Association have sent the following telegram to the Peking Government and the Ministry of Finance:
Of late years Government has Chefoo cannot at present begin to cope with big fires. The fire brigade is organized, but the engine and the apparatus attached! thereto are altogether inadequate for tackling fires unless in their embryonic stages. Saturday night's conflagration, according to the testimony of the few who first saw it, was such a small affair then that the few foreigners, who knew a fire had occurred, gave it no second thought. Yet an hour or so later they were awakened from sleep to realize that one of the biggest blazes in the history of the port was occurring, and that, moreover, it looked as though it would the impossible to arrest it.
Lack or Water.
The- scarcity of rain of the last few weeks had left everything very issued a number of bonds and; dry, and the lack of water and the Treasury Certificates, which are! utter inadequacy of the fire apsecured largely on the Salt Sur-]paratus enabled the flames to plus. Sir Reginald A. Gamble, spread rapidly. By 2.30 there must the associate chief inspector of have been nine or ten big Chinese-Salt Revenue, has during his, owned shops on fire, and the big} tenure of office contributed a great south wind playing on the flames deal to the enforcement of the re-gave the whole a most lurid apgulation for the various issues and pearance. But by this time it was; to the maintenance of the Govern-{understood that, while other places ment credit. We regret to learn might possibly catch, there was no' refused.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.