Taking 1934 a5 a peak year. the industrial demand. for water Shanghai during 1935 was only 94 per cent, of that during 1934, but during the first sis months of this year the demand picked up to 97 per cent, of the demand for the same period in 2034, and in the last four months it rose' to 99 per cent. of the same period in 1934 and 111 per cent. of that for 1935.
Though the figures for the total quantity of water consumed are neces-Sarily of less importance than the figures for, say, the Power Company, they are nevertheless significant. In 1995 the total quantity of water sold was 98 per cent. of that sold in 1935, and thi was the first year that the sales of the company had shown a decrease over the twelve months, The first half of this year showed no sims of returning prosperity, the {olal reaching only 96 per cent. of that sold during the corresponding. period in 19%, but during. the last four months the demand has. risen sharply, being 97 per cent. of that in 1934 and 103 per cent. of that last lysis of these Mgures shows that the industrial demand on the Waterworks dropped considerably during 1935, picked up a little during the rst' months of this year, and showed an Increase in the later' months that brought it back to predepression levels, "These percentages, without oreement of those of the:
Company and the Gas Company, would of themselves be suf cient' to justify the belief that, Shanghai is once again on the road. to prosperity, The Telephones A study 0f the telephone sit would also seem to indicate business conditions "are showing a. definite improvement. Telephones have always been one of the most reliable Indices of business conditions, interesting to note the changes during the last three years. 'They have been influenced to some extent by the introduction in that period of the message rate method of charging for telephone service in the period, but not sufficiently to make conditions, 7 them doubtful pointers towards' better
'The year 1994 saw business conditions In Shanghai at the top of one the recurrent cycles with which Shanghai is familiar, In' that' year she number et telephones in service] 52 Showed 9 gain of upwards of 6,000 land at the enn of the year the total umber of telephones reached very rly the $3,000 mark. This constituted a record up to that time, The beginning of 1935 witnessed the start of a down-swing in business conditions. This trend was very, considerably uceentuated before the end of the year. The movement of telephone stations paralleled the general business decline, In 1035 and the first two months of 1936 the umber of telephones in service de-lined quite considerably.
On March 1, this year the message ie method of charging for telephone rvice similar to the principle used in other large cities was introduced. With the lower base rates, telephone terview became available to a new 'Rroup of subscribers, AS a result, the station bean immediately to take swing, The gain in March, the frst month of message rates, was over 700. 'The gains continued throughout the' next several months although at a slightly slower rate, due in some measure to the summer exodus from Shanghai. Substantial gains were again recorded in "September, October and November partly due no doubt, to improving business geonditions, so that by the end November the total number of stations service had exceeded the previous high, recorded in December 1934, The conclusion to be drawn from these figures—the remarkable me creases in the demands for power, from the Power Company. of gas from the Gas Company, of "water! from the Waterworks, and in the use of telephones—is inescapable. - The "corner" is being turned. man enjoys his share of the returning wave of prosperity; but that it is coming there can be no doubt, provided nothing happens in the interval to upset the trend of international recovery.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.