Shanghai Tramways At a meeting of the board of direetors of th Shanghai Electric Construction Ca. Lid, held on Oct. 13, fan interim dividend at the rate of four per cent, was declared on. the {issued share capital of the company, in respect of the year ending Dee: ember 21, 1986, and will be payable on November 4, 1036, i idea what the effect would be on the majority of dairies in Shanghai if man replied, on how the tests were carried out, had given the thought and the only effective remedy Chemor United Rubber Ca, Lid.
The Board of Directors of the Chemor United Rubber Ca, Lid, have declared a second interim dlvid= fend of three Chinese dollar cents per share on account "of the year fending December 31, 1996, to those fon the register of shareholders on were again examined before we got ton to the Hangchow-Mokanshan Road, We were required to Mi ina form before ascending. the mountain, Conditions on the mountain are not quite whit they were. I remember that in the old days the people, including the children, were very friendly, That appears to have gone now, the adults cither completely more you or are inclined to be insolent and the children are decidedly "cheeky." I am told that every year less foreigners than ever yo there for their holidays. One of the two "eompradores" there informed me that whereas in former years they were kept busy for about four to five months, now they barely have. more than two month business, After the experience in the bus on the up-trip, it war decided by my friend that he wouldn't risk the turn trip by bus but that we should do better by hiving a ear, T proceed fed to the official arnee and was formed that the cost of a car would be $11.50 only, ie, $11 for the car and $0.80 for telephoning to Hangchow for the car. This was paid anda receipt seven. " On the date. decided upon for our return, we came down the mountain and found our car waiting for us. Before we were permitted start we had to fill in another form and then were told" that we had $0.84 to pay. On querying this, wi Were told that it was a "road tax' which had been brought Into force on October 1, 1936. We paid the $084 ind_were permitted to. proceed, arriving at a place called Ping Yao we found a gate across the road which had not been there on the outward {rlp. Another gentleman came with a slip of paper in his hand and demanded $1.68, which we were given to understand was a sort of "com: mercial tax."
This we paid under protest, Tam enclosing for your er usual and, i¢ necessary, publica: tion, the two' receipts, The question is why were we not Informed of these {wo taxes when we hired the car? We did not hire the ear through a private agency but through a govern: Ment office whose representative din-tindly stated that the $11.50 original-pald was all there was to pay. 'Surely this office knew that a tax of this nature was in existence Nothing more of interest occur fon this trip to Hangchow, excepting that our passports were' again, ex: amined at the entrance to Hangchow, which made three Inspections in all, which after all Is unnecessary" and just another inconvenience which to keep people away, weklang, expecially the Hangchow and Mokanshan districts, Is. very beautiful, and the authorities. should do their best to encourage the tourist, especially "the foreigner "who. in Spetding his money ig assisting, Chi-copie and Chinese trades letter is not written with any dea of running down the Chinese, us 1 have given praise where praise is due, "but rather to let them know what people who spend their money in China think about things," Say What you like about the Japanese, but they certainly have the right idea about treating visitors "to. their country, "Sevonty-six million yen oaks for itself and does not call for any explanation by anyone, Provided the visitor does not look for trouble, hho fs treated with every courtesy by not only the oMclals but by every. body. Whether Mr, and Mrs. Master and Migs Everybody in Japan have bboen educated into this or not, is neither here nor there, Tt is the right idea and {t ts the thing that counts with the person who Is there for a holiday.
I may remark that the "cheekiness" of the children and the veiled inscience of the adult ore not the Fesuli of coming in contact with the for Eigners but a condition which has arisen during the last two years, 1 am speaking from experience as 1 was at Mokanshan 4% years ago and found the people really delighttut and most charming.
One more thing 1 should like 10 mention, and that ip the telephone service from Mokanshan to Shanghai, Wishing to call my home in Shang: hai, T went to the telephone office and jo the required Shanghai number {informed the operator that T only wanted to, pay ordinary rate. This on @ Sunday afternoon, T waited 4% hours, during which period T was frequently advised to pay the double rate, I finally agreed to do ¢0 and got through in seven minutes, Something wrong somewhere, Surely it is not necessary for me to advise the Chinese Tourists Bureat there is euch a thing) that the {dea fs to oxeate a good impression on visitors so that they will come again.
Shanghai, Oct. 17, "The receipts mentioned have been received and noted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.