Common in London and Harbin, But None in Shanghai What is a notary public and where can I find one in Shanghai?"
The questioner had received some documents from England, which had to be sealed in the presence of a notary public, He neither knew what it was nor where to look for it, Nor did the questioned. " So the hunt began, with the following results, Funk & Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary of the English Language defines a notary public as follows:—"An officer duly commissioned and holding a seal of office, who is empowered by law to' note protests and certify the same, administer oaths, take deposi tions, acknowledgment of deeds and ' other instruments, and to authenticate the same by his official certificate, signature, and seal. In England they are' ap: pointed by the Archbishop Canterbury, whose authority, originally delegated by the Pope, was confirmed by Henry VID. In the United States they appointed by governors of States.
The protesting mentioned in this definition appears to be a sort of legal way of saying that you cannot pay a bill, But in Shanghai we dispense with—these formalities, We merely don't pay.
The Archdeacon and the Moo Other dictionaries give substantially the same description of a notary public, though they leave out the bit about' Henry VILL, the Pope and the Archbishop of Cantezbury. However, one says that he ix much, the same thing ava "scrivener" who, we always thought, was a_ person exclusively devoted to selling quill ens, Another describes him "one who performs notarial duties"
which is about as helpful as "one who exercises.—_archidiaconal functions" to define an Archdeacon, However, knowing now what notary public is, it only remained to find one. And, so far can ascertain, there is no such thing: in Shanghai—whether because, the extinct mea, "there are ud mea now," oF because there never were any, we have no idea. In London, they ave said to be almost as plenti.' talas sparrows. In Harbin, all places, we are told they swarm, But the most assiduous collector cannot secre x specimen in Shang hal,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.