September 27, 1909.]
School a chimney fell through, the debris falling immediately in front of a girl who was standing in the door frame in the room below.
UNEXAMPLED DEVASTATION.
The scene on the Hill was one of unexampled devastation and ruin. Trees of some 200 years old have been uprooted and damage to the shade trees has been done to an extent such as will take many years to remedy, while the telephone services-Native and Foreign-have been wiped out. The banks of the river for miles were littered by the wrecks of the various craft, while large ocean-going junks were huddled together in every conceivable style of confusion. Many junks were ashore on the end of Chun Chow Island, the houses at that point having been smashed by the undesirable visitors. House- boats without masts, sampans and boats bottom up, cargo boats with decks awash were to be seen at all points, while the houses all along the banks of the river were hanging in all con- ceivable shapes, just as though they had been. struck by dynamite. The pontoon and jetty on the Ewo Bund have disappeared, two deep water steamers were lying alongside Messrs. Siemssen & Krohn's Jetty, and kerosine (fror the many boats which had sunk with cargoes from the various depots on the other side of. the river) was floating in oily masses on the surface of the water. As for the oil installa- tions, the match. factory and sawmills on the North side, all these caught the full force of the blow, and the damage done to buildings there has been enormous. They look more as though they have gone through a bombardment than of having met the force of a gale of some six hours' duration.
AT. PAGODA, ANCHORAGE. Up to the time of writing we have not receiv-. ed full advices as to the damage done at understand Pagoda Anchorage, although w that the Customs House there has suffered severely and all the gigs have been lost with the exception of one. It is quite impossible for us to state with any degree of accuracy what the death roll amounts to, but we are thankful to say that we have not to record any fatal results among the Foreign Community, although many narrow escapes took place.
DAMAGE AT KULIÀNG,”
At Kuliang, the hill resort, enormous damage has been done to the many houses dotted round the hills, and had the typhoon occurred a few weeks earlier we are certain that we should have had to record the death of
some
of the occupants. Luckily enough, practically all the missionaries, who ocupy the great majority of the houses during July, August, had already left, but the ladies still remaining at Kuliang suffered a night of horror and anxiety. The house occupied by Dr. Chur- chill and family was entirely swept away. and it was only after they had spent some hour and a half sheltering under a boulder that they were able to reach a neighbouring house there to obtain covering other than the night clothes in which they had escaped from the ruins of their house. Possibly, as
fuller details come to had, further dread
ful experiences by other sojourners on the hilltop will reach us. In passing, we cannot help remarking that every now and again simi- lar experiences are met with at Kuliang, and we are apt to wonder how long people will be con- tent to endanger their lives and limbs by occupy ing houses so unsuited to the weather conditions which are to be met with in such an exposed position as Kuliang. Only the best and finest buildings should be erected there, and yet, with a few noteworthy exceptions, the class of house found there is quite unsuited to the strains it is called upon to bear.
BUILDERS IN GREAT REQUEST. Builders are in great request by everyone, and they will certainly reap a rich harvest during the forthcoming weeks. The crops of olives and oranges in the districts surrounding the port have been practically ruined, and this will go to materially swell the monetary loss occa- sioned by the typhoon which in other directions cannot fall short of twenty lakhs of dollars..
On Thursday, finding that there was but small hope of the speedy re-erection of the land lines between here and Sharp Peak, the Tele- graph Co. forwarded several messages to the cable station by launch, hoping that these mes- sages could be despatched thence. Merchants find when were greatly disappointed to
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
the launch returned here on Friday morning that no communication could be made with the outside world, as the cables from Sharp Peak were interrupted and had been ever since the typhoon. They were also informed that it would be several days before they might expect the service to be resumed. The Telegraph Co are now arranging to forward their messages by steamer to Amoy and Shanghai re spectively, but, naturally, such makeshifts cannot be other than unsatisfactory to the Tea merchants, who are, or rather were before the cables parted, busily engaged in obtain- ing orders for the Oolong crop, the market for
has just opened. The best thing the port could have done would have been to have called a Chamber of Commerce meeting, declared the Hongs closed till the cables were again in working order and every- body here gone to sleep till it was possible to do
which
something in tea. There is only one style of business possible at present, and that is, any trado connected with bricks and mortar
DAMAGE DNE TO CARGO BOATS,
We have ascertained that the loss to the feet of cargo boats amounts to over fifty boats, the available number to-day being about forty only.
THE IRREPRESSIBLE JOKER.
From Windy Notes" in our Foochow con- temporary we make the following selections:-
Many of the Foochow community have tiles loose this week.
***
33
Powerful is money but not powerful enough to buy a share in a builder's business in Foo- chow nowadays.
*
Adversity acquaints us with strange bed- fellows, but what price Alfred's latest to wit, one chimney?
*
*
**
MacDougal called his house coolie loudly during the early hours of Wednesday and was surprised that the menial did not reply or
Why should Mac expect that typhoon should so change the Olo Custom of his house ?
appear.
