At a meeting of the new Municipal Gouncil for the French Concession, held on the 20th, M. Morel was re-elected President, and Mr. F. B. Forbes vice-President.
A meeting was held on the 20th, to decide on a scheme for building a new Theatre; nnd that proposed by the Committee previously appointed for this pur-pote, was unanimously adopted. Tls. 15,000 to be raised in debentures among the community, bearing interest at the Fate of 8 per cent, Tls. 5,175 from Recreation Fund Shareholders who are invited to exchange their scrip for Theatre debentures; and a loan: of Tls. 1,500 from the Recrestion Fond—making " total of Tls. 21,675, to mest an estimated outlay of Tls. 21,250. Messrs. Alabaster, J. T. Brand, Essex, Fearon, Forbes, Groom, Little, and Mowat are the Committee.
Avparade of. the. Volunteer Corps is called for Monday next The offices of H. M.'s Consulate were closed "yesterday, it being the Queen's birth-day.
The S. ¥. C. advertise another regatta for Thursday next; one race for yachts, another for ships' working boats.
Wo give, elsewhere, the scores made in the annual match between the Soniur and Junior Bowling Alleys. Tt will be soon that.the Players tied on the first eight games, played on their own Alle; but the Juniors won the deciding game which was, as usual, played on neutral super intendence vf Captain Lewes, for the Tientsin trade, has arrived in port.
'A new frigate'constructed at the Kiangnan arsenal, was launched yesterday. This is, we believe, the largest ship ever built in China; the gross mensurementisabout2,700 tons; the engines, of 400 nominal H.P. but capable of working up to 1,800 H. P., have also been made here, together with all the pumps, capstans, &c, required for use on board.' Itis expected that, when complete (about two months from date of launch), the ship's draught of water will be about 20 feet, with a displacement of 2,690 tons, and 12 nautical miles speed per hour. The battery will comprise twenty-six 40-pounder rifle guns, and two 90-pounders also rifled Thia ship shows that the Chinese have really made great advancement within the last four years; only four foreigners have had to do with the construction, viz, Naval Architect, Engineer, Draughtsman, and Shipwright. All the work has been done by Chinese artisans, and has been turned out in good style.
From our shipping reports, it will be seen that the Hirado has brought down a full load of new tea. The P. & O. str. Deccan is expected to be first away for Tondon ang the Agamemnon close on her heels.
We hear that the Silk market was opened, yesterday, at Tls. 460 a 470 for No. 43t0 5 Tsatlee. That is equivalent to about Tls. 490 a 500 for Red Peacocks, against Tls. 440 and 450 which was the opening rate last year. 200 or 300 bales are said to have arrived, and 80 or 100 to have been settled.
The schooner Maggie has returned: again from the wreck of the Hamilla Mitchell, with $8,732 more treasure, which was recovered without the blasting that it had been apprehended would be necessary. The Dove came out from Ningpo, as before, for the protection of the divers. Two of her Marines came up in the Maggie, as escort, tu Shanghai. The Maggie has left again, for the wreck, with appliances for blasting in case these are found necessary. We understand that the divers Anticipate recovering the whole of the treasure, eventually; but they probably think it wiser to bring back " few thousand dollars as they get it, instead of overload. ing the little schooner.
In the salvage claim against the Claro Babuyan, which we reported last weak, the Court decides that the pilot's services were rather of the nature of "'extraordinary pilot services, than of salvage in the strict-eat sense and, following the practice of English Law Courts in such cases, awards him about double the ordinary rate of pilotage, together with a sum for expenses or costs"—Tls, 200 Tls. 100—Tis,°300, The Shanghai Hsien, in his proclamation regarding. the solar eclipse to take place on the 6th June, makes. the following quotation from the Provincial Treasurer's despatch:—* At Soochow, the sun will be eclipsed 7 digits and 32 minutes. The eclipse will commence. at 9.29 a.m., creach its height at 11.37, and terminate at 12.56." 'This being the case, and the fact that all will terminate happily being well known, what is the uso of encotivaging: ignorant superstition by inviting the people to beat gongs, to scare away an' imaginary dragon The Noweelliste has's paragraph rej ing the well known practice by Chinese beggars, of sleeping. underneath, bridges, Three days ago, the French Police wore informed that a dead body was lying derneath the bridge in the Rue Touran "on going to the. spot they found ni compartments under the bridge, sufficient to shelter- three or four persons. The first was empty, its tenant having probably not yet arrived. In the second was the corpse, 40 far decomposed that death mast hare taken, place several months ago, In com partments Nos. 3 to 8, six beggars were caught; No. 9 escaped and' swam across the Yang-king-pang." The Noweelliste points out that care is taken on the English concession to leave no empty spaces behind the bridge beams, and urges the French Council to take similar precautions. The idea of a dead body lying under a bridge for months,, and living. men sleeping in adjacent'nooks, is horrible.
We have to acknowledge the volume of "Returns of Trade at the Treaty Pons in China, for the year 1871," just issued from the Customs Press, We congratulate the Department on having published them two months earlier than was done last your.
We print, elsowhiere, a communication which has been addressed by the Association of Lyons Silk Merchants, to the Shangbii Chamber of Commerce, with regard to the China silk trade. The Lydns merchants complain that the practices of packing itferior books in the middle of bales, of bad reeling, &c., are setting consumers agsintt China silk, and urge the Chamber of Commerce to impress upon the Chinese the necessity for amendment, under penalty of seeing their silk shunned in the European market.
The seventh report of the Hanxow Se-dice Hospital lina been just issued. report embraces -a period of eighteo™ months, ended in December Inst. TH statistics show a satisfactory increase the number of attendants; and interesting
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.