Aug. 28.
FreQvent references have been made recently to the scandalous irregularity of the Shanghai-Hangchow - Ningpo—Railway launch service to Mokanshan which culminated last week in total breakdown with no promise of when it would be renewed.
The matter is extremely serious for the people on the mountain, of whom, as the Association's report printed yesterday shows, there are over 1,200 this year. Many are already wanting to come down. This week the general exodus begins and even if both the Wukong and the Comet (the latter is a tippety little boat with small accommodation and slow) were available, they would be inadequate to the traffic. But there is a wider interest in the culpable inefficiency of the service which should appeal to the many modern Chinese who continually assert that they can manage things as well as Westerners and to foreigners who, will simply point to the Mokanshan- launch service as another proof that they cannot. For all reasons, therefore, we give the essential points of a letter which sets out the whole story vith and accuracy. We have italicized soma facts which specially deserve notice.
Mokanshan, Aug. 20.—All during August the launch service advertised by the S. H. and N. Railway has broken. down frequently, neces. sitaring the use of a small substitute launch, complaints of the overcrowding of which are frequent.
Polyphemus," in his letter which you published a_ fortnight ago, really understated the gravity of the incident which occurred the night that he came up. That night thirty people were compelled to stay all night in two small rooms at the rest house owing to the Railway not providing chairs.
The rest house is only so in name. It is neither big enough nor provides any accommodation for people to stay the night.—Ed.)
Yesterday I went down to the Railway Office to see what could be done in the way of transportation for my wife's brother to come ap here on Sunday and go down
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.