GRUESOME SIGHTS AT SEA.
a
3
The steamer Kweiyang arrived in port on Sept. 21st from Chefoo two days overdue. Although not encountering a typhoon she was sufficiently near to experience particularly rough weather, especially on Saturday, when her barometrical readings indicated that the typhoon was south of her and naturally she did not care to rush into it. This was the typhoon which entered the land somewhere about Swatow. Prior to that, however, those on board had evidences that a disastrous visitation had passed over the sea some little time before. Almost all the way down from the entrance to the Haitan Straits dead bodies floating past caught the eye practically every minute.
Some were
lashed to spars, some to yulos, and one sampan
It was a
had thirty dead bodies on board. gruesome experience. Dead Chinese, with their faces pecked beyond recognition, met the view of those on board, and it is a modest cal- culation to put the number of bodies which drifted past at over 1,000. As the seas were running high, and the range of vision was not great, it can be understood there were doubtless many more which were not seen from this
steamer.
On Saturday afternoon the Kweiyang passed the Clio and the Anhui, to which they spoke, but did not proceed far before anchoring. The Clio was all right, and was prepared to meet the storm, as also the Anhui. The lowest barometri- cal reading was 29.37 on Saturday afternoon.
REPORTED WRECK OF A SMALL STEAMER.
It was reported at Foochow last week that the Japanese steamer Taiwanfu, had been wrecked in the typhoon on the White Dogs with the loss of over 100 passengers and crew. We understand that the Taiwanfu, is a small steamer trading between Auping in Formosa and northern Chinese ports., No confirmation of this report has reached Hongkong, and we trust it may have no foundation in fact.
267
H.M.S. CLIO" IN TWỘ TYPHOONS.
Great anxiety prevailed in naval and official circles in Hongkong early last week as to the fate of one of the vessels belonging to the British Squadron in the East. It was feared that the H. M. S. Clio, which was on her way to the port from Shanghai, had encountered the ty- phoon which entered the Formosa Channel on Wednesday the 22nd inst. with disastrous
results.
As the result of the typhoon all cable and telegraphic communication in the neighbour- hood of Foochow had been broken, and nothing could be learned either from Shanghai or Hong- kong as to what had happened in that vicinity. H.M.S. Astræa had been despatched from Shanghai to search for her.
The Clio is a screw sloop of 1070 tons and Her carries 120 all told, officers and crew. commander is Chas. T. Borrett and the other officers are Lieut. Porter, Lieut. Fielding, Surgeon F. J. Gowans, and Sub-Lieut. Henry James. She has been on the station here for a number of years and was well known on the river.
:
satisfactory informa- On Tuesday the tion was passed round that the sloop had been sighted at Station Island anchorage in the Haitan Straits on Saturday afternoon. The news, which was brought to Hongkong by the steamer Kweiyang was gladly received in official quarters and throughout the town generally there was a feeling of relief experienced.
•
H. M. S. Clio arrived in port yesterday little the worse for the two typhoons she encountered After on her way down from Shanghai. leaving the anchorage in Haitan Straits, where she sought shelter, the sloop put into Amoy on the 23rd inst.
GOVERNMENT HOUSE.
His Excellency Senhor Rocadas and family passed through ongkong on Saturday. His arrangements did not permit him to accept H.E. The Governor's invitation to stay at Mon- tain Lodge, but he accepted an invitation to an informal lunch at 1 o'clock. Captain Taylor met the party in Hongkong, and escorted them to Excellencies Senhor and Lady Rocadas and Miss Mountain Lodge, those present including: Their Rocadas, Captain Pacheco, ex-Chief of Staff, Captain Norton, Captain Almeida, of the Vasco Macao; General Sir J. Machado, Senhor Cinatti, da Gama, Mr. and Mrs. Badeley and the Misses Loureiro. His Excellency and party left in the afternoon by the German mail steamer Derfflinger.
MARRIAGE OF MR. HARRY HANCOCK.
Mr. Harry Hancock, son of Mr. Alfred Han- cock, late of Hongkong, was married last month at the Brompton Oratory to Miss Ethel Wright, daughter of ur. William Wright, late of Clifton. Bristol. The Rev. Arthur Talbot officiated. The bride, who was given away by Mr. Sturts, was attended by Miss Truscott, who wore a dress of pink Shantung silk and carried a Smith acted bouquet of white lilies. Mr. Alfred
as best man.
Baguio, the summer capital of the Philippine Islands, we learn from our manila contempor- aries, is booming. Among other things it is announced that the Baguio Land Development Co., with a capital of $200,000 (gold), organized by H. Phelps Whitmarsh, manager of the Benguet Commercial Co., has taken over a large block of land in the business centre of the town owned by the Whitmarsh interests, and intends to erect modern business houses thereon in anticipation of the boom Baguio expects to have next season. The stock has been largely subscribed, mostly by English capital in China. shares of a par value of $10 each. Mr. Whit- marsh, who is in China at present, expects to return sometime next month, and the new company will commence active operations at that time.
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