Chefoo, March 10.
This afternoon in the hail of the, Chef.o Club Annex the annual: meeting of the international Committee, delayed this year in order that estimates might be worked out for the reconstruction of the demolished Bund, was held. There was a most representative attendance of Chinese and foreign residents. Mr, Sugden was elected to the chair, Miss Edna Smith to the! secretariat, and, the minutes of last! year's meeting having been adopted, Mr. Sugden next proposed the, passing of the report with the statement of accounts, etc. for the past) year, which had been in the hands} of tax payers for a couple of weeks. He eulogized in glowing terms the; work of the retiring Committee, speaking most appreciatively of what had been accomplished in the way of upkeep, improvements and} the general well being of the Section, "Sanitation," said the speaker, "had not been all that it should be but the fault lay, not with the! Committee which did its utmost to keep cleanliness to the fore, but} with householders, foreign and Chinese, who permitted their coolies to dump refuse on to the The Committee's endeavours to secure for the public value in electric light commensurate with the prices paid for it had elicited from the Iccal Electric Light Company the interesting information that the reports of the huge dividends paid were erroneous amd that insuperable difficulties had been encountered in. its efforts to supply the community with the requisite amount of current. But, as the} Chairman stated, the Company should have taken the International Committee and its complaining customers into its confidence before and not withheld the reasons for its inability to give proper value for money paid.
In the summer months, there was}! no repetition of the deplorable} state of affairs prevailing when the! American torpedo flotilla used Chefoo as its summer rendezvous, and this was appreciatively raterred to. Mr. Sugdeh attributed the improvement to the efforts of the International Committes as well as to those of the Navail authorities and tha Naval Y.M.C.A.
Mr. Lupton had seconded the proposal and the speeches having been translated by Mr. Woo for the benefit of the Chinese present. the report for the past year was passed nem on,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.