Peking, July 3.
The Chinese Telegraph Administration is a department of the Government of which little is usually heard—except, of course, when the lines are down. No an-anal report is published, and the public is left in the dark as to whether the department is well managed or the reverse, and when ther it pays its way or otherwise. The foreign staff includes one adviser and only three other for-olga employees, so the Administration may be said to be almost wholly Chinese.
Generally speaking, results are good, and if telegraphing is expensive it is prompt and reliable on the lines free from military interference. About 10 years ago the present Director General, Mr. Tsiang Ping-ho, urged the construction of many new lines which would have opened up the country and proved of great commercial value, not to mention convenience to the Government. First the Revolution and then the war put many obstacles in the way of this and other schemes for extension and improvement of the service; but in spite of all difficulties, and largely owing to the persistence of Mr. Tsiang, the lines have been considerably increased during the past 10 years, while about 300 new telegraph offices have been opened.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.