'BARGE CONTAINER, coming up, the shallow passage at the right of the island (now main-Iand) lost in width and gained in depth. Closing of the old passage took place in 1909 and a gala note was struck when H. M.S. Astrea steamed through the new channel, leaving in her wake, for future generations to take for granted, the name, Astra Channel, Similar inhibitions to the spreading and shallowing of the river are shown in the Board's training walls made of piles, brushwood-mattresses, caissons, stone, and the like, various points in the river. One of these training walls extends about half a mile to the deep mouth of tthe river at Woosung.
Another is submerged below the water, from a short distance above the old Gough Island on the right to the Point in Yangtszepoo. This forms a canal, known to pilots if not obvious to the uninitiated. It runs along the right bank past the Shanghai Baptist College, to the recently built public jetty used for Tanding all the gasoline for the Settlement, and terminates at. the newly constructed concrete bridge built by the Conservancy Board to connect with the piece of land cal-Ted by them Triangle Point, which was reclaimed during the past two years. The bridge was designed by Mr, H. F. Meyer of the Board and was formally opened to traffic on December 31, A Bit of Salvage Sometiraes, too, with all its other work tie Conservancy Bonn! does a bit ct eilvaging; not, for the reu-fons known to owners of sunken vessels, nor t6 salvaging companies, but as a last resort to clear the channel. It contracts with docks and factories, for dredging, and, moreover, enters into contracts for reclamation and for 'The long scarlet pipe line of the Board at Woosung, opposite the pagoda-like structure' of the new Chapel -Waterworks plant, now under construction, illustrates the latter work. Above Shanghai, dredge ing and filling have been carried fon: als. The Nantao Bund has been the scone of much of this, as has the channel off the Arsenal. Several large reclamations have been completed opposite the Arsenal as well.
Eighteen foreigners, all either engineers or technical experts, and 700 permanent Chinese carry on the work of the Board. Besides these there are numerous Chinese taken on for special jobs.
After a trip up the river with stops at those points which are being worked by the Board, the whole character of the Whangpoo must be linked up afterwards with the energies, hopes and aims of this remarkable organization, The men-of-war, the freighters, the floating tourist palaces, th cotton mills and egg-factories, the dock-yards and engineering works, the gigs racing to and fro, creating panic in the hearts of sampan laodah, even the sampans themselves which reap the offal of the ocean-going steamers, and the junks with masts upright and proud as though no tattered sail was furled beside, must all pay tribute and acknowledgement to the Con servancy Board, Without it the unremitting activity on the river, even the glamour of it, would be ost. Shanghai would cease to be, what she ig called by those of poetical fancy, Queen City of the Growing Wrong Way Round Another thought which must invariably strike an observer coming up from Woosung for the umpteenth time is the extraordinary twist of Fate which influenced the city to grow westward instend of towards fits natural outlet, the mouth of the—Yangtzekiang. Residences spreading towards Yangtszepoo instead of factories can be visual ized, and a city with milos of Bund instead of the short and cluttered foreshore of the present. The wharves and factories might still have found their solace further down the Whangpoo. But enough! A veteran of the days when Shanghai had a sort of option on the direction of its growth, will tell you that the "riding" took them west. A sorry spectacle, he who would deny the prior claim!
in conclusion, a short history of the Whangpoo Conservancy Board work, -CHRDREN Ae is not amiss, It is the successor to the Whangpoo River Conservancy,
agreement between the Chines Government and the Treaty Powers, that year, when the work wa commenced the far-sighted Dutch engineer Mr. de Rijke was in charge, As far back as 1876. and. 1808 reports had been made by him regarding the necessity of working the-Channel. He was appointed to the task in 1905 and continued until "1910, when Mr. LIH. von Heidenstam was appointed, engineer-in-chief, post, which is now held by Dr, Herbert Chatley.
The Great de Rijke After certain important works costing more than seven millions of taels had exhausted the grant. of the 1905 Protocol, the " channel depth had been improved from 11 feet at lowest low water to about 39 feet. When funds were exe hausted in 1910, the board wa abolished by the Civil Governor, "In 1912 a new agreement was made between the Chinese Government: and the Ministers of the Treaty Powers in Peking, and formally approved by the Prime Minister, The Bourd therefore derives its authority directly from the Chinese Government. It. is comprised of three Chinese Government official the Commissioner for Foreign Affairs for the Province pf Kiangsu the Shanghai Commissioner Custom and the Shanghai Harboxt No funds have been paid it, by the Central Government since 1011, Ita income eonsiats of a conservancy surtax of three per cent, on. the Shanghai Maritime Customs duet, one and a half per mille on duty free goods and 0.046 por cent. on treasure, and the proceeds from the sale of foreshore lands.
No time limit is placed on the Boar's activities, a the state of the river is such that considerable work will always be necessary maintain the channel.
'All the Board's works have been paid for out of its own Income, Dredging Department Is organized, with a first class dredging fest as Has boon noted, and a wall equipped Gonstruction "Department which eats with training' works of all Kinds," bundings, reclamations, wharver and "the ike, A. folly developed Hydrogeaphle Service hay been established with tide gauze) houses, and. there. is, finally, a General Survey Depariment. which keeps continuous, watch over th river and. publishes, mapo, The Feclaimed land owned by the Board provided for in its constitution wil be available at some" future lime for the provision of publi whooves, gasoline storage pla similar public utility works.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.