that such a spires that the Clara went ashore on the North bank in hazy weather. The crew and passen-line of conduct is a mistaken policy, considered gers took to the bots, leaving the master, in any aspect. It was confidently hoped that the new Commander-in-Chief would grace the the chief and seco d engineers, and four European passengers on board. It was supposed ceremony of the presentation with his presence that those remaining on the steamer also took and speech; for the importance of the com- to the boats before the stranded vessel was petition for which the Trophy was offered driven off the bank by the wash of the seas and
cannot be over-emphasised. and all honour should be done to that vessel of His Britannic sunk in deep water, as ultimately happened
Majesty which carries off the palm in such Their fate meantime, however, was surrounded with uncertainty. Telegraphic commuuication
an all-important department of the practice of warfare as straight shooting. The ship with Hoihow is interupted."
which can get in the most bits per gun per minute is obviously of the greatest strategic value in a squadron. One Terrible that can be reliel upon to hit an opponent in a like manner as this ship has done a prize-firing target for two successive years, is at present equivalent three-otber to two-if not, in some cases, cruisers in the fleet. Such firing has been described as phenomenal-a term which is a misnomer; it is simply the outcome of con- sistent training and a feat apparently of easy accomplishment in any other ship similarly trained with similar guns.
The report of Mr. Merloes, waster of the Hanoi, upon the occurrence, is as follows :—“ I beg to state that, when I was steaming ont the middle channel in Hainan Straits on
the 29th between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., threa crews were picked up belonging to boats
At noon two rafts the German steamer Clara. were sighted; picked up Chinese passengers Was told by the second officer Mr. from same. Mehlhose, who was in the first boat picked up that the ship had struck the North bank at 3 I then went in search of the p.m. on the 28th. wreck, approaching the bank as close as possible for safety, without finding any trace of her, weather at the time being hazy with drizzling rain. At 2.15 p.m. set course for Hongkong, Crew and passengers picked up as follows:-Mr. Mehlhose, second officer; Mr. Frenzel, third, engineer; 22 Chinese crew, and 20 Chinese passengers. The second officer informed me that he passed the chief officer's boat at 4.30 His Excellency I thank you very cordially, a.m. containing himself and 12 Chinese passen- for myself and on behalf of Lady Blake, togers; also mentioned that the captain and two whom I shall not fail to communicate the good engineers and four Earopeau passengers were
on board when they left the steamer," feelings you have expressed.
At the conclusion of the Governor's remarks, Dr. Ho Kai rendered it shortly into Chinese, after which three hearty cheers were given on his call for His Excellency and three more and a "tiger" for Lady Blake, on the call of Mr. Fung Wa Chün.
Light refreshments were then servel, and after being photographed in front of the house the company dispersed.
ALLEGED ARREST OF A CHINESE REFORMER ON À BRITISH
VESSEL.
We are informed from a reliable source that Chinese officials at Canton on Wednesday last boarded a British steamer on its arrival at that city, arrested a Chinaman on a charge of being a Reformer, and conveyed him to prison where he now lies awaiting execution.
It appears the unfortunate man is named Put Wing Nin, and is a B.A. of Honan province. For some time he has lived in Hongkong, and being progressive in his ideas has been marked down by the spies and satellites of the Chinese Government, who reside here and work their will in defiance of the British authorities. Put Wing Nin was 'a passenger by the s.s. Powan, and he was followed to Canton by spies who, it is said, in company with Chinese officials who boarded the ship on its arrival, arrested him on the charge of being a Reformer. The arrest must have been made secretly and the man practically kidnapped, for the steamer agents here appear to be ignorant of the matter. The Reformer will most likely be executed, although his being a scholar may delay such a fate. Several of the Consuls, we understand, are mov. ing in the matter, and if it is the case, as is stated, that he was arrested on a British vessel, there is no doubt our able and energetic Consul- General at Canton will take promptand vigorous action.
