China has done better in the Kings Birthday honours list than for many a year past, and it is remarkably gratifying to note the men who have on this occasion received recognition of their valuable services to the community. The knighthood conferred upon Mr. Herbert Phillips, H.M. Consul-General, is obvious recognition of his long and honourable service in China and together with that conferred upon Mr. A.D. Blackburn, represents deserved honours to two men who have served the British Community faithfully and well in the service which years ago they chose to, join. The elevation of Mr. Calder Marshall to a k the Order of the British Empire will be parti cularly gi fying tó re: realize the enormous amount of q work he has done on the various püblic bodies he has served on during hís long residence in this city. Most gratifying is the decoration awarded to Mr. E. S. Wilkinson. Naturally o busy man, Mr. Wilkinson has devoted much of his time in the service of the British community in Shanghsi not the least of his activities being his arduous work for the Union Jack Club, and his service on the French municipal commission as one of the two members representing British residents in the French Concession. Ħ is a splendid recognition of the high esteem in which he is held not only in Shanghai but by the Government at home, It would require more space than is available to dilate upon the excellent qualities of all those, Shanghai residents and others living in the outports, who have today received such signal recognition of their merits, but it will be sufficient to record their names elsewhere in his issue, and to extend to them the hearty congratulations of this journal and its readers who will naturally rejoice in their happiness, Coffin Storage The mountain has conceived and brought forth a mouse, though residents in Great Western and Edinburgh Roads will desire to remark parenthetically that the Municipal Council is now seeking to close the stable door after the horse has gone. Whichever way it is looked at, however, it is clear that the evils arising out of the storage of coffins in the western area has at long last brought about some sort of action by the Municipal Council as witness the follo notification appearing in yesterday's issue:
Notice is hereby given that within the Settlement and the Western Extra-Setilement Area served by Municipal roads, the erection of coffin repositories close to residences will not be permitted in future.
The attention of prospective operators of such repositories is directed to the necessity of registering their proposals with the Public Works Department of the Shanghai Municipal Council Information regarding the areas within which the establishment of coffin repositories will be permitted is obtainable upon application to the Acting Commissioner of Public Works.
Some weeks ago residents in the western area commenced writing letters to this journal on the, subject of those institutions which tie Council so euphonically describes as "coffin repositories." In those communications índignation, and anxiety were expressed in no mild terms. No particular notice appears to have been taken by the Council, and its officials, save that a bland assurance was given about the middle of last month that "it is difficult to see how disease can be caused by properly managed storage." Properly managed storage entails as a prerequisite that the coffins shall be hermetically sealed. The stench already to be noticed in Great Western Road, complaints of which have already reached his office, indicate that the coffins stored in the repository on that road, or at least some of them have not been hermetically sealed. The fears of those correspondents to the columns of this journal have been amply proved, and the present evidence of their correctness may be emphasized as the weather gets warmer. The history of several complaints which h: ve been ventilated in these columns, and the attitude of the authorities to-yards them may be deduced from two recent incidents. Quite some time ago a large number of letters were published relating to the treatment of pigs imported into Shanghai. The al attitude seems to have been originally all was for the best in the best possible of worlds, and it was not until the storm of intion reached unusual heights that definite and determined action, was taken to bring about the improvement which is now to be noticed. Again on several occasions reference was made to the large number of bad characters operating on the Bund. Officia! action was eventually obtained, and conditions to a certain extent rectified. A further outbreak of petty thieving brought more complaints, and now, with the use of patrols, the Bund has been restored to something approaching its former orderliness. The impression is created—this journal even now prefers to believe it is an incorrect one.—that the Council or its officials completely ignore the complaints that are made to tke local press, that it or they alone know what is best for the ratepayers of Shanghai, but if either of them endeavour to persuade the complainants that the stenches now complained of emanate from hermetically closed coffins, and constitute no danger to health the latter will be forgiven if like this journal they remark "We don't believe it.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.