March 9.
Mr. H. J. Clark's celebration of his fifty years in China has impelled a search through the files of this journal, in order to obtain some idea of the sort of Shanghai which mirrored itself in the daily newspaper fifty years ago. The "North-China Daily News" of March 9, 1885 consisted of four seven-column pages of approximately the same size as that which carries this retrospect. Of the 28 columns eight columns were given to editorial views and news. The rest comprised advertisements. The leading article on that day discussed the reported proposal of the Imperial Chinese Government to increase the inland dues on tea and expressed the opinion that the Foreign Minister in Peking would make representations to the Government on the subject. The Chinese tea-dealers were reported not to be hopeful of securing an abandonment of the proposals because of the Government's want of money and unfavourable finanjeial position in prospect. The Russian advance into Afghan territory—the Panjdeh incident—received attention in a second leader on the basis of 2 report in the now defunct "Englishman" (Calcutta). The Reuter telegrams occupied thirteen lines of print and, with plain single headlines absorbed a quarter of a column. The report of a day's proceedings of an Admiralty case in the Supreme Court before Sir Richard Rennie—Mr. Wilkinson for the plaintifis—received two full columns or @ quarter of the whole news space in the issue. Sporting intelligence was confined to the programme of the forthcoming two-day race-meeting at Hankow. Among the prizes was the Taotai's Cup, presented by
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.