Heat and drought have seared Shanghai and environs for weeks past, but to date the city's food sup-Plies have not been materially affect eaby. the extraordinary conditions.
According to officials of the Public Health Department, the heat wave has had little effect on the volume fand quality of the products received fat the various markets and no short of any important foodstuff is anticipated should the heat and Grought continue. It is pointed out that with the hot weather has come fan appreciable decrease in the demand for food.
The market inspectors of the Department have noted the receipt of harmal and satisfactory supplies at all the larger markets in the Settlement. There "has been a certain slackening of business and no rises in price are reported. Water melons have made their appearance in large quantities as a result of the weather. Fruit in some instances has been of a poorer quality.
Health inspectors have generally been" active in destroying inferior orange squash, which has been sold widely by hawkers to the Chi-
'The veterinary difcials of the Health' Department have noted no important change in the volume of ordinary meat supplies. There has been a lessening of the buffalo quota, which to a certain extent has ig affected Chinese consumption of meat, but it is realized at the same time' that the demand for meat has. been lowered because of the heat. The buffaloes, "which are [shipped mainly from the environs of Shanghai and the Yangtze Valley, have been slaughtered in lesser nun ers not so much because of th objections of religious bodies seek~ ing divine intervention as because of the present wide use of the animals in field work, it is pointed out Prayer meetings to invoke rain so as to avert the threatened famine 10 city on Thursday by Chinese of diftercent religions.
A drop of over three degrees on Friday from Thursday's record heat, provided a measure of relief which Shanghai was not slow in acknow-edging. The maximum temperature Siccawei Observatory was 1013 while Holy Trinity" Cathedral thermometers registered only. 99.2 degrees Fahrenheit. Humidity figures, however, rose somewhat, from 87 1 92, to a certain extent offsetting the drop in temperature.
Come what may in summer diseases, the water mellon season has arrived Shd'"the distribution shops along Soochow Creek hem: "The drought dace not seem to have affected supplies,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.