14.
12th-Interport shooting mátch-Annual | meeting Kowloon Cricket Club-Hongkong Government advances a lo¬n to China to redeem the Canton-Hankow railway con-
cession.
14th-Opening of annual camp of Volunteers
at Stonecu ters.
17th-8.8. Tai On and Chinese torpedo boat
collide in West river; latter sunk. 19th-Annual Meeting Society of Canton, Ld.
20th-Annual
Office, Ld.
Union Insurance
Meeting Canton Insurance
25th-Annual Meeting China Association. 28th-Opening cruise R.H.K.Y.C.
NOVEMBER.
2nd-Five missionaries massacred at Linchow. 3rd-Local Japanese celebrate their Emperor's
birthday.
7th-Tebrau Planting Co. wound up-Baxter
Schools annual sale of work, 8th-Annual meeting Hongkong Chess Club. 9th-King's birthday review; reception at Headquarters and levee at Government House.
10th-Three coolies killed by a blasting accident
at Quarry Bay.
12th-Death of Mr. E. R. Bolilios. 14th-Government House Ball. 16th-Gascoigne Cup Competition-Meeting to organise St. George's Ball-Junk run down off Castle Peak.
18th-Wedding at Union Church, Bonnar- Hickling Results of photographic Exhibi- tion-Sampans smashed by wash of torpedo
boat.
20th-Extraordinary meeting of Union Insur-
ance Society of Canton.
at
21st Annual Licensing Sessions-meeting of
Kowloon Cricket Club-Earthquakes Macao-Sale of gunboat Tweed. 22nd-Inquiry re tramway fatality.-Fire in
Des Voeux Road.
23rd-Meeting Dairy Farm Co., Ld.-Inquiry
re Quarry Bay blasting fatality. 24th-Meeting of Steam Water Boat Co.-
Body found floating in box in harbour. 25th-Ministering Childrens' League Aunual
Fêté.
26th--Championship Royal Hongkong Yacht Clab.Burglary at Messrs. Gregor & Co's. 27th-Inquiry re a prisoner's death. 30th-Licensing Sessions.-Table boy's suicide.
-St Andrew's Ball.
DECEMBER.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
[January 8, 1906.
27th-Meeting of Shanghai and Hongkong ( SHANGHAI RIOTERS SENTENCED
Dyeing Co.-- Meeting of Sanitary Board— Inquiry re Navalyard Extension fatality. 29th-Kowloon and Whampoa Dock Dance.
CORRESPONDENCE.
THE GENERAL STAFF.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
SIR,--The new provision of brains for the Army by the appointment of a General Staff is a step in the right direction most certainly, but it must not be forgotten that, though mankind may be stepping in the right direction for safe. ty, if he is s incautious as to leave a deadly enemy in his rear quite unnoticed he may possibly find himself in a more dangerous position than if he had turned and sternly con- fronted the danger. In the Army's case all this outward and visible tinkering is absolutely without value as a permanent patch upon a system probably more rotten than that possessed by any other nation. The Public observes with astonishment and apprehension the continued increase in our expenditure upon military pre- paration and blames the Army as an extravagant institution, but here the Public misses the point entirely. The leaps and bounds in the estimates of millions of pounds annually are not due to extravagance inside the Army itself but to mismanagement and juggling of funds outside the actual service. One only requires a few minutes reflection upon the, of late years, flooding our military service with whole hosts of incompetent in many cases, and if competent extraordinarily overpaid civil officials, clerks draughtsmen, messengers, and goodness knows what, to conclude where the extra expenditure arises. These civil additions to the army merely do what could be better done by the army itself at the usual small army rate of remuneration. As it is, where the pay of the competent disciplined soldier is reckoned in pence, that of an imperfectly trained civilian pushed in to do his work is reckoned in pounds, and, in some cases, even hundreds of pounds This adds to the expense of the administration of the army's affairs and detracts appallingly from its mobility, usefulness and readiness for In this respect it takes as much public money to transport one civilian from place to place as Government would allow for whole companies of soldiers, and also, the lack of discipline amongst these highly-paid officials is absolutely against the general efficiency of the army. I have of late tried to learn something as to the continued success of the Japanese arms both by land and sea. The one and great reason- perhaps the only one outside courage and able leading was that, when called upon to move, the forces consisted of a homogeneous whole, all, departments and all being either sailors or soldiers, of the same cloth, trining and way of thinking. It is a sad and sorry sight, entirely apart from the financial wastage of our system, to observe the rabble of all kinds attached to hat should be a fighting 15th Annual Ball of Engineers and Ship-whule. Unless this my to the efficiency of
builders of Hongkong.
our army is observed ever lurking and 16th-Meeting of China Traders' Insurance increasing in strength in its rear absolutely no Co.-V.R.C. Regatta.—Opening of Kowloon step, such as appointing a General Staff, will Bowling Green. Field manoeuvres in New effect one atom of improvement. Officers and Territory.
men of the army are by no means th ignorant class the public so frequently pretend to believe them to be. There is a large percentage of most able men who are unable to use their abilities owing to what they would willingly do and excel in being handed over as suitable work to some extra and well-salaried civil official, So long as this goes on, so long may we expect repetitions of disasters financial and military such as we underwent at the outset of the South African War. The art of manag- ing any machine lies in the ability to get the best amount of work out of it, and this will never be the case with our army so long as it is besprinkled with all sorts and conditions of men from outside it who act as a brake upon its capabilities and abilities.
