February 10, 1902.]
cannot advise the Board to have the system
altered."
.
The PRESIDENT-This system has been already approved of by the Board, and I do not see we can take any further action in the matter. Of course, there must be a mau-hole somewhere in connection with the drains of these premises. They knew that when they bought the house: I suppose.
THE DEATH RATE.
The mortality statistics showed that the death - rate in the Colony for the week ended 18th January was 11.6 per 1,000 of the population per annum as compared with 17.1 in the pre- vious week and 20.0 in the corresponding week of the preceding year.
LIME-WASHING.
The lime-washing returns for the fortnight ended 1st February showed that f51 houses in the Easteru district had been so treated..
WATER ANALYSIS,
Mr. Frank Browne, the Government Analyst, sent in reports regarding the analyses by him of the water in the Tytam. Kowloon,. and Pok: falam services. In each cas the results obtained showed the water to be of excellent quality.
SEQUEL TO WATER FAMINE.
Mr. OSBORNE-I saw, sir, in lat night's China Mail a paragraph to the effect that a poor old woman had been fined for not clean- ing her house and that the reason she did not clean her house was that she could not get water to do it. I was going to ask the Medical Officer of Health what truth there was in that rumonr. As he is not here, cannot get the information, but I think there is no doubt that there is some misunderstanding in the matter. and I think it would be just as well to hare a denial of it if it is wrong.
The PRSIDENT was understood to indicate that he had no cognisance of the matter.
[At a later stage of the meeting, Mr. G. A. Woodcock informed the Press representatives that orders have been issued to the effect that prosecutions are not be taken if a house is merely dirty from the want of water, but that where offal, rubbish, etc, which could be swept out, are present then prosecution takes place.]
This was all the public business before the meeting.
THE MANCHURIAN CONVENTION.
An usually well informed native correspon- dent writing to us from Peking says thai M. Lessar, the Russian Minister to China, has sent a Chinaman named Nieh, compradoro of the
Russo-Chinese Bank at Peking, to seek an interview with Li Lin-ying, the Empress Dowager's favourite eunuch. The Russian Minister has promised to give this notoriously renal person a bribe of ten million taels if he can induce the Empress Dowager to sign the Man- churian Convention at once, without making any alterations in the text of the agreement as settled between Russia and the late Li Hung. chang. The ten million taols will be paid to Li Lin-ying on the day that the Convention is actually signed. In addition to this, our cor- respondent states, Russia agrees to pay the eunuch one million taels every year up to the date of his death.
We give this report for what it is worth, but as we have said, our correspondent is usually well informed and we attach therefore more importance to the story than if it came through an ordinary source.
3
The death is announced of Rear-Admiral Frederick W. Hallowes, agod 68. From 1856-62 he saw active service in China, being present at the action of Fatshan while in command of a pinnace of the Calcutta. At the taking of Canton in 1860 he commanded the gunboat Bustard, and also took part in the capture of the Taku forts and advance on Tientsin in 1858, and the Pei-ho, forts in 1860, receiving the China medal with four clasps. He was afterwards engaged in the destruction of a fleet of five piratical junks, mounting in all 40 guns. In 1867 he was in command of the Argus on the China Station, and was afterwards in supreme command of the land and sea forces at the successful defence of the city of Chefoo against a force of 20,00 rebels. His last command was in the Japanese ironclad Fu-so on her voyage to Yokohama in March, 1878.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
THE OPERATIONS IN CHINA.
Admiralty, January 1, 1902. CHINA MEDAL, 19 0.
His Majesty the King has been gracionsly pleased to confirm the anthority given by her late Majesty Queen Victoria to the Lords 'om
missioners of the Admiralty for the issue of a Medal to commemorate the Naval and Military Operations in North China iu 1900.
II. The Medal will be granted to all Officers, Warrant Officers, Petty and Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the British. Indian, and Colonial Naval and Military Forces, who were employed in North China, and in the Yangtze | Valley from 10th June, 1900, to 31st Decem- ber, 1901, and to all who embuked in India for service in China in the expedition under the command of General Sir A. Gasele.
III. The Medal will be similar in pattern to th Silver Medal granted for the China Wars of 1842 and 1860: ex ept that the obverse of the Medal will bear the same effigy of her late Majesty as appears on the South African Medal, with the legend "Victoria Regina et Impe 'ratrix."
IV. His Majesty has further approved clasps being issued as follows:-
**
1. A clasp inscribed Taku Forts" to all those who were engaged in the Peiho River, on 17th June, 190, in the operations which resulted in the capture of the Takn Ports.
2. A clasp inscribed "Defence of Legations" to all who took part in the defence of the Legations in' Peking. between 10th June and 14th August. 19. 0, both dates inclusive.
3 A clasp inscribed “Relief of Peking" to all those engaged in the operations on shore at or beyond Taku for the Belief of Peking, between 10th Jane and 14th Augnst, 190), both d.tes inclusive.
The Medal will be issued by the Accountant- Geteral of the Navy to all Officers and Men of the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, and Colonial Naval Forces who are entitled to it.
The cases of Officers and Men of the Imperial Military Fo.ces will be dealt with by the War Office in concert with the Indian and Colonial Governments.
LOSS OF KNIGHT COMPANION.”
QUEEN'S COLLEGE.
DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZES.