The master is Mr Ulderop and the chief engineer Mr. Wittmack. The third engineer joined the ship at Haiphong and his name is not known to the agents here. Three of the missing European passengers came from Hai- phong and one from Hoihow.
The Clara was built in 1882 at Kiel and has been engaged in the coasting trade here for about 16 years.
LATER NEWS.
pas-
The Douglas steamer Thales (Captain_Rob- son), which arrived in the Harbour on Thurs- day from Pakhoi and Hoihow, brings later and happier news regarding those officers and sengers who were left on the steamer Clara after she stranded. The Thales reports that accord- ing to news emanating from Chinese sources in Hoitow, the master of the wrecked steamer, Mr. Ulderup, and the four missing passengers arrived in an open boat at Hoihow on New Year's Eve, utterly exhausted and with hands blistered by the long pull. The passengers are Frenchmen. Nothing is said, however, regard ing the two engineers who were at first reported to have remained on board with the master and the four passengers, and it seems probable that they are in the chief officer's boat, which is still missing. The Chinese cruiser Lukin, when the Thales left Hoihow on the New Year's Day, had just returned from an unsuccessful cruise in search of the missing boat.
With reference to the paragraph in our issue of the 30th ult., which stated that the Chinese Six Companies of San Francisco are making stren ons efforts to prevent the re-enactment of the U.S. Exclusion Law, news comes from that city that agencies are already being formed in Hongkong for the transportation of coolies to America in the event of the law being allowed to lapse. The leading Chinese in the Colony disclaim all knowledge of such organisations being formed. There are at present in existence, however, emigration and brokers' agencies which could supply any number of coolies which might
With the recent murder of a schoolmaster, also a Reformer, in the Colony by the emis- saries, of the Chinese officials at Canton, an outrage as yet unavenged, and this latest outrage of the spies of the Chinese Govern- ' be required.
Lord Selborne, the present First Lord of the Admiralty, recently stated-What would win would be the best disciplined, most courageous, most' self-reliant, and most tenacious officers and men, led by the most capable admiral." But he evidently forgot, or did not know, that all those qualities would become nought unless the fleet guns can shoot straight; and not only straight but rapidly als; a combination es- The Navy primarily exists sential to success. to protect the Empire from the foe, and We in 89condarily to guard our commerce. China, at any rate, shall not consider ourselves sufficiently secure until the Squadron have emulato "the Terrible's performance: not a difficult very supreme gun crews get fair play. It is indeed a healthy sign that our aduiirals and captains- the Trophy was purchased by Admiral Seymour and the Captains of the China Squadron-are instituting prizes for good shooting instead of awarding them for the cleanest guns. Quite lately it was announced that the Kaiser had instituted a similar trophy for competition amongst the German Asiatic Squadron.
or
effort if the
If our surmise is correct that the Trophy is simply to be dumped on board the Terrible on her arrival here-she is expected on the 4th or 5th inst. - hope the Commander-in- Chief will revise the decision which has been come to and that it will be presented with all the pomp and circumstance which the occasion calls for. It is of paramount importance that the existence of the Trophy should not be allowed to be forgotten. Were the Commander- in-Chief to present the Trophy by his own hands it would not only be a graceful act, but it would serve to show the importance he himself attaches to straight shooting and to engender that keen and healthy rivalry which ought to exist among the Squadron for the the possession of such an enviable distinction as that which belongs to the ship whose crew have proved themselves superior to all in the matter of straight shooting.
Hence
A New York correspondent states that the Atlantic passenger pool is said to have broken down. The English lines say that the Germans bagan the trouble by giving superior accom- modation below the agreed schedule the Cunard fixed a minimum rate on its crack boats of $50. The North German Lloyd and Hamburg announce a cut of $10. The White Star is expected shortly to announce a 850 rate on the Oceanic, being, like the Cunard reduc- tion, $10 below the previous minimum.
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