January 2, 1904.]
a wild rank species of the leaf for their own use. All over the countryside you will find traces of the hillside terraces on which the plant was grown.
GAME.
As local sportsmen know to their cost, the shooting season'ia the New Territory has been a miserable and disappointing failure this year. 'T'hat earliest of dainties, the snipe, seemed to have entirely forsaken their ancient haunts amidst our valleys. Quail and partridge hive been equally scarce in most parts. Only pigeons have ben unmerous, and even here there has been an obvious falling-off in the number of scale-backs. the heaviest and most valuable kind. Several teal have been got on the water. Courses. On the whole, shooting has been far better on the Chinese side of the boundary than on ours. Some big bags were secured in the
Samchun district. With regard to big game, dear have been seen at White Sand Day uear Gindriuk rs', but the country is a difficult one for following them up. That tiger in the gap between Sheungshui and Taipo has not again made his appearance Two wolves were pursued from a village near Shatankok after playing havoc among the pigs; the depredators escaped, as they made too much speed for their
pursuers.
CUSTOMS.
Mr. W. PM. Whaite, who has been in charge of Shaankok Custom Stations for some time past, and was formerly at Samchuu, has been promoted to ba Assistant Examiner at Kiungchau, Hainan. The announcement of Mr.
sure by his many friends in the New Territory Whaite's pro notion will be heard of with plea and Hongkong; he is one of the most popular
officers in the Kowloon Customs, I understand he will leave for Hainan by one of the Marty steamers from Hongkong about the beg uuing of next month.
CANTON.
[FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Canton, 30th December,
BUILDING ACTIVITY AT CANTỤN
Anyous arriving, in Cantou by the back reach of the river must be struck by the bund- ing operations now going on on both banks. It is evident that when all the work now in hand is completed far greater facilities will be available for discharging cargo than at the prasaut time. On the left bank Messrs. Butterfield & Swire are having a bund built-1,700 feet in length. Work on this has, as is well-known, been going on for some time, but it was considerably delayed by the existence of a large rock under water. This obstacle has now been got rid of by Mr. Waters with dynamite, and work on the wharves, which will be five in number, will begin shortly. At these wharves ocean steamers larger than any that now come up will be able to work cargo. **On the opposite side of the river, at Pak Hok Tong, the standard Oil Company are having a bund built. There are at present 100 sand- boats at work dredging. The concession will have a frontage of 1530 ft., and will go back 540. There will be a manager's residence, and several godowns and oil-tanks, so that Messrs Arnhold, Karborg & Co. will have a rival al nost within
a stone's hrow of their own tanks.
At Fong Chuen, which lies just below the railway terminus on the right bank, the merchant Wong Ab Fong is having a lund built which covers a larger area than either of the above. Its frontage aloue will be 2,00) feet, and there will be room for a large number of godowns. All these three enterprises have been taken in hand by Mr. Dauby.
In all this kind of work there is great deal of filling-in to be done; fish- ponds and duck ponds are done
away with, an!
breeding-grounds of mosquitoes and other pests removed, so that it may be hail- ed with satisfaction from the sanitary point of vier, as well as from that of trade. The dere- lopment of trade should increase with greater facilities. At present mach delay is caused in the busy season by steamers being unable to enter the harbour, which can only accommodate a dozen ships.· ́`
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CHINA OVERLAND TRÅDE REPORT.
the list I then gave I must now add a new Chi- nese Post Office facing the steamer-wharves; additions to the I.M.C examination shed; addi. tional offices for Messrs Jardine, Matheson & Co., and a soda-water factory for Messrs A. S. Watson & Co., while the foundation of offices for the Sun Life Assurance Company is being laid. The German Consulate will not be completed for another year, by which time it seems un- likely that there will be any vacant space left on Shamuo. The overflow population will have to immigrate to Fati.
[FROM ANOTHER CORRESPONDENT.]
Canton, 30th December.
SUN AGAIN.
Sün Yat San, alias Sun Man, was well known to most of the people here as one who, it was
said, had together with his comrades smuggled arms into Canton with a view to making a dis- turbance, some seven or sigh; years ago. It was discovered in time by the customs officials, and the arms and powder were seized and con. fiscated. After this failure he went to Japan. 1t is said that he has come back to China and gone to Kwangsi to join the rebels and be one of their chiefs. It is also said that he has sent a challenge to the Viceroy here to fight again, and His Excellency will probably leave Cantun again for Kwangsi on the 28th of the Chinese moon, light draught steamers being ordered to he ready to take troops and provisions.
THE EX-NAMHOI,
The trouble between the late Namhoi
to have been settled, and the former is appointed Magistrate, Pin King-fuk, and the Viceroy is said weiyuin to an opium office. The Chinese Government is going to adopt a system some- thing like this. A person who smokes one taal and upwards of opium a day is to be classified as invalid No. 1 on his licence; and whenever he wants to buy opium he has to produce this licence in the opium shop before any opium is sold to him. A person who consumes opium from five to ten mace is to be called invalid No. 2, and under five mace, invalid No. 3. The new tax to be paid to the office upon one tael of prepared opium is nine candareen, and for every licence $5 per annum.
