148
CANTON.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT).
THE
14
August 5th.
FATSHAN AFFAIR ONCE MORE. The Self-Government Society has issued a cir- cular convening a public meeting for this even ing, for the purpose of discussing the Fatshan Affair, The following is a translation of the
circular
also
sum.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
SHIPPING NOTES,
The Java-China-Japan Navigation Company has ordered its seventh ship for the East Asia service.
*
The American cruiser Rainbow was brought into Hongkong yesterday morning by the blue funnel steamer Antilochus, which towed her from off Amoy, the cruiser's main boilor having been damaged. The usual salute was fired on entering the port.
*
Business at the Docks of the Colony seems to be improving. There are eight vessels at the The Aberdeen Dock is Kowloon Docks. occupied, and there are two vessels at the Taikoo Docks. The osmopolitan Dock, after being vacant quite a long time has been occupi
this week by the Coblenz, which came out of dock yesterday.
We learn that the s.s. Persia, which has been at Wham- undergoing "the fresh water cure poa, for the last twelve months and was brought down ta Hongkong last week, has been chartered by the Eng Hok Co. to run to Mexico.
"Messrs. Butterfield and Swire, the owners of the s.s. Fatshan, have promised to trans- fer the Captain of the Fatshan to another vessel not on the Hongkong-Cantou run, and they have also consented to pay $3,200 to the family of the deceased man, Ho U Ting. The compradore department of that firm has
added $2,000 to the
The Portuguese ticket-collector. Noronha, will be handed over to the Portuguese Authoried ties to be tried, and Messrs. Butterfield and Swire have given their promise that they will not employ any more Portuguese in future. They have also issued instructions to all their vessels that Chinese passengers are to be well treated, and no violence is on any account to be used to them. We thus see that Messrs. Butter- field and Swire have done all they can to make reparation for this unfortunate occurrence. The Portuguese Consul, however, has not acted fairly, and we must meet to discuss some way of showing him that we are not to be trifled with. The Portuguese Consul has accused our Society of having been bribed to take up the case, but our only wish is
that the deceased's family gets fairplay. The British nation has always been friendly to the Chinese, and on this occason the British have done nothing that can be considered unfair. Ho U Ting was killed by a Portuguese, and though he was employed on a British vessel the British are not to blame. We should not, there- fore, act against the interests of the British
to see
but we invite all our countrymen to meet to- gether and discuss what steps are necessary to punish the offenders."
ANOTHER INTERNATIONAL QUESTION. On the 1st instant Messrs. Carlowitz and Co sold the property of the Tsun Hing firm, foreign goods dealers, on which they had dis- trained for debt in respect of goods supplied. It is claimed that the sale was illegal, as it is alleged to have taken place without the knowledge or authority of the owners, the Pun Yu Magistrate, or the German Consul. The value of the property dis trained on is declared to be $25,000, and it was sold for $7,320. The Tsun Hing firm has refused to acknowledge the sale, and has offered to liquidate the debt, which is for 87,0 0. Ho Wai Nung, an influential mem. ber of the Self-Government Society, has taken the case up on behalf of the Tsun Hing firm, and has asked the German Consul to press Messrs. Carlowitz & Co. to apply for the debt in the usual way. The case has aroused much indignation among Chinese business-men, and the matter will be discussed at the next meeting of the Self-Government Society.
Boon.
STAMP DUTY IN KWANGTUNG.
Stamp duties are to be adopted here very The Provincial Treasurer has ordered a Weiyuan, Yu On Fung. to proceed to Peking at once to bring back the stamps. They will be used as soon as they arrive.
THE OPIUM TRAFFIC.
WEST AUSTRALIAN TRADE.
The record of the opium traffic during the past six months serves to indicate that the trade in the drug in West Australia has been pro- fitable to the Crown and disastrous to the Chinese. During the first six months of 1908, 27 seizures were made, Chinese being concerned in 22 of these cases, and a European in one, while in four cases the ownership proved a hidden mystery. During the corresponding period of 1909, only 16 seizures have been made, the Chinese again predominating, 11 of them having to submit to confiscation, while others affected were two Malays, one Afghan, one European, and one "unknown."
was
[August 16, 1909.
A Contributor to Fairplay writes:-" Trade in the East, and shipping in particular, were exceedingly bad when I passed over the ground in March and April of this year. In Hongkong I heard that most of the time-chartered boats which had hitherto been engaged in the China coasting trade had been sent home for good, and that out of some 140 only about 3) vessels remained on the Coast. In Shanghai the same tale was told, and in Japan I was informed that out of a total tonnage of 1,400,000 of mercantile steam shipping owned by Japan 400,000 tons were laid up." The Contributor concludes a brief review of the development of the Japanese mercantile marine with these ob- servations - As regards the future of Japanese shipping I am of opinion that the low wages and cheap victualling will enable Japanese ship- owners to successfully compete against Euro- peans,
and to gradually displace many European vessels now employed in the China trade; at pre- sent lack of funds is the principal impediment."
tance.