07
The annual ceremony of presenting the prizes won by the pupils in Queen's College was performed on the 3rd inst. by His Excellency the Acting Governor, Major-General Sir W. J. Gascoigue, Commanding the 'Troops, in presence of a large attendance. General Gascoigne was dressed in uniform and was accompanied by Lady Gascoigne, Captain the Hon. H. W. Trefusis, A.D.U, and Mr. R. F. Johnston, Private Secretary. Among others present were Right Rev Bishop Hoare, Herr. N. Post au Mrs. Post, Mrs. Bell-Irving, Miss Bernard, Dr. J. Bateson Wright, Headmaster, and the Staff of the College; Hon. Dr. Ho Kai, Hon. W. Meigh Goodman, K.C., and Mrs. and Miss Goodman, Rev. R. F. Cobbold. Conselheiro A. G. Romano, Mr. and Mrs, Dennys, Mr. G. A. Woodcock, Mr. G. Piercy, Mr. C. Mooney, and Mr. J. W. Jones.
General Gascoigne and party having taken their places on the platform,
Dr. BATES ON WRIGHT said-Your Excel. lency, ladies and gentlem o, I have much pleasure in submitting the raport of the Collegǝ for the past year.
1. On the 22nd January, 1832, I first arrived in the Colony to assume the duties of Hend Master. I propose therefore briefly to compare the conditions existing twenty years ago and
now,
2. Statistics
Total No. q the Roll... Average Daily Attendance Monthly Maximum Daily Maximum School Fees
Expense to the
1901 188! 1,483 562
891 381
1,154 451
1,129
$23,424,0
$4,051,00
Government $15,475.04 Average Expense
of each scholar
$17.31
$10,550.15
$27.35
Thus at the present time we have twice and a half as many boys as twenty years ago; Fees seven times the amount; Total Net Annual Expense to Government one and a half times, while the cost of each individual scholar is nearly two-thirds of the figures is 1882.
3. I arrvied at a time when the work at the Central School had been publicly called in question, and my opinion, as a stranger, was desired. At the Prize Distribution, after conducting the examination, I was able truth- We are courteously informed by Mr. H. T. fully to say to Sir John Pope Hennessy that I was surprised at the success of Chinese boys in Wilgress, manager of the Portland and Asiatic coping with the difficulties of the English Steamship Co., that the steamer Knight Com-
language; and I may add that this impression purion had been wrecked at Idzami, near
has been confirmed with increased experience. Kobe, the news of the disaster coming from Yoko-
That a Chinese boy should in five years ad- The wire stated, however, that Captain Froggat intelligent acquantance with a play of Shake- hama by telegram. Details are not yet to hand.
vance from the study of the Alphabet to an and the crew were on their way to Yokohama,
speare and a period of English History is to so it is presumed that the vessel is a total
me little short of the miraculous; when 'due. wreck. The Knight Companion was insured allowance is made for the novelty of the sim-- at Lloyds. Her owners are Messrs. Green-plest ideas, which are conveyed in idioms shields, Cowie & Co, Liverpool. She had a
without parallel in his own language. tonnage of 2,620 tons net, and was on her way from Portland with a full carge of flour and cotton piece goods for Yokohama. Kobe, Shanghai and Hongkong,
The flour was mostly consigued to Mr. A. H. Penuie hero. The Knight Companion sailed from Hongkong on 15th Novenber last.
News received in Shanghai from Wachang is to the effect that Viceroy Chang has ordered the restoration of the riverine fort at Tangchio, outside that city. This fort, which hal been allowed to fall into desuetude during the past dozen years, defeuds the approaches to Wuchang from the interior river towns. Owing to the unsettled condition of the province lately, it has therefore been thought advisable to restore the Tangchiò fort to defend Wachang from attacks from the up-river direction.
The Pelit Parisien says the mission entrusted to Lieut. Hourst, who recently took a gunboat through the rapid of tho Upper Yangtsze is by no means at an end. His journey leads him to Yunnan, the province of which M. Doumer would have already brought nuder French influence if his efforts had not been checked by instructions from the Quai d'Orsay. Lient. Honrst is an old friend of Marchand, who is now in China, and who had certainly a voice in the arrangement of the present Mission.
4. The chief points of contrast between the Examination held by me in 1832 (which natur. ally is indelibly printed on my brain) and the Examination just encluded. are as follows. The papers nw are nearly all clean and remarkably well written; where is twenty years
Lyr
these were the exception, the majority of papers being dirty and almost illegible. The standard now applied is infinitely severer; iu 1882, the action of the gauge was very delicate and sympathetic; e.g. if from a hopeless trans- lation you could decipher that the boy had a fairly correct ides of the original, he was allowed to pass; in Composition three sentences grammatically correct constituted the test of a pass, irrespective of subject matter: in Arithmetic there was an allowance for. method, which was supposed to condone for a wrong digit in even a total product; beyond all this, a personal element was introduced into the equation in the case of delicate or weak- minded boys, or of boys whose attendances had been affected by sickness or o her cause. "I objected to anything but a rigid uniform standard being applied to all alike; and maintained, that in mathematical anbjects, except for some slight clerical error, no leniency could be shown. The severer standard was gradually adopted, to avoid pressing too heavily at first.
5. A further proof of the increase of standardl
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