Hankow, known to the Chinese as "Mouth of the Hae," la the great commercial centre of the middle portion of the Chinese Republic and was opened as a treaty port for foreign trade in 1858.
It is on the northern side of the Yangtze River at its junction with the Han River, about 600 miles west of Shanghai, Within recent years the port has made rapid advance in wealth and importance. The opening up of the upper waters of the Yangtze to steam navigation has made it a ymmereial entrepot second only to Shanghai. Daring the greater part of the year Hankow is accessible to any draft steamer.
However, during parts of the autumn and winter, when the river is low, I large steamers are not able to navigate farther up than Ni wnking and only shallow att vessels are able (0 proceed to Hankow.
In February last year the Yangtzekiang at Hankow fell I 40 feet below the level of the banks; in July and August it rose two or three above the level of the hanks.
It is the terminus of a railway between Peking ani half of the trunk line from id the Yangtze, the northern Peking to Canton. There is daily communication by regular lines of steamers with Shanghai, and smaller steamers ply on the upper section of the river between Hankow and Tchang. The principal article of export continues {0 be black tea, of which staple Hankow has always been the central market. The exports which come next ne are wood-all, hi ides, beans, cotton yarn and raw ilk, The British Concession, on which the business part of the foreign settlement is built, was obtained in 1861 by a lease in perpetuity from the Chinese authorities in favour of the crown, Tu 1895 a concession, on imilar terms to that under which the British was held, was obtained by Germany, and this was follow red by concessions to France, Russia and Japan, The Ger and Russi casions by the Chinese during the great war and converted into special administrative districts.
At present, there are three concessions, the British (the largest), French and Ji nese, all fronting the Yangtz River, The British Conces fas an area of 115 acres, a foreign population of 712 and a Chinese population of 7,288. The total foreiga population of three concessions is 1,158 and the total Chinese population ix 13,789. The total population of the W Han cities," of which Hankow is the larg estimated at 2,000,000, "By "Wuhan eltios tt ty unde stood among the Chinese eizcles to moan the. three ches of, Wachang, Hai wand Hankove. The the ire character, of the, nae Chinews, and the other Han," the fest ch of the names of Hanyang and Hankow. As these three citlon are nijacent to each, other, and actuated in 8 ariengular position on side of the Upper. Yangtse. river, the mime "Wuhan" is tways given as an abbreviation to these piaes, crowds egging them on, and ccveral were ceticed walking about the outskirts. By Monday night things had become so serious that a move into the Hankow Hotel in the French concession for the night was deemed advisable and the inmates of the A. P. C, houses beyond, the Race Course were also called into the concession, On Tuesday night, as said, the Tuckwo left Hankow with only this Indy and her children, and Chinese Passengers who had booked their Passages before the trouble arose, and sailed for Kiukiang. Here many' Passengers were taken on and a long. wait was made for refugees from Kuling, some of whom, however, missed this ship and will presumably. come down by the next. The wharf coolies in Kiukiang were very averse] to letting any baggage go on board the Tuckwo and sailors from this steamer had to do all the "carrying, fruarded by British sailors from the two gunboats in the port-
The ship was by now overflowing with passengers, many foreigners having gone into the Chinese first class quarters. The Tuckwo, however, is one of the largest passenger steamers on the line and by using the Chinese first class as well jas the foreign accommodation there was not much discomfort, considering there must have been at least, [20 foreigners on beand, inclusive of children, minutes, he walked up to hi sail ant ' and remarked:—"Look here, my ind. If you throws] another of them stones at me, I'm going to give you one in the [slack of your trousies," Dimly comprehending, the Chinese drow off, but five minutes later ho threw Janother stone. The sailor coolly, ked it, then walked over, turned the man round, and, with the _re-ark, "You know' what I said T'd do," he did it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.