The Stewards of the Paper Hunt Club intend, weather permitting, to hold the first hunt of the season to-morrow, Some little while back the members of the Municipal Council decided to leave some slight memento of the Jubilee yenr te their successors by presenting a chair to be used by the Chairman for the time being at the deliberations of the Council. The chair has been finished and is now in use, It a solid piece of furniture ornamented with the Municipal arms, and bearing on the back the names of the present Council. Owing to its very straight back the chair has on air of almost Cromwellian severity, which it is to be hoped for the sake ut its present and future occupants is more apparent than real, France is organising in Shanghai pol tical, geographical, "ud commerce to Chungking, under the Fi ow, who has We understand to start after the arrival fi next Prench mail, by which some additional members of th are expected, An interpreter from the French Consulate-General here is to be one of the party.
Io in attend-the general meeting of the Shanghai Literary and Debating Society to save that institu.
from succumbing to the attitude of despair, which seems to hare been adopted in sume quarters. The Suciety has a good mom roll, it has quite " respectable bain credit in the bank, and yet day's meeting has an alternate proposition for the eon-sideration of th desirability of dissolution and the dispositi the surplus funds, That the commu Model Settlement, boast aloft for fifty years the lamp of enlightenment and pro-press to this great country, should yet be so apathetic as regards dinlectical and literary matters that it cannet carry on the Literary Debating Society would be a matter for regret, and we trust that a gathering of members this ati show that Shanghailanders during the winter months are us fond of mental pleasure they are of pony riding and social enterments, Of course, the President, the Secretary, and the Committee cannot be expected to carey on the Suciety without the ce-operation vf the membera, and we rather think that the apathy which they have encountered during their year of office hax induce' them to come forward with the prop the A meeting of the Chinese (whs hold some 80,000 shares) in the Bank of China, ete. held at the Canton Guild yesterday, to consider the recent call on \the chares, Tt was decided, we learn, to invite the Committee of the Bank to call an extraordinary meeting of the share-[holders at which it is proposed to protest strongly againt the call on the shareholders.
Last evening the annual meeting of the Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge among the Chinese was held at the Municipal Board Room, Mr. George Jemieson presiding. The report and accounts for the year were adopted, and during the proceedings, the Rev, Timothy Richard, the Hun, Secretary, read the following letter he had received from Mr. Thomas Hanbury Shanghai, 29th November, 1893. Rev, Trnoruy RicHanp, Secretary of the Society for the Diffusion of Christian and General Knowledge among the Chinese.
Dear Sin,—Your suggestion of this day commends itself to me and I shall with pleasure contribute Tis, 00.—for the purpose of offering prizes of Tls. 100) each at Soochow, Peking, Canton, Foochow, and Hangchow during the year 1894. students who periodically gather for examin:
These prizes are '0 be competed for by the ation at those cities and the essays are to be judged and the awards given by your society, In view of the fact that nine-tenths of the foreign work done in the interior has for its aim the spiritual good of China, I prefer that my small gift shoul be directed to the material and intellectual welfare of the Chinese, I therefore throw out as suggestions the following as themes from which the po son competing may chose 1.—The advantages to be derived by China from adopting the railway system, the coinage of silver money and an Imperial postal system as Japan has recently doi vantage to accrue if hina would introduce machinery for the preparation of tea, und for the reeling of silk so as the better to compete with foreign count 3.—The benefit derived during the past thirty years by the excellent administration of the Imperial Maritime Customs, Show whether China is really in earnest ing the opium trade stopped, and prove culture of the poppy in China if the Gov sible to suppress the immense
ment of India consents to cease producing the drug.
Show how may better and more friendly relations be established between China and foreign country 'The names of the successful candidates should be made known, and translations of the essays printed if possible, I intend to give 'Tls. 100 towards the expenses incurred' in regard to this competition.
Yours sincerely, We are obliged ta hold over a detailed report of the meeting.
Some Hongkong and Shanghai $5 notes having ed the Pulice are trying to find the forger or the party who imported the notes, for they are not thought: te be of local manufacture. A note has been traced to a number of people of unquestionable integrity, but the man who put the culation has not yet been found. The forged notes at the first glance may not excite suspicion, but if examined the minute writing forming the ground work will be seen to be badly executed, whilst the engravers' name is blurred and irregular, The signatures, however, are good imitations, The Police have found " few more epurions $5 bank notes, but have not, ay Far, succeeded in Taying hands on the forger of the circulator of them, Fire broke out at 10.20 a.m. on Priday in North Laczs to the east of North Shanse Roxd, and destroyed thirty houses. The Fire Brigade had some difficulty in rexcli the flames, which could not be done till 1,700 fret of hose in a single line had been laid. Some of the firemen did not leave till a quarter to ove o'clock, The fire was caused while two carpenters were quarrelling, The Mih-ho-loong did goud work in pulling down houses to prevent the spread of the flames, Soon after 10 o'clock on Saturday night Gre broke out ina reed stack in Hongkew between the extensions of Seward and Hanbury Roads, some little distance from Hongkew creek, and communicated to another stack and three houses, If the Sas aero eae ne eae rE RON eer nee Baron NUE EN One
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.