The third ordinary meeting of shareholders in the above-named Company, was held on Monday afternoon in the rooms of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Colin Buchanan presiding. There were also present:—Messrs. A. D. Lowe, J. Grant Mackenvie (Directors), J.B. Fyfe, 'F. Cock, A. Sampson, S. H. Shorrock, D. W. Crawforl, J. A. Stewart, A. Hillebrandt, Win. Thompson, A. Getley, A. Fleet, M. Campbell, It.'B. Allen, HI J. Such, Dabelstein, J. A. M. Stempel, J. DE. Arthur, J. Harlow, A. W. White-Cooper, and JI. H. Osborne, Necretary.
'The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said:—Gentlemen, in the absence ofthe Chairman, Mr. John' Prentice, who has fore today, and T will now call upon the me home, I take the position of Chairman Secretary, Mr. Osborne, to read the notice convening the meeting.
This having been done, the Chairman proceeded:—Gentlomen, the report, and accounts having been in your hands for some time we will, with Your permission, take them as read. T have not many remarks to make, gentlemen, but before proposing that the report and accounts be passed, I will, however, take this opportunity to emphasise what you will have read in the report and that is, if you shareholders even_will not take the trouble to support the Company, you must not be surprised if no dividend' ix forthcoming. We lire quite aware that many of you and the public generally are under the impression You are using machine-made ice, when in reality your servants are supplying Chines jew. "However, gentlemen, I hope we shall be better supported this next summer. I will just mention that year the Com pany sold about per cent worth 5 5 Of ice Jess than than the previous one. The extra cost for coal, ete, te produce that extra quantity would have been very sun all) ourselves the possibilities of the Company.
deed comparatively, so you can judge for The new 25-ton plant we expect will he! working about the end of May. With this in full swing we hope to be able to. give our Chinese competitors a ood deal of trouble. Tywill now go on to the accounts. To debit of profit and loss you will observe that we have written off to depreciation Tls. 1.4 This is the first year that this item has} appeared, Bad anid donbtfal debts in 100 is rather a large item. For 1901 we estimate the amount will be less than a quarter of this sum. This is mainly due to the token system which we find works most satisfactorily. Overdraft is partly for running expenses and in connection with the erection of the new plant. I do not think there are any other items that require special comment, but I shall be pleased to answer to the best of my ability questions that the shareholders may desire to ask.
Mr. Fleet:—Will you kindly tell us the amount of the gross takings for ice during; the past year?
Mr. Lowe:—The amount in tons or what? gale in dollars—the gross amount of the Working account. merely to show the volume of business don Mr. Sampson:—$35,000.
Mr. Lowe:—Between $354 000 and $36 008 Mr. Fleet:—The amount is perhaps, not so extensive as we might expect in a place like Shanghai, but still T think the demand for machine-nade ice is bound to inevease, and there is no cause for uneasiness on that account. As time goes on and the ice-fields are driven further afield everything willie more and more in our favour. But there is one point I would like to mention for the benefit of the consumers of native joe, and that is in connection with the question of health. You all know how pre-jet are bowel complaints, typhoid and other ailments due to contaminated food during the summer, mouths.
Tf food is ate on top of Chinese ice there is doubt that it does become contaminated, and in eases where impure water or inferior milk is blamed for typhoid it may, perhaps, be that the fever has been really caused and ix due to nothing else but native ie Tf food is placed in contact with native ice there ix no doubt it does taint the food, and therefore, itis the native ice that is usually the cause of the ailments I have alluded to, and this isa point which [think the management might well bring prominent! before the consumers of native ice, either advertisement or circular or express, and T think it would probably have a very ood effect.
The Chairman:—I think you will all agree with Mr. Fleet's remarks, but we have done as much as we possibly could to get he Eh we deliver it ata cent and "half a pound, but we can sell it cent a pound if the consumers take it {at the debits.
Mr. Getley: Well, Tam of opinion that lwo can never compete with native ice un-Hess we sell itat a centa pound. The old Tee Company used to sell it and deliver it cent a pound, and it never paid less than 9 per cent dividend. (Hear, hear.) LIf we can sell the ico and deliver it at a cent a pound we can soon double the output The Chairman:—The old Company sold at cent a pound?
