Harbin is to have its botanical gardens and a start on the laying qut of a hugh public park on the! outskirts of New Town is to be made in the early spring, the rail way having made a grant of suitable land, It is expected that there will also be a. zoologic: gardens as well, Expert advice being obtained from the Manchurian Research Society which has undertaken to get ood specimens of Manchurian plants and flora, which of course will make the' place! unique of its kind in the Far East. The project ix an excellent tone and will be a boon to Harbin' residents. Its success is assured seeing that funds necessary for its making will be forthcoming from the Railway.
The past season's navigation on the Sungari has been a successful one for steamer owners, who are now exclusively Chinese." Freights have ruled higher than ever,—but notwithstanding this the total freight carried exceeds 1924. The total is 27 boods, 25 of which was brought to Harbin. The principal freight was beans which amounted to nearly 19 million pods, the other hand there was a large falling off in the amount of] wheat carried, the total being 24 million pods' against over double i& this amount in 1923. There is likewise a marked falling of in timber dnd firewood, the total this year being, just over two million boods against 84 millions last year. "Thi was chiefly on account of high freight on wood and large quantities at points down the river transportation next year.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.