In 1885 Mutushan, the Military Commissioner for Manchuria, recommended the Imperial Government to construct a telegraph line so as to bring the Hi Chiang frontier in communication with the interior of the Empire. The Commissioner's i g been accepted, the Hei-lung 1g authorities were ordered to carry out the scheme. They now present their accounts for the cost of the telegraph posts. The line runs through the province for a distance of 1,405 li, terminating at Hei-lung-chen Shan. 14,050 posts have been provided, including side posts, and one spare post for every li. The money spent, for original cost and freight combined, amounts to Tls. 34,078.
Ina second paper the same memorialists report that the line runs also for 625 li through the Province of Kirin, from Kirin city to the neighbourhood of Petuna. For this section the Kirin authorities provided the posts, which were 4,593 in number and cost Tls. 7,836; the Hei-lung Chiang Government repaid them the amount. 28th June.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.