Mr. Getley:—Yes.
Phe Chairman:—And delivered it?
Mr. Getley:-—Yes.
The Chairman:—I was not aware of that, Mr. Getley:—And they sometimes paid 12 per cent; never less than 9, The Chairman:—Well, when the new machine is working we will be able to sell it as cheap as it is sold in any part of th world. The difficulty so fur has been in connection with the delivery. By the time the ice reaches consumers in the Bubbling Well Road or at Jessfield half of it is gone. That has been the great trouble, whereas ifa person takes delivery of his iee himself at the depots there will be no difficulty whatev Mr. Stempel:—Could there not be some other means of delivering it but by barrows?
The Chairman:—We hive tried every means but no matter what we do there is still great difficulty and loss.
The expenses in connection with delivering it by barrow are very sinn {Tr we deliver it by van we would have to eng-our ice introduced. The delay to some aye a responsible man to go round with it, extent has been caused by the: Municip 1 is very difficult indeed t" fight with the Chi-authorities. On aut has been in; nese as we have all found hose to our cost anghai for nearly two years now, and Gri all local interests and enterprises. We ye been interdicted. from putting it in use must trust to the Chinese, and my experience by threatened y-suits and one thing and that there is not ove honest Chinaman in another, Bat w have now removed it to the world, not one, so far as I have found. our Yangtsepoo property where [hope we But um pleased to be able to say, however, shall soon be able to turn out about 50 tons that it has been marvellous, the paucity of per day of ice.
Tdo not think we shall ever com plaints. Two or three a day in the hot po able to sell it at less th an one cent per wea her have been the most we have repound to small consumers but for large ceived, so that the delivery of the iee to quantities Lhope we shall he quite able to customers must have been pretty good. compete with native ice.
Mr. Getley:—I have had to complain Mr. Fleet:—With regard to what E have about the ice and about the coolies just said I think in many instances. it is a matter of carelessness on the part of the Lowe:—I am sorry to hear it and if, consum of ative i allowing their nirive us any suggestions as to how boys to order the ice. These boys 4 control the barrowman we shall be erally, whenever they can, order native 1 pleased to receive them. ice which is take from fields containing all Vir Getley:—I am of opinion that wail Kinds of impurities from the surface dra re able to sell and deliver at a cent a age. endure and putrid matter, and pound we shall not be able to compete with think the small question of cost ought not the Chinese.
weigh with people in selecting the Siz. Lowe:—There is no necessity for that they consume and seeing that it is sto say how cheap we can sell the ice. pure.
T'do not think there ix a place in the world 'Mr. Stewart:—As far asin experience where it is suld cheaper. In Ho goes I find the native ice of th present day is a cent and a haifa pound and in' isatperior to what we had been getting itis a cent a pound, gold. years ago.
Mr. Fleet has said the ice-j Hongkong it is a houses are going further afield and are con-livered from one dept. sequently becoming less liable to contami-Mr. Getley:—There is no opposition there nation. On the other hand, it app or in Manila. quite clear and simple tha the very poor M. Campbell:—Mr. CI 1, T business done last season was mainly owing the shareholders are very much to the exceptionally cool summer there ppointed at the report that has been was, and the quantity of native ice there placed before them. In one raph was inthe market, by which the native you speak about the Directors regret-dealers were able to sell at very cheap (ting that not only the public general-prices. Provisions and other "exposed Jy "but even the shareholders did not things are affected, no doubt, by being support the Company as much as ced in a chest in which' native ice they should do, during this past summer. is contained, but that does not apply iT was not myself here last summer, but if to such things as milk contained in a what I have been told is true then the bottle. With the large number of con-management can only be described by one sumers now coming to Shanghai I think the adjective, which is w tory. have turnover of the Tee Company should be been told man that he had more theta much larger than it has been. We once sent ice during the summer to the extra coasting steamers trading here, extra Company early in the morning, and that home-going and ocean steamers, and think chis coolie had been told to come back in ants only a little push to make an im-' the afternoon.
Whether the man's coolie provement in the busines. (Hear, hear).
Mr. A. Getley:—Can you deliver the ice in the Settlements at a centa pound? ever went there or came back and told a lie, Ido not know, but anyhow the obvious thing for the man to have done was to
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.