Constantinople, 23rd Oct.
The Russians are advancing to the Southward of the Balkans.
The Sultan of Turkey has informed the British Ambassador at Constentinople, that he will never conclude a Russian alliance, London, 24th Oct, The first Lord of the Admiralty and the Seortary of State for War have started for stopped payment; the liabilities are said to fames Morton & Ca, of Glasgow,, have be £2,500,000.
We are glad to see that the Municipal Council are intent on rounding street corners and increasing the width of the streets wherever practicable. A reference to the minutes of the Council Meeting held on the lst instant, will show that the comer of the Hankow and Szechuen roads is to be rounded, and that the widening of the Hankow road between Szechuen road and the Bund is postponed for the purpose of ascertaining from the owners whether they will surrender, at the assessed value, the necessary strip of Iand.—The question of introducing the French Gas Company's mains into the English Settlement was also discussed, and resulted in the decision that, as it wasa question of great importance to the community, the Council would prefer that it be referred to the Ratepayers.
Between fifty and sixty persons attended the meeting on Monday afternoon at the offices of the Municipal Council, to consider the Volunteer question, and Mr. A. Davenport, H.M.'s Consul, was elected to preside. Mr. Hart gave an outline of the career of each Company since 1870, explaining that No. 3 had collapsed, No. 1 had 31 members and the Mih-ho-loong 35, whereas their complement was 60 rank and file; and the Artillery had twelve effective members, but thirty were required to work the three guns for the use of the Company. No. 2 Company had been more fortunate than the others, and numbered 60 rank and file; but he explained that its members could not tum out to drill at a, time, suitable to the other Companies. A resolution was adopted recognising the necessity for a Volunteer Corps in the Settlement, and proposing that lists should lie at the Council offices for a week, for the signature of persons willing to become members, The advisability of. such, a motion, and its probable fects on the existing Volunteer organisations, were briefly discussed... It is difficult tounderstand the usefulness of such a motion, seeing that the necessity for " Corps has never hech questioned, and that residents have been canvassed by the officers to join the ranks, and, refused, It is the system under which the Corps is worked that seems rather to be impugned, and the meeting was called to devise measures, whereby it might be restored to its former state of efficiency. However, no harm has been done by the expression of the opinion that a Volunteer Corps was still a necessity in the Settlement, and as the meeting was adjourned with the view to obtain a larger attendance by holding it after business hours in the evening, it is presumed that few, if any, will. sign the lists before the next meeting is held, when practically, we should say, the proceedings will begin de nov, A second resolution was proposed and seconded, in favour of a uniformity in the style of uniform, but it was not submitted to the vote.
We have received a copy of the Shanghai Customs Gazette for the quarter ending September, being the third quarter of 1878, during which period the number of sailing vessels entered from coast, river, and foreign ports was 172, and of steamers 982, giving a total of 664, as against 604 in the same quarter of 1877. Of sailing vessels cleared during the three months there were 163, and of steamers 369, or a total of 622, as against 565 in the corresponding period of 1877. The total tonnage entered was 385,014, and cleared 360,305 as compared with 419,634 and 397,003 respectively in the same quarter of 1877. The principal articles of import show considerable fluctuation and in many instances a marked falling-off, which, let us hope, is Dut temporary. But nevertheless, there the fact stands and cannot be regarded too seriously:—In grey shirtings alone the falling-of has been from 1,217,430 pieces in the same quarter 1877 to 722,389; while white plain sank from 155,926 to 114,637. In dyed plain and dyed spotted and brocaded there was a slight increase. the import of American drills, a remarkable increase is shown, from 53,550 pieces in the September quarter of 1877 to 111,945; but the same cannot be said of English drills, which went down from 153,085 pieces in the third quarter of last year to 147,151 during the period under notice. The import of American sheetings, as compared. with English, is still mure perceptible. In the three months ending September, 1875, thy! import from England was 92,362 pieces /as against America 6,100; in 1876, Egland sent 4,847, America 23,158; 1877, England 9,250, America 60,865; white for the three months just ended, ne figures stand, England 4,200, America 66,431.—The table
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.