Some Judgments Criticized To the Editor of the "Nowri-Cunxa Day News"
Sm=—It is a relict to forget our worries in such pleasures as the Flower Show. It if a pity that even there we.are faced with evidences of the peculiar Shanghai Mind. Witness some of the judges' decisions, and even the reporting thereof. If you fan spare the time from graver con cerns, wonder with me why.
(a) Your reporter was so much overcome by one lady's group exhibits that, evidently believing that quantity is as good as quality, he mentioned all of them, including those without prizes, before at last hastily and grudgingly referring Mrs, Reiss's very lovely First Prize blue and gold banquet table prepar= ed for Chinese food. Also Why (b) The table of mirrors and small enamel figures, described by a Chine ese admirer as Chuen Lung, was, not even Honourably Mentioned... 'The public did ive their vote by group: Ing themselves about this charming arrangement; there was a crowd there during' the whole of my two visits, "commenting enthusiastically upon' it, T'do not mean to say that the prizo—winning tables were not worthy of the judgments they received, but Mrs, Brady's table was both beautiful and. unconventional, Surely we should encourage original ity quite as muches we do the cleverness which makes an accurate copy of the magazine—photograph style of arrangement, (e) Was it anywhere announced who were the judges? Are they the same from year to year? How are they qualified? No doubt the exhibitors know this, bul as a member of the ignorant public 1 do not.
Fiona, Shanghai, May 30, The Power Ca:
An@ Cost of Coal To the Editor of the "Nonrii-Cunxa Dairy Nuws"
Sm—Some time Inst year the Shanghai Power Company' petitioned the Shanghai Municipal Council for permission to impose 'a surcharge on fo their. bills to consumers, which was duly sanctioned. In due course the Company issued a statement to the public announcing the Auer and In which a mass of figures and other vital details were submitted and the fundamental "reason as. given appeared to be the high cost of im= ported coal which the Company Management said they were foreed to pay in future in consequence of the stoppage or serious curtailment of supply from the Kailan Mining 'Administration due to the war, ele, However, the emergency period' call: ing for the surcharge is' no longer prevailing, inasmuch as the Company is again using almost entirely 1GM.A. coal and has been doing s0 for some time. Investigation by the writer revealed the fact. that only for a short period did the Shanghai Power Ca. import a comparatively small quantity of coal from India, Africa and elsewhere, while most' of the time since the inauguration of the surcharge they have been using Kailan coal to the extent of 40 to 50 thousand tons a month, and this quantity. is apparently being main= tained judging by the weekly shipments from Chinwangtao destined for the Power Ca,, which consumes approximately 1,500 tons a day.
'The above being facts, which can be easily verified by you, Sir, it high time that the surcharge should bbe discontinued forthwith, especially view of the huge' profit the Power Ca. made in 1038 asp balance sheet published recently.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.