AGAINST THIEVING,
I
Any of the
The Viceroy has adopted quite a new system of government. He told the prefect of Kwang chowfu to order the magistrates of all the districts to issue notifications to the effect that whenever a robbery is committed in a house the next door neighbours must catoh the thieves, or failing to do so they must be made to pay for whatever has been stolen, and the value of the property stolen must be estimated by the officials. neighbours who had caught a thief would be rewarded. Upon receipt of this order the prefect has communicated it to all the magistrates and requested them to issue notifica- tions. This system will lead to something like the following. A neighbour to save himself the trouble of catching his neighbour's thieves and be made to pay for his loss would be glad to open his door, and invite the thieves to go into his house and rob so as to compel his neighbours to pay for his loss. In Salchow, for instance, a whole village composed of two or three hundred houses has of late been attacked and robbed. There being no neighbouring villages, who is going to pay for the loss? Not the officials, you may be sure.
The New York paper, Japan and America, has recently been falling foul of Mr. W. 8.
Hilbert's famous comic opera
The Mikado. The Japanese Emperor, this journal points out, is held in reverence by millions of Japanese. who look upon him with the exalted respect with which Russians regard the Metropolitan and Catholics the Pope. To represent in a humorous or ridiculous" manner this venerated personage is to re el and pain any Japanese who might witness the play. It ought also to shock others who are aware of the true character and exalted station of the Mikado." This seems somewhat belated, considering how many years ago the Mikado was written-before | Japan had taken anything like her present position among the nations, and surely in no country is the humorons sketch taken as a serious representation of life in the land of the
I mentioned some time ago that there was considerable activity in the building trade.` to | Rising Sun,
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CORRESPONDENCE
KW.NGSI FAMING RE IEF..
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
44
DAIL: PRESS.”
Canton, 29th November. has just been brought to my atte tion, and I SIR,-Your editorial in issue of 24th inst.
hasten to respond to your “appal to the sense of justice of those Americans who shired in the relief work," On 'ecember 15th I saw the reports in the Christian Herald to which you refer. I was very much astonished that the relief of Kwai Un was credited to the Herald- fund, and not a little chagrined that portions of a copy of my report to Mr. Fletcher had been
and, without my consent, to substantiate said claim. Immediately I wrote to the Editor of
the Christian Herald as follows:-
Kwang i famine relief, the work of the Họng- "I regret to note that in your reports of the kong committee and of the Canton benevolent societies is wholly ignored. I think it just to say that in all probability the citizens of Governor, did more for the relief of the famine Hongkong, headed by His Excellency the than any other age oy."
The photo, from which was taken the plate MoNeur, a British subject. How the Christian your editorial refers to, is the work of Rev.
Herald came into possession of it, I do not know.
At least two American publications give
the Hongkong committee for Kwaigsi famine honour to whom honour is due. In one mention made of Mr. Flot her as the representative of relief; another says The citizens of Hongkong and foreign residents of Canton subscribed very liberally.' Again, "The Chinese benevolent societies of Canton helped with much earnest-
ness.
I beg to assure you, Mr. Editor, of my very Herald has done the citizens of Hongkong. deep regret at the gross injustice the Christian Furthermore, let me say for myself as
an 19
· American who shared in the relief work' that I shall continue by voice and pen to testify to the warm-hearted generosity of Hongkong's residents as so markedly vid, no strick- Kwangui, and shall hold in evid.noed in their response to the needs of highest esteem men like Messrs Clementi and Fletcher, who left the comforts of civilisation for the hardships of fimius relief work, seeking not the glory of men.-- Yours, etc..
H. K. SHUMAKER, M.D.
HONGKONG UNPLEASANTRIES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
$6
>>
DAILY PRE88.”
Hongkong, 29th December. SIE,-In spite of all appearing in the Hong- kong Press to the contrary, Hongkong is still a "What long way from being a “garden of roses," with sleepless nights caused by rowdies on the lower levels, and by dogs on the hill-side, and what with unpleasant odours prevailing every- where, you have a lot of work to do stil before clapping your own hands can be considered justifiable. So strong are the unpleasant odours encountered in the Caine Road district, for in- stance, that nothing short of Kipling's City of To go fur- Dreadful Night could describe them. ther into the matter of noises, making investiga- tions as to cause, one readily comes to the con- clusion that Hongkong is suffering consider- ably from the dog-pest. The canine specimens, moreover, are such an absolutely useless set that they are no good for remedying the rat-pes so much talked about. Why keep them? Iu a certain Far Eastern town I once resided in, the dog-pest became so intoler- able that indignant residents, after sleepless nights listening to dismal howling of innumers- ble curs, clamoure:l for measures to be taken for their extermination, with the result that thes town corporation appointed dog-shooters, man employed going round town with a gun and shooting all "wonks at large. Needless to say, is a very short time the town was a much more pleasant place to live in. Hoogkong would not go far wrong in adopting a similar course. Talking of city smells, it may be noted that there is a veritable pest-hole-one those stagnant pools which breed
of
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