To the Editor of the "Nonri-Cinwa Dany News?
Sm—With reference to the news article appearing in this morning's {issue of your journal dealing with the stranding of the Hsin Peking on the Nemesis Rock near the mouth of the Ningpo River, T hope thal. os an "Old China Hand" Inthe realm of shipping, I may be permitted to point out what seems to savour of discrepaneles in your report as regards one or two of the facts, In the second paragraph, you rather convey the Impression that the Chinn Navigation Ca, Lid's Shanghal-Ningpo service' is a\ much more modern one than is actually the ease, though undoubtedly this was not your intention. For the information your readers, this particular service was one of" the very first to" be established by Messrs, Butterfield Swire, and it has existed without a break' since the year 1808 when the paddle steamer Poking, built on the Clyde by Messrs. A. & J. Inglis of Pointhouse. near Glasgow, arrived at 'Shanghai to take up the' run. 'This fine old vessel was continuously employed inthe Ningpo trade. wntll somewhere ubout 1008 or 1910, when she was converted into a hullo for use 'In her owners' service at Wut fon the Yangtsze, where she remains this day and will doubtless do. 50 for many years to come. To replace her on the Ningpo' run," Messrs, Butterfield & Swire purchased the s, Li-ta from the French Compagnie de Navigation Asiatique which had come Into "existence some three or four years previously, owning three vessels allogether—the Lista, Li-fong and Li-mao, The Lista, was placed on the Ningpo run Ju competition with the Peking and the Kiangteen, owned by the China Merchants' 8.N, Ca, and, ike the Peking, also hailing" ange mally from the yard of Messrs. Inglis The Kiangteen was built in 1670, and singe her withdrawal from Ningpo service about twenty years ago she has been employed by her owners in the Yangiszo River trade, in which she still continues to perform useful work and bids fair "to sail these muddy waters for years yet to come, During the three or four years which the Lista was engaged In com: Petition with the vessels of the two older companies, her owners must have sustained ruinous losses and It caused no surprise among. shipping folk when they decided to abandon a battle in which, from the out hhad_never, stood the lea success, Hsin Peking by Messr Swire, ar she conducted their Ning-service until the middle of 1935 when she was sold to Japanese ship-brokers. It had been previously felt that the time had arrived to place the Tungchow, as she then was, ina service perhaps somewhat tess onerous than the Shanghai-Tientsin run, [ut no whit a less honourable one. To Int her for the Ningpo trade—especially the passenger "trade—tho owners spent a great deal of money in making the necessary conversion, after which the fine old ship took up the run' and has proved herself a worthy successor to her two predecessors, Tu the final paragraph of your article it speaks of the Hsin Peking as having been "ignominiously re= legated to the ranks of the chicken boats", but in point of fact there is not a. shadow of ignominy or relegation in connection with her present employment, nor can she justly be closeed as now being in the "chicken boat" category of China Coast_ vessels, The "chicken boats" are those mall vessels mostly employed in trading between Shanghai and Tsungming Island in the Yangtsze Estuary, and to the many small ports on the river lying between Woosung and Tungchow. They do not run from here 10 Ningpo, being much too small feater for the requirements of that trade, which necessitates the employment of proper seagoing vessels like the Hsin Peking and Hsin Kiangleon oF the coasters owned by the San Peh SRI, Ca, Lid. The weather conditions met with on the Ningpo run are frequently such os to test to the full the construction of the vessels employed, besides" requiring the tutinest care and skill on the part of those on the bridge and in the engine room. This is fully demonstrated by the case of the Hsin Poking's latest outward trip which has been marred to the extent of a serious accident caused through particularly untoward condi It is sincerely to be hoped that it may be found: possible to refloat and repair the Hsin Peking. and that she may soon again be seen regularly, pursuing her way up and down the Whangpoo as in the past.
Shanghai, Jan, 22, Foun drug users and narcotic dealers in Hopei province have been executed by the authorities since January 1 in accordance with the lew regulations of the Central Gove ernment,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.