During the present trouble many [Chinese are erecting blocks of houses which they sell to tenants on the investment' plan. 'To secure one of [these houses, six months' rent must be paid in advance, thus securing the residence, 'The tenants then must pay three months' rent and the deposit. At the end of about 15 years the property then passes to the ten Jants, All of these transactions are carried on between local Chinese.
Although building is being speeded. up in the city, the rising" cost materials, due' to the hostilities, has hada retarding effect on the profits of most of the contractors here, and returns. are not neatly so high they Were inthe pro-war days, Ex: amples of the Increased price of these materials is" shown by" the present cost of cement which, now fetches about three times Its pre-war value, fYapanese cement, the "uso. of which has. been barred' by many of "these wealthy 'Chinese who have ordered Rouses, is not used to any great cxtent locally, and Hongkong and Singa: pore cement, costing. from 40 10.80 Percent. more is being' purchased, The price of sand, too, has lereased, but many of the Chinese cot tractors economise by buying, bricks from the war-devastated areas. at a cost" considerably less than that. of new bricks, As long as these wealthy Chinese families continue to seek refuge Shanghai, the local property market will receive decided "Allip, but the state of the trade at the present time does not compare favourably. with the volume of business transacted. in the days before the hostilities, and before focal building conditions im= prove to any great extent, a return fo'more normal conditions outside the ity must take place Detective Leaving for Tientsin Post Shanghai, Sept. 4.
A large number of friends of Mr. George Leys, who resigned from the Settlement Police on August 31 after me years service mainly detective branch of the force, were present at the Gordon Rond Station yesterday noon when a handsome travelling case was handed to Mr, Leys on behalf of the gathering, Insp, C. While, the officer in charge of the Gordon'Road Station, made the presentation in a speech in which he referred to the former Shanghai detective's enviable record in the force and wished him every happihess in his future life, Mr, Leys, who responded thanking those present for their gift and friendship, is due to sail in the s, Sandviken for 'Tientsin on Sept. 6 In Tienisin he will assume the post of divisional inspector" of the British Municipal' Council Pouce, the force Which maintains law and order: in the British Concession, Although recently attached to the Gordon Road Station, Mr." Leys Served in the Eastern district ducing the troublesome months of war last autumn, In going to North China the leaves a large number of friends Shanghai, in the S08, and in ther ranks' of life, He has" been festive "here in Masonic circles and few days ago a presentation as made to him by the members of Saltoun Lodge,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.