December 12, 1904.]
people interested. There was no material for entering a criminal charge, but there were such grave suspicions surrounding the fire that he should have been exceedingly glad to have been able to bring a charge against some person. The case had been well worked up by Inspector Collett, and the salvage was almost complete. He would therefore close the inquiry and order the premises to be released.
DUKE OF ABBRUZZI AT HONGKONG.
J
The Italian cruiser Liguria under the com-
mand of the Duke of Abbruzzi, arrived from
Shanghai on the 4th inst., and was visited by Chev. Z. Volpicelli (Consul-General for Italy
and Mr. R. Pescio (Italian commercial agent).
The Prince has taken up his profession very seriously, this being his second trip around the world as a naval officer. On the first occasion on board the Umbria in 1895-he was a sub- lieutenant and performed his duties just like any other junior naval officer. He is a very re- markable man, and this would be more generally recognised if he were not of royal blood. The fact, indeed, of his being a prince has thrown his work to a great extent in the background. He was the first man to make the ascent of Mount St. Elias, in Alaska, a very difficult task on account of its very northerly latitude. were enormous glaciers almost from its very base. The altitude of Mount St Elias is 14,970 feet. He is an enthusiastic sportman, and has encouraged football amongst the naval officers. He recently owned one of the fine t yachts in the Mediterranean. Out of his own
There
pocket he furnished the Stella Polare expedi- tion to the North Pole, and succeeded in penetrating to the highest latitude yet reached, getting farther north than Nanseu.
The Liguria will probably remain here about eight days.
THE RICE EXCHANGE AND
FOREIGNERS.
The following letter, written to the Chronicle by Mr. M. Z Martin, a Kobe merchant, will be of interest to many. It was dated 18th Novem ber, and read: With reference to the letters under the above heading appearing in your issue of yesterday and to-day the facts of the case briefly stated are as follows:
Having purchased a quantity of Japanese rice through the Kobe Rice Exchange for August and September delivery, I found that very inferior rice was delivered to me without making any due allowance for its quality. Thus instead of reducing 80 sen to one yen per koku for Kayetu rice they reduced only 40 sen.
On my remonstrating with my brokers against such matters, I did not receive a satisfactory reply. I was, however, informed by them through many an innuendo that certain practices prevailed at the Kobe Rice Exchange which, if not checked in time by the authorities, would be very prejudicial not only to the interests of the foreigners dealing with it, but also to the Exchange itself.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
police to protect my person against violence for a few days, which protection was kindly granted by our Superintendent of Police,
THE CHINESE IN JAVA.
An Australian mining expert had the follow- ing to say, to an interviewer, about a trip he
had just made to Java
I went through Java, and found it the beauty spot of the earth so far as my experience goes. In that island over 20,000,000 of people are working quietly and peacefully, and are governed system. The Dutch manage to keep the Chinese in their places, and do no allow them to flaunt
very easily by the Dutch on the Crown Colony
their wealth as they do at Singapore, for instanc where they quite overshadow the Europeans by their ostentations magnificence. If Australians waut a charming trip they cannot do better than make a round trip of Java. There they will see mountains 12,000ft. high, active vol canoes, Buddhist temples 2,000 years old, and evidences of the old barbaric splendour, which must have been gorgeous in the time when Java was divided into three kingdoms, each fighting the other. Batavia, the present capital, is one of the most charming places that a person can visit. The Weltevreden, the best suburb of Batavia, is a beautiful place. Its shops ars like palaces, and the hotels, huge and comfort- able establishments, are almost hidden in luxuriant gardens. The Museum is filled with native weapons of war and torture from the East Indies, and they are most barbaric in their terrible ingenuity. They could not have been
surpassed in the dark days of the Spanish inquisition. The King's Square in Batavia is the largest in the world. Truly I have never seen anything to approach it. It is a place one would love to live in and regret to ever leave. The Dutch people are most courteous and kind to strangers in every way. As regards the commercial side of the country it is rich
and prosperous.
sugar,
437
HANKOW-CANTON RAILWAY.
&
It is reported in several native papers that both the gentry and Governor of Hunan had respectively wired to Wang Chih-chun, cashiered governor of Kwangsi, protesting against the idea of having a new "American Chinese Syndicate to take up the concession of the Hankow-Canton Railway and urging the importance of taking over the concession into Then the cashiered governor is reported to the hands of a purely Chinese concessionaire. have answered that he understands now the
gentry of Hunan, Viceroy Chang Chih-tung and Governor of Hunan, are all against the proposed American-Chinese Syndicate to take, and that all of them are accusing him of having over the concession of Hankow-Canton Railway
proposed to despatch a celegate to the United
States to discuss the matter with the American China Development Company, but the report is not true, and that all that he has done is to cancel the original concession now in the bands of the American China Development Company and to establish a new concern 80 as to keep the concession in the hands of the three provinces where the railway line will pass
The matter must have been mis.. through
understood, he asserts, owing to the telegraphic message being too short, and further details of h.s view
are being stated in the telegram already despatched to the Viceroys and Gover. nors concerned, and they will see the message and thus avoid any further misunderstanding,
etc.
the
The Chinese Minister. at Washington has wired to the Peking authorities that already instituted litigation against the Chinese American Chins Development Company has
Railway Administration asking the payment of damages and costs of the litigation.