**
The cause of the recent accident to the Ger- mau steamer Andalusia in Tokyo Bay is alleged by a Japanese paper to have been the taking of a wrong course, namely, between the first and second sea forts off Puttsu (Saratoga Spit), instead of between the second and third forts, the regular course. No damage was caused to ship or cargo. Over 1,40 packages of cargo were discharged on the lighters sent out to her assia- The German Navy transport Titania, which sighted the steamer aground about sun. set, on her way to Yokohama, stopped and attempted to get the Andalusia off at high water at mid-night in co-operation with two tugboats of the Yokohama Dock Co., but with- out effect. The following day about 400 more tons of cargo were discharged, and at high water The M. M. Company have suspended their at 11.3 a.m. the steamer was successfully scheme of constructing fifteen now mail steam-refloated, and proceeded to Yokohama. with the French Government regarding the ers pending a settlement of their negotiation, rendering assistance, the launch Eagle, of Messrs. Helm Bros., was caught in a cable and subsidy. The new vessels will replace some of the old ones on the run to Australia as well as to the Far East.
The speed trials of the O.S.K.'s new American liner Scattle Maru, which recently launched at the Kawasaki Dock-yard. have proved very successful, the vessel dovelop ing a speed of over 15 knots an hour, although the speed contracted for was only 14 knots.
It is reported in Japan that the Mexican Oriental Steamship Company, which has just commenced to compete with the Toyo Kisen Kaisha in the South American services, has resolved to suspend navigation for the present. The difficulty of the landing of the Chinese emigrants in Peru and Chili is most probably the cause of this measure.
**
*
Remission of the fine imposed upon the Toyo Kisen Kaisha Steamship Company on the charge of violating the coastwise shipping laws in recently landing the daughter of ex-Vice- President Fairbanks, at San Francisco, is provided in a decision just rendered by Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Labour Mcllarg, With her father and mother, the daughter recently sailed from San Francisco for Japan on a world cruise, but at Honolulu, on cable advices that her husband had been ordered back to shore duty, she returned to San Francisco on the Japanese boat. This violated the law, which imposes a fine of $200 on a foreign steam. ship company for each passenger carried from one American port to another. The fine was remitted because of the unusual nature of the case.
The private shipbuilding companies in Japan are now experiencing a scarcity of orders. With a view to relieving this distress the Japanese Government has lately placed one order each with the Kawasaki and Mitsu Bishi Shipbuild- ing Yards for the construction of cruisers. If the shipbuilding business continues depressed the Government will, it is reported. shortly place orders with the Kawasaki and Mitsui Bishi Shipbuilding Yards for the building of several destroyers. The Osaka Mainichi, from which we quote the above, says that since the
termination of the late war the number of des- troyers has greatly increased, but there are many old destroyers whose services must be dispensed with in the near future. In considera tion of this fact the Naval authorities are
reported to have decided to have a number of destroyers constructed at the private shipbuild- ing yards instead of at the naval yards.
While
sank. An engineer, named Sahara, sustained injury. Messrs. Helm Bros. immediately sent divers to raise the sunken launch. The German steamer had a cargo of about 3,000 tons, con- sisting of iron, glass, sugar and sundries.
THE OSAKA FIRE.
LOSSES OF THE INSURANCE OFFICES.
The losses of the fire-insurance offices are of course not yet accurately ascertained, but the total amount of property insured in the area destroyed by the tire is roughly as follows:-
Nippon Fire
Tokio Fire Meiji Fire
Yokohama Fire... Kyodo Fire
Kobe Marine and Fire Osaka Fire...
Total
Y2,000,000 2,000,000
1,000,000
700,000
900,000
600,000
300,000
Y7,500,000
The loss of each company is estimated as follows:-
Nippon Fire Tokio Fire.... Meiji Fire
Yokohama Fire Kyodo Fire
Kobe Marine and Fire.
Osaka Fire...
Y1,300,000
1,000,000
700,000
300,000
400,000
400,000
150,000
The Hakodate fire raged 22 hours and the houses destroyed numbered 12,00. The present tire in Osaka raged for 25 hours and did con. siderably more damage, so that the loss of the insurance offices must be much larger.
[The figures given above are taken from the Japan Chronicle of the 2nd inst., but later telegraphic information has placed the losses at a very much higher figure.]
During the mouth of July 98'arrests were made of Chinamen, Filipinos and Americans in the Philippines under the opium law. Of these 83 were Chinamen, 14 Filipinos, and one American. Three of the Filipinos were
women. Of the cases tried the sentences were
for the most part imprisonments of three months each, fiues of P.300 being given in some
cases.
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