To the Editor of the Sm,—The extract from the Naval report by Dr. Dyas, of the Cadmus, quoted in your columns from the L. é. Bzpress is apparently copied verbatim from a report addressed by Dr. Jamieson, in 1872, to the Inspector-General of Customs, During the past year, I have myself examined many specimens of gin and brandy, bought for me by the police, at a low price, in some of the small grog shops in Hongkew, where the practice of adult teration was suspected. The proportion of alcohol in all these specimens was considerable, a bottle of any one of them being from that cause alone quite sufficient to make any ordinary man drunk, There was certainly no sulphuric acid in any of the specimens submitted to me, nor was there suspicion of kerosine oil; bang, Tconfess, might have escaped my notice, but I think its presence highly improbable, Ido not at all agroo, with those who state that cases of heat apoplexy in Shanghai, "are with scarcely an exception cases of drink poisoning," my own experience of the disease being quite opposed to such sweeping conclusions. Cases of heat apoplexy have been of rare occurrence in Shanghai this summer, I have myself only seen two, one in the practice of the General Hospital, and one in the Foreign Police Force; i of these however picion of " drink poisoning," or previous indulgence in alcohol.
Bad liquor is quite a time-honoured excuse for drunkenness, but in the case of intoxicated sailors in Shanghai, I think we must admit quantity well as quality. I have always had grave doubts regarding those cases where igle glass of grog' drives the unfor-to aseaule the police or the bystanders.
rtsker mad,' and impels him
Tam, Yours obediently, Epwarp Hexpensow, Health Officer, Shanghai, 18th Aug., 1874.
{he paragraph we fotes in De, Jamon PERLE the hale fear ended Soon September 1872, pub-din the Customs Gasate, page 108 and note,—Eo. have of late been directed against the local authorities and their subordinates, in roference to the imposition of "squeezes" on the Chinese living in the Settlements and, in a particular case which has come before the public, of taxes taken on native boats, inthe Soochow Creek, Chen, the Mixed Court Magistrate, haa been accused of pusillanimity and apathy in his tre ment of the charges brought by the Coun cil againat the collectors of these taxes.
have no wish to advocate the Chi-tem of taxation, nor do I propose to defend any rascals who make a living out of the opportunities which it affords. But it appears to me that, before we fling about such terms as illegal" and "irregular," we should see to it that we are in 8 position to defend our own action from criticisms of @ like kind. The Secretary to the Council, I observe, in his letter to the Senior Consul of the 1st August, 1874, gives statistics of boats visiting Shanghai which are taxed by the Montcipaity, a I should be glad to be informed under in many respects mischievous state of affairs, and that is to lose no time in coming to a distinct understanding with the Chinese, either di or through diplomatic agency at headquarters, as to the several limits within which they and ourselves shall for the future work in requiring the natives, who reside in or resort to this Settlement, to bear their share in supporting our Municipal institutions, at the same time that they continue amenable to the ion of maintaining their own authorities. Many difficulties will doubtless present themselves in the way of carrying out this project, not the least of which will be the risk of the Chinese not keeping faith with us;—but with time and patience I believe it to be feasible, and at any rate it is well worth an experiment. Anything is better than to continue the undignified course we are now pursuing, of appropriating what we have at best but a doubtful claim to, simply because we happen to be strony enough to secure it, and intimidating the authori-
To the Editor of the Dear Ste,—With reference to your extract from Dr. Dyas' report, permit me to say that I think he attributes too much of the bad effects of Hongkew grog on seamen to the badness of the liquor, and too little to the recklessness of the men. During a visit to Chiarini's Ciroue one evening, I was witness to a circumstance which struck me very much, It was a hot night, thermometer about 86, as far asi can recollect, and two Jacks were hobnobbing over a bottle of sq ce." Jack No. 1 handed the bottle to his mate, who put it to his lips with a "here's luck," and held it there till he must have imbibed half a pint of neat gin. he bottle was handed from one to the other several times while I was looking on, and a "full grown man's drink" was, I feel sure, disposed of each time. One can imagine what the state of these men would be after a night spent in this way, and that next day,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.