Manila, Aug. 10.
Acting upon the recommendation of its executive committee, the board of directors of the Philippine Carnival association unanimously. voted-last evening in favour of hold. ing a Carnival early in February of od next year. uncod upon by three of this raternity and relieved of their cash mil valuables and even some of] heir clothing without however being molested, one Scotsman in the party, however, got the better of them, as perceived, he managed to bury his vetch and ving in the sand, Shopkeepers being Squeezed The united protest _made russian shopkeepers on Kitaiskaya, arbin's principal business street, gainst the greed of the house-creating quite an uproar in the coal Russian press, but so far nothing has yet been decided upon. The vents which the house-owners ussist. on being paid in yen, are at he present vote of exchange enorm-us, and with trade more or less lormant the unfortunate _store-coopers find it impossible to meet jemgnds, ranging as they do between Yen, 400 and Yen 1,200 a month, The Civil Administrator is in sympathy with the traders and has peelered that rent shall only be paid in local dollars. Tt is, however, beyond his power to te able to dictate 9 the house-owners how much rent! \hey! shall charge in-each instance. He-has, therefore, handed the matter the Chinese Chamber of Com. merce to mediate, The latter nae "Weie stover emin Chinese passports, but who are still carrying-on with a "receipt" that they have duly applied, years and these are others as well whose number will soon be up." I refer to those who have been given employment, through influence, ete.
Mines to be Reopened Probably on account of pressure] brought to bear by various high officials of Manchuria the Board of Directors recently decided to restart work on the Chalainor Coal Mines, situated close to Manchuli. It will be remembered that during the conflict these mines suffered severely at the hands of the Soviets, and that machinery and buildings were destroyed, including the pumps causing the flowing of the mines. Estimates made after the conflict was over showed it was necessary to spend considerably over $1,000,000 to restore the mines to their former: state, and that months would els before coal could te mined again in-the same quantities.
The general manager decided that, as such a large sum of°money. was difficult to secure, it would Previous to the meeting of the executive committee, questionnaires were sent to the biggest and most representative commercial firms asking their opinion as to whether it would be helpful to the business community in general to hold a carnival next year. More than 90 per cent. of the answers were strong ly in favour of holding the fair. The concensus is to the effect that the holding of next year's carnival would not fail to enliven the situation, and, therefore, help business by attracting crowds to the city, and by changing the mental attitude of the people.
Several of the big firms who answered favourably said that inasmuch as the carnival is not a money making. organization but is a civie enterprise devoted to promoting the progress of these Islands, it is the duty of such an organization, especially in times of crisis like the present, to hold the annual festivity.
The director-general of the carnival has been instructed to proceed at once with the preparations of the big show.
The many big business firms who are in favour of holding the carnival next year have promised to help liberally the association i carrying it out suecessfully—United Presc.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.