Aug. 11.
Tue stupendous nature of the disaster at Swatow, thoughts of ruin spread by the typhoon and consideration for the unfortunate victims, may tend to obscure in the mind of the public one very important fact. For about forty-eight hours after the typhoon des-conded, Swatow was isolated from the outer world, communication of all description being at a standstill. It was not until the arrival of the steamer Kwaisang, which carries wireless, that the news of the catastrophe could be conveyed to Hongkong and relief obtained for the great number of sufferers, both foreign and Chinese. The fact that this could secur shows a deplorable position of affairs, one which has long been the subject of representations by firms established at Swatow, and one which we hope may now be remedied. Fyrom the reports received there is little doubt that large numbers of survivors were on the verge of starvation, and in other directions as well the need of succour was clamant. Hongkong responded to the call unhesitatingly and without stint, as it always will do in such a case, but the question naturally arises, what would have been the position had further delay occurred, had the Kwaisang not been equipped with a wireless installation.
The position at Swatow, we understand, is that the port is in communication with the rest of China by means of " land wire only, and in rough weather this means is said to be subject to constant interruption. The foreign merchants at Swatow have for long advocated the linking up of their port with others in China by means of cable, but so far their representations have proved unavailing. How well founded was their case for this measure is proved by the events of the past fortnight. and in the reconstruction of the port this ought to se-ente the first consideration. Had these representations had their due effect in the past, there would be a reasonable expectation at the very least that the news of the disaster would have reached other ports capable of rendering assistance at the moment it happened, and to put the matter in its very lowest and its most mercenary form, immediate steps might have been taken to start salvage operations. And in the event of the cable station surviving the worst of the typhoon the full measure of the calamity would have been announced to the world, and wider and more immediate _preparations made to bring aid to those in distress. The full support of other communities in China must be accorded to Swatow in its demand for adequate cable facilities in the future.
The typhoon brings into prominence another feature of communications on the China coast, that of wireless. Our readers may recollect that at the time of the Hong Moh disaster on the Lamocks Captain W. E. Kent wrote a very strong letter in these columns on the need for wireless installations on all steamers trading in these waters, His case, already strong, is reinforced by the events at Swatow. One local steamer, the Kwaisang, was equipped with wireless, and she conveyed the first news of the typhoon to Hongkong. But for her arrival there, and the fact that she was an exception to the rule in carrying wireless, there would again have been delay, heartbreaking to the wretched people in their parlous state. Owing to the absence of a definite central authority as exists in other countries, which can compel all vessels over a certain tonnage to carry wireless, it is impossible to enforce a rule in these waters, and the stress of competition makes it impossible for individual shipowners, however favourably inclined, to incur the additional expense. But at a time when commissions are at work in the country, it might conceivably be possible to make it the work of one to bring some general practice into being. Its value is beyond question; its necessity becomes every year more apparent.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.