To explain the contents of the report would be going over old ground, everybody knows what has} Been the cause of the silting of the Hatho, but the principal point to bear in mind is, that the Haiho is in Just as unsatisfactory state to-day. it was seven years ago, What has een the cause of such an unsath factory state of affairs? The answer can be best summed up in polit interfering with business and wanton sabotage of the part of the farmers who tampered with the dykes and thus allowed. the silt Inden waters of the Yungtingho to flow into the Haiho. But this is all past history.
About one month ago, through the excellent work accomplished by the dredgers. of the Haiho Conservancy Commission, the Hatho started to become a real river again and ste ers drawing twelve foet and more could comfortably tie up alongside the British and French Bunds.. In fact the familiar red and black funnels of Jardines steamers were seen moored at the British Bund as well B. & steamers, Including the Tungchow of piracy' fame, and this was only about one week ago. Butterfield's new steamers the Shuntien and Shengking, however, still preferred to make Tangku their terminal point, the risk of proceeding up river being too great owing to the dimiculty of swinging operations, But three days ago the river took a sudden turn for the worse. Silt started coming into the Haiho at the rate of about six Inches per day. which is at the root of all the trouble Is coming from the Yungtingho. On January 27 the diversion of this muddy water was let into the Sett-Hing Basin, but for some unaccountable reason about one week Inter breaches were made in the dykes and. since then all the mud and silt from the Yungtingho has been flowing into the Hatho. The Spring freshets will continue until about the middle of April and it is expected that if the silting continues at the present rate the harbour of Tientsin will be completely silted, in which case it problematical whether the harbour will be again opened before next year, There is, however, a faint posibility of the river being scoured out within a reasonable period through an unusually strong summer freshet.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.