The payment out of pension and savings. money to the railway ser= vants has to a certain extent caused more trade in the stores. 'The number of stores which are liquidate ing "hag increased, the latest being that of J. Kaspe, the jeweller, in the 'Moderne' Hotel building, which has always been the largest' and richest in Harbin, "From one end. to. the other of the Kitalskaya, a string of huge signs advertises closing and liquidation sales and prices' have been reduced to levels. that seem absurd. When these close at the end of December, rents in this main shopping centre must come down. as new tenants will not be easy to find, the Japanese having their own shops} in another part of the city.
Japanese goods of all kinds are being brought to Harbin in much, larger quantities and even in the provision market, entirely now lines are to be seen which local people do not
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.