New Vessel for Yangtze River Service Amid the thunderous reports and crackles of fire crackers, the s. Chin Kiang slid into the Whangpoo River on June 26° from the slipway at the Kiangnan Dock, in the pretence of a large crowd of officials fof the company and their guests. The Chin Kiang, latest vessel of the China Merchants Steam Navigation Company, is expected to be completed within two months.
"Appropriate speechs were made by directors of the company, dockyard and guests, and the visitors who filled the special stand erected at the head of the shipway burst Into the cheers, which were more than echoed by the large crowd of Iabourers and their friends, when ttle Miss Choy. daughter of Mr. J. K. Chop, general manager of China Merchanis, broke bottle over the bow of the ship and oMieially named her Chin Kiang. The guests included a large number of foreign shipping men and naval and government, officials, inetuding Mr. William Kirkpatrick, special re= presentative of the British Gover ment's Export Credits Guarantee Department.
Attar sliding from the well-greased slipway, the Chin Kiang was taken in hand by two Kiangnan Dock tugs and towed down-river a little way to her new berth alongside the Kiangnan Dock "wharf. At the moment, of course, only her hull has been com: pleted, the superstructure being stil the skeleton stage.
'When she is completed in about two months' time, she will be a 600 tons net passenger steamer, 221 feet Tong, and capable of doing' 16 knots. The' "hull is painted in the familiar China Merchants' yellow, and she Is expected to be placed on the company's Yangtze River service from Shanghai
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.