Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-10-20
risky and many French and foreign capital


lists fought shy of it.
The story of the concession, if I had space
to narrate it, would read like chapter of
an Oriental "Monte Cristo." To make an
indisputable legal tender ship was char
tered to carry 100, 900 silver dollars to Tong
king. where the foreign population turned
out armed to escort the bullock-carts carry
ing the 25 wooden cases through the streets.
Refused there, the dollars were taken on
board again to the Court of AMMAN and the
ship narrowly escaped destruction in
typhoon. Then they were brought back
again to Haiphong, where the French au-
thorities finally accepted them. Now the So
ciete has already ], 900 coolies, two engineers
and dozen master-miners at work. Its
concession extends over scores of square
miles, not one tenth of which has yet even
been explored. It consists of three dis
tricts, Eongay, Hatou and Campha