Heavy liquidation yesterday was well absorbed, though in a somewhat erratic way, certain shares like Docks, Ewos being steady all morning, maintaining much the same rates as they did when the market opened. Owing to a large overbought position, Wheelocks were steady early but liquidation brought prices to $81 with no buyer and closed at 82. Business was good in Trust Companies newer issues including textiles, Ewo Breweries and worsted, which stood up extremely well, Explor: saw a heavy turnover. Rubbers were under pressure with lower prices, but held steady with the opening and closing quotations much the same.
The opinion was expressed in certain circles yesterday that the market had almost reached its bottom level. Rumours that a wholesale evacuation of Chinese from Hongkong was imminent and that the Central Reserve Bank cheques would be cleared through the Chinese bankers' clearing house caused considerable unrest and had their repersussions the stock market, affecting principally Chinese operators, Enquiries elicited that forward operators and lone small investors have been hard hit by the slump in prices ruling for the past few days, causing many fortunes to be lost almost overnight.
Charged with operating gambling dens, three Portuguese are undergoing trial at the Portuguese Consulate-General, it was revealed yesterday, The three men are Luiz Antonio Perpetuo, arrested in connection with the' police raid on a flat in an apartment house at 1477 Bubbling Well Road on December 26; R, Xavier, connected with a gambling den at the Denis Apartents; and J. M. Botelho, implicated in running a luxurious gambling establishment on top of the Silver Palace at 982 Avenue Foch, In addition to being charged with running the dens, Perpetuo and Botelho are also charged with operating opium smoking rooms, a crime which is exceptionally heavily punished by the Portuguese law, Questioned by a reporter of the "North-China Daily News," Dr. J. A, Ribeiro de Melo, Portuguese Consul-General and Consular Judge here, said that the men would have got away with suspended sentences had they only operated gambling dens, but the presence of narcotic paraphernalia on the raided premises, proved to have been exploited, made all the difference. The sentence for offence, he said, might well be for several years Dr, de Melo also said that it was a pity that these me: shed, since in ey used' as blinds for the Chinese owners, receiving small pay for allowing their names to be used, All three are out on bail, the heaviest being that of Perpetuo, fixed by the Portuguese court at $1,000, The raid on the gambling den at 1477 Bubbling Well Road on December 26, it may be recalled, was the first made by the Settlement Police in their drive to clean up every gambling and opium den in their area, The flat, in which the gamb-hag den was operated, had been under police observation for some time before they raided it, Eight Chinese were detained following the raid, in addition to Perpetuo.
The second accused, R, Xavier, is
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