Serious Outlook: Ships Now Unable to Get to Tientsin: Vast Masses of Silt Brought by the Yungting Shanghai, which has suffered 20 severely from business depression for s0 long a time, can afford to feel very sympathetic for Tientsin, even though, when our Settlement was, at its worst, Tientsin was not doing so badly, for it would seem that, what with political rearrangements and natural causes," the northern. port is threatened with a very severe decline, unless, possibly, railways can save it, Readers will not have failed to notice that, for a long time past, both northern and Shanghai papers have been drawing attention to the rapid silting up of the Tientsin river, and only a few days ago we reprinted a short report from the "North-Chnia Daily Mail" indic ing a very serious state of affair Ships Unable to Get Up At present, the port is practically closed to steamer traffic, because, in order to navigate the Haiho, ships have to lighten to a draft of 10 ft., or even down to 9 ft, and, as the majority on the run draw at least 8 ft. G in. light, this means that they could not possibly take up morg than from 300 to 400 tons of cargo, and it will be understood that it would be still less worth while for a boat to go up and then come out light. The procedure now is for steamers to discharge cargo into lighters at Tangku, and to send passengers up to Tientsin either by launch or railway, and loading is done by the same method. Very few ship" attempt the river passage.
The Tientsin river always has been very difficult for navigation, with its narrow, shallow and wind: ing channels, and in the best 9 sons it was not unusual for a to touch a bank occasionally.—It speaks well for the skill of the pilots and captains that serious accidents have been so few. Despite all the work done by the Haiho Conservancy, the state of affairs has become gradually worse and last summer also the river wag practically closed, though the conditions seem not to have been quite so bad as at present. A recent report from Tientsin told of the Chinese in places beyond Tientsin petitioning; the authorities to put in hand" certain works not only to improve the water-courses, but also to lessen the danger of inundations, and they offered their services' voluntarily; but, even if this were done, it would have little effect on the Haiho.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.