How very opportunely that Lyons silk circular has come out, in view of the pre-Sent state of the Shanghai market. foreigners offering Chinese translation of this emphatic protest against their, bad silk, with one hand, and buying worse silk: 4s fast as they can take it in, with the other. It's an actual fact, though, that some silk was bought the other day within the proverbial 2s, over home prices. Red Peacocks are quoted 26s., in London, and some silk was bought here at 278. 11d!
Wonder what is being done about that Soochow creek bridge; it's nearly time the meeting was held to consider the plans.
Bunding out the shores. of the creek, s0 us to ner fow its mouth, ought certainly to form part of the plan, Its no uso building " new bridge twice as wide as it needs to be, and one half of which will span dry land after a year or two. Pity the Council don't try 10 come to some understanding with the Taotai, about deepen. ing and bunding the lower half of the crook in concert, The Chinese probably are too proud and too timid to move themselves; we needn't be troubled by such scruples, Tt would be as great an advantage to us as to them, to have the creek cleared; and with the mud taken from the bottom might form the new bund. Go halves in the cost, and the thing is done. At present, our neglected portion will very soon spoil what the Chinese have done; and it's not very creditable to us, with all our talk about science and progress, to keep a choked canal and a filthy foreshore off our Settlement, after the Chinese have ser an example of "doing."
Then there's the Tramway scheme to come up at the same time as the bridge; and Water Works, ifitisn't too hot. Don't know what to make of that tramway idea, No doubt it would be woeful, but it would be great nuisance on the bund. Why not join interesta again, and make the'Tramway Company help open out the broad new road which is so badly wanted across the Settlement? Bring it cross the Soochow Creek somewhere in a line with the Shantung road, and join Municipal money and Tramways money, to buy agood broad tho-ped rough fare across to the Yang-king-pang, This will have to be done sooner or later; and the longer it is put off the more it will cost.
Why not give that Traction engine a trial in the meantime—the one that was to have run an opposition to the mule carts at Tientéin, and to have carried up all the brick tea from Taku? It-might just as well be doing something, as eating its head off in a godown. It might ran from the 8, 8. N. lower godown to the Hongkew Bund, if anybody connected with it would move. Who are the shareholders, who are the committee? Wonder what the shares are worth. Heard of one awopped against a house-best, the other day; but that's hardly 8 distinct quotation.
Shares seem to. be little more lively again, at last; and even "Unions" are recovering from the influence of that Ava-Rona decision. What nonsense to let that depress them, in the face of the report they issued last month. Cent percent profit. Tls.89, 330availableatthe end of the year for distribution, after having paid a 6 per cent dividend (Tls.12,240), onthe first six months. Tls. 101,570 earned with. a capital of Tls. 204,000. There is a debt of Tls. 120,000 in the shape of debentures, but these only bear interest at 10 per cent, and the Tls. 63,000 paid by the Insurancs Conipany for the Rona, plus Tls. 49,000 surplus carried forward, balance that.. Yet people send shares down to 90—which is about as intelligent as was sending S.S.N.'s up to 212.
Talking of shares, wonder how the Bank of China is. getting on. The Committee engineered that scheme rather badly,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.