September 19th.—(1) A Memorial from the Acting Director of the Fuochow Arsenal reporting the result of the "sea trial" of the feat cruiser Ching Ch'ing (gg ¥m) lately compiled at that Arsenal.
On the 17th January last the Memorialist reported the launching of No. 2 fast cruiser Ching Ch'ing, submitting ut the same time a otatement of her dimen and adding that he purpose ing the vessel with lighting apparatus worked by wind (PREREBUM) lish torpedoes and 4 guns, changing the masts for steel substituting other guns, etc, He applied at the same time for permission to submit the names of a selected few of the officers and others engaged in the construe tion of the vessel to His Mnjesty for the bestowal of rewards upon them, He was commanded in reply to wait until the vessel had undergone her trial trip at tea when, if she steenied well and no defects were discovered, he might recommend the most deserving Officers for the bestowal of rewards.
Upon receipt of the above commands the alist proceeded to push forward the of the vessel in the most substantial manner, and telegraphed to Li Hung-chang for the services of one of the naval students who had studied abroad to teke command of the ship. He received a telegraphic reply to the effect that student Ho Hsin-chuan (fi, Ji]) could be sent on approval, and a despatch t" the same purport was subsequently received from Te Kvo-ch'iiw, Upon the arrival of thi officer ho was directed to make " most careful selection of persons to man the from the first lieutenant down to asilora and firemen, with a view to being prepared to take heron her trial trip.
The completion of the vessel having bosn duly announced to him, the Memorialist selected the 11th of August for the trial, and embarked on board of her upon that day, with a complement of officers and workmen from the arsenal, two officers from British meu of war being also who were invited at attend by th of the arsenal at the Memorialist's orders Fires were lit at 4 o'clock, the hour fixed upon, and at G o'clock a start was made from Pagoda anchorage. At 8.15 the vessel passed out of the river, and reached Mateu place din: Wh to Dogs she made her trial run at sea, There was a strong northerly breeze on the morning in question accompanied by heavy ex, but the vessel was steady and did not roll, She returned to the Arsenal when Ho Hsin-cl'uan, the come Frouch nautical miles, or 16 and a fraction English nautical miles, per ho The revolutions were then 87 a minute, and a speed was developed of over 15 French nautical miles, or upwards of 17 Eng.ish nautical miles, per hour, which corre vessel would develop. further reported to the Men word of mouth that the machinery and appliances of the ship were strong, worked ily, and were free from defects, while the English naval officers who went to inspect her were unanimous in their praise, declaring that if they had not themselves seen the vessel they would not have believed that the Fouchow Arsenal could h turned out auch excellent work ch a large scale. tion, of th machinery, and he has now i commander to cupply all iacellanoous appurteviances with despatch and then to take the ship forthwith to Nanking to be inspected and taken over by the Minister Superintendent of Southern Trade The purchase of the guns and Gish terps does with which the ship is to be equip; for abroad, and will be placed on board upon th The complement of officers and which she is to be furnished, and theamonut of their asianes, will be duly reported is Majesty and to the Board by the Minister Superintendent of Sunthern Trade, In obedience to His Majesty's command: a list of the names of the officers who have ingly contributed to the successful completion of this excellent work will be submitted to His Maj ty after the ship joined the Southern squadron. ial from the Director that the Naval Yard at Chung-chi is tant 60 li from Foochow, and no Impor Birthday Temple has been erected there, 80 successive Directors, Superintendents, and other olficera attached to the Aree have erected an ornamental mat shed in the yard upon fel which they have perform: prostrations with their faces towards the capital. As the 29th of Tuly last, the anniversary of His Majesty's birth, feil upon a fast day, the usual felix cious ceremony was performed on the 27th, and upon this occasion the Taottai Wa Chung-hsiang, one of the Inspectors, while in the act of performing his ceremo: observance-s, was seized with an afte the foot (cramp), whereupon one of kneeling in a crippled ner, came forward and helped The Tao'tai at once ordered the to retire, but inasmuch as an act of in decorum had been committed, he himself brought the matter to the notice of the Memorialist, who has now the honour to request that Wu Chung-hsiang, expectant Tavtai and an Inspector in the Fuochow Arsenal, may be committed to the Board for the determination of the regular penalty.
Rescript: Let Wa Chung-hsiang be com mitted to the Board for the determination of a penalty.
Septemb-r 20th.—The Governor General at Nanking reports the death, upon the 28th of August, of Cuang Tuan-ching, Financial Commissioner of Anhui and acting Governor of that province ad interim. The deceased, who had held the ®cting post for a month, was attacked in he middle of the summer with intermittent fever which was aggravated by his close attention to the duties of his post. Some few days previous to his decease the Governor, feeling that he would never rise again from hia bed, dictated his valedictory Memorial to the acting Financial Commi sioner when the latter came to #09 him, This officer, as is customary, took charge of and placed under seal tie seals of the Governor jendent of Custor of Wahu, which were in the custody of deceased, together with his other paraph alia of office In expressing his regret at the loss of able an officer and colleague, the Memori list requests that the post of Fiunuciat Commissioner of Aului now vacant may be filled as soon as possible, September 2ist.—No ducumeuts of in-
September 22ud.—A Decree from Hor Majeaty the Empress Dowager.
Wh We despatched I-huan Prince Ch'an in the month of May last on a tour of inspection to the northern ports, We were truly concerned fur the welfare of id Prince on hie distant journey over exposed to the fortune of the winds and waves, The Emperor, too, was i tant 3 ty om hi Rave audience to th We told him that it wa:
a eunuch of the Palace Court physician, with him, in order to attend to and protect him at all season The Prince then informed Us that Li Lien-chie€ eunuch, was a steady and relic man, and he begged that he might be sent with him.
On the Prince's return we asked him when we received him in audience, whether Li Lien-ying had caused any trouble, and the Prince informed Us in reply that the said uch had been most careful in his attendance during the journey, and had behaved in every respect. similarly to the other eunuchs that accompanied the expedition, nut interfering in outside matters in any way whatsooy The Censor Chu I-hsin has now presented Memorial in which he enlarges upon the necessity, in times of national disaster, of taking precautions against malpractice the part of eunuchs, the object of flecti b to indicate his that Li Lion-ying, when accompanying the Prince aforesaid, had followed in the footsteps of the eunuchs who were deputed in Gaya of the T'ang Dynasty to superintend the operations of the military. Lu vouring to attract our attention by words of serious import he has already made use of parallels that are not apposite, and he fuel ther goes on to atate that in the case of the the provinces have of late been visited, the urf cannot but be aald to have acted manner that deviates from the Mean, thus failing to secure the harmonious influences of Heaven; just as if retributive omens were induced by this matter to which he alludes, wherein he has committed the still graver error of echoing the absurdities of ative The liberal treatment of near rel Dynasty, by meals of palace eunuchs, is a very common proing, and the recent tour of inspection taken by the seventh Prince was far from a mission of an ordinary kind. In sonding a eunuch and Court physician with hin the Court was actuated by motives of terest and sympathy and the act had no of knew not! palace, and #0 intro levant' matter into do not merit attention, however, his assertions that the conduct of Li Lien-yi whenaccomprnying the mission to Tient was such as to cause general comment along the line of route and to evoke consternation
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.