A further report says that both Teng Hua-hsi and Wang Chin-chun have wired to the concern. ed to the following effect. Mr. Bash is not a financier himself. It is also reported that the U.S. President objects to there being too many Belgian shares and has an idea of form- ing a joint concern with American and Chinese capital in it, and that both ex-governors Teng and Wang have the idea of despatching à delegate to America to conclude the dispute amicably. But this must not be brought to the knowledge of both Wu Ting-fang and Changhen-hsun and that Chan Chen-hsun be warned not to come down to Shanghai.
Mr Bash has conferred on the matter of
I was amazed to see the vast quantity of machinery employed in connection with the sugar industry. At one place I visited they crush 500 tons of cane a day, and they intend doubling their crushing power. Java last year produced eight million pounds' worth of and, in addition to providing herself with almost everything the people want; has an fine enormous export trade. It is indeed a island, rich, and well governed. The whole secret of the latter is, I believe, to be found in the Hankow-Canton Railway at Peking with Prince abstemiousness of the population. The Javan-Ching and Grand Councillor Chu Hung-chi, and as the result of the same the Waiwupu has ese, being Mahommedans, are abstainers, and
given Mr. Bash a letter advising him to go to the Dutch drink very little.
Wuchang to consult with Viceroy Chang Chih- tung in the matter, and that this arrangement had been suggested owing to the fact that there are differences of opinion between Wang Chih- chun and the gentry of Hunan and then between Wang Chih-chun and 'T'eng Hus-hsi on the one part and Chang Chen-haun and, Wu Ting-fang on the matter.
The hotels-these are hotels-and not drink- ing shops; in fact I never saw a drunken man while I was in the colony. I left Java with much regret, and came straight home via Singapore. I may add that the way the Dutch handle the natives seems to realise everything that could be desired in that connection. There is no tyranny, the native is free to do as he likes, the people fortunately do not congre. gate in big towns, but prefer their small villages, and everybody seem happy and contented. The railways are run cheaply and economically, and, as they are all paid for, travelling is compara tively cheap. Other colonising nations might well take an example from such places as Java."
ALLEGED THEFT OF $25,000.
Again, having had to purchase a very large quantity of Japanese rice for October delivery, and this time to the value of over half a million yen, I was strongly advised by my brokers to go to Tokyo and represent matters to his Ex- cellency the Minister of the Department of Agriculture and Commerce, which I did; and this resulted in the arrival here of one of the chief officials, not only to investigate the abusÖS complained of and to enforce the strict obser- R. D. Vania, a Parsee residing at No. 16, vance of the rules and regulations of the Ex-Gage Street, at the Magistracy on the change, but also to see that "the largest de- livery of rice ever effected since the Exchange was organised" should be done in proper order. I need not say that His Excellency received me very graciously, as also my petition, which was signed at my special request by some of my friends. I was fully assured by His Excellency that he would see that foreigners did not suffer in any way in their dealings with the Kobe Rice Exchange.
It may not be out of place to state in this connection that my principal broker, Mr. Masutani, was assaulted in the street by four vagabonds, who would have done him to death but for the timely arrival of help, and that I had to seek and ́ob'ain the assistance of the
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5th inst. applied for a summons against another Parsee, on B charge of unlaw- fully stealing, in the year 1900, the sum of $25,000, being the proceeds of a sale of two houses on Lot 59, on the Shameen at Canton.
Mr. Gompertz said that under the circum- stances, the charge being a very grave one, he would require more than a verbal application. He asked how long the man had been in the Colony.
Complainant said that the man he charged had been in the Colony five years, while he himself had beenin the Colony fifteen years.
Mr. Gomperts repeated that he required an application in writing and recommended the complainant to see Mr. Hallifax,
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CHINESE PARIAHS.
The following interesting explanation of a
Chinese recent
Decree emancipating the of Chêkiang, was written by the native news editor of the N.-C. Daily News :-
To-ming," which in the letters of the decree means “degraded people," but which are ordinarily written with the letters bearing the same sound phonetically but a different mean- ing, that is to say, the "exiled people," are descendants of the Mongols who came to China in the 13th century with Genghis Khan, the famous Mongol conqueror of a large part of the After two continents of Europe and Asia. Genghiz Khan (whose dynasty is called in Chinese history the Chin, or
"Gold" dynasty) had conquered about half of the then Chinese Empire, southwards, down to the northern banks of the Yangtase, driving the Emperor Kao Taung of the Sung dynasty south of the river, he (Genghis Khan) left the work of completing the conquest to his prin- cipal General Hu Pih-li (named Kublai Khan by Marco Polo in his book of travels) while he him- self started in his Western career of conquest into Europe. Hu Pih-li proclaimed himself Em- peror of China in A. D. 1275 under the name
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