1st-Pirates hold up a junk at Mira Bay. 4th-Prisoner's death, medical service at the
gaol.
6th-Masonic Installation. 7th-Meeting of Legislative Council.-Suicide
of Captain Smith of 8.8. Siberia. 8th-Horticultural Society Formed. United
Service Lodge Installation. 9th-"Shaughraun" presented by Victoria A.D.C.-Arrival of Griffins.-Hongkong Regatta
10th-Fire on 8.8. Siberia. 11th-Opening of French Convent Bazaar. 12th-St. John's Lodge Installation. 13th-Retirement of Sir Paul Chater from
Legislative Council announced.
14th Civil Servants meet to consider the advisability of establishing a co-operative store.
17th-Bazaar of Toys. 18th-Mr. W. J. Bryan in Hongkong.-Arrival of subscription Griffins. Concert at Seamen's Institute, Kowloon. 19th-Inquiry re stone carrier's death. Two
natives sentenced for arson. 20th-Meeting of Union Insurance Society of
Canton.
21st-Election of Mr. H. E. Pollock to Legis
lative Council.-Opening of the Now King Edward Hotel-Indians charged with murder acquitted,
22nd Distribution of prizes at St. Joseph's
College. 23rd-Engineers' Concert.-Sanitary Institute
visit Green Island Cement Works. 25th-Christmas Celebrations,
· 26th-Coolie commits suicide.
war.
Yours truly.
C. 0.
The re-opening of the Mixed Court after the long intermission, attracted large crowds of Chinese and a good many foreigners to the Chekiang Road tribunal. All through the disturbances of the preceding week the neigh bourhood of the Court, whose functions had been the cause of so much angry discussion leading up to the riot, was remarkably quiet The gate separating the magistrate's private quarters from the Court-yard was closed, but the Court itself had been left open for any curious persons to ramble through at will, a stray coolie or two alone appearing. All this was changed on Saturday. To guard against any possibility of disturbance, the Court was guarded by strong detachments of armed bluejackets, detachments having been sent from Warships of every nationality represented in port. The prisoners, of whom a very large number had accumulated, among them many who had been arrested for rioting, were brought to the Court under escort of armed Sikhs and thus the place bristled with bare bayonets, the bayonets, the procedure was as usual. Two Apart from the crowd, the bluejackets, and magistrates sat simultaneously, Mr. Kuan sitting with Dr. Merklinghaus, the German. assessor, downstairs, while Mr. King, with Mr. Schirmer, the German assistant assessor, dealt with less important cases in the upper Court.
The cases which had been adjourned from the last sitting (when the disturbances took place) were further remanded for the sitting of the British Assessor, who will take his seat to- day, when no guard will be present.
trivial offences were dismissed with a cantion, as A large number of prisoners charged with they had already been in custody for several days. The police had made several arrests of persons who had been seen to have taken part in the disturbances of Monday and Tuesday, the 18th and 19th. The majority of those were identified by police witnesses and were sentenced to six months' imprisonment each. One of the rioters, a ricsha coolie, was identified by PC. Aiers as having tried to stab a foreigner with a bayonet in Nanking Road on the 18th instant, and was sentenced to tou years' imprisonment. A native of Teungming, who was proved to have been one of the mob who looted the premises of the Interrational Cyclery on the of a guu looted from the said premises was 18th instant and who was found in possession sentenced to one year's imprisonment; while a coolie who was found in possession of fifty rounds of ammunition stolen from the same store was awarded six months' imprisonment Four, men arrested by the Mixed Court fighting irons were sentenced to six months' runners and found in the possession of imprisonment each, and two others arrested in a similar manner were sentenced to three months' imprisonment. Three men were charged with. looting a native house at the corner of Yundan and Pakhoi Roads, the scene of Monday night's fire. The ringleader was sentenced to six months, and the other two to three months' imprisonment. A coolie charged with escaping from Louza station prison was awarded one month's imprisonment. A dative woman charged with obtaining jewellery by false pretences was sentenced to four months' im- prisoument in the Mixed Court prison. Four men were charged with being concerned together with evilly-disposed persons, assembled and gathering together to disturb the peace with being concerned together in the murder and good order of the Settlement, and also of a native, whose dead body was found in a creek near Ichang Raad. Evidence was given to the effect that the principal prisoner was a well-known desperado and that he had frequently been seen in company with suspicious characters. These prisoners were remanded for further enquiries.-N.-C. Daily News.
From Nowchwang, American Consul-General Sammons reports that at present Manchuria. is not really clamoring for motor boats. But there are rivers in Manchuria and there are always possibilities in the future. "Motors for converting sail and rowboats into power-bosts," writes the Consal General, “may ultimately find an extensive market among the native popula tion."
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