About 70 guests were present on Tuesday afternoon at the Pootung Shipyard of the Shanghai Dock Engineering Ca., Ld., to witness the launching of the str. Kiangshun, built to the order of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Ca. which ceremony was gracefully performed by Mrs. Fu Ping-kuei, daughter-in-law of Fu Siao-en, director of the China Merchants' S. N. Ca.
Following the ceremony, the guests were entertained in the offices of the company where refreshments were served.
In proposing a toast to the new vessel, Mr. John Prentice, chairman of the Dock Company, said that he hoped the Kiangshun would be as successful as former vessels made for the China Merchants' 8. N. Ca. by_his company.
Fu Siao-en made a brief reply in which he thanked Messrs. Prentice and Burns and the staff of the dockyard for their good work, and mentioned that in all their dealings with each other everything had been carried out satisfactorily, and he, Mr. Fu, was pleased to say that he hoped to be able to place further orders for new ships in the near future.
Mr. Prentice then presented Mrs. Fu Ping-kuei with a handsome gold handbag and a bouquet of The Kiangshun has been designed as a passenger and cargo steamer for service on the Yangtze and is good a sister ship to the Kiangan, built by the company, a few months ago for the same owners. She is fitted with special ports and cargo facilities for the rapid loading and discharging of cargo and her passenger accommodation is large and luxuriously finished. She measures 1340 ft. long by 48 ft. moulded breadth and 24 ft. 6 in. moulded depth to upper deck and carries 2,150 tons deadweight cargo on a light draft of 12 ft. 6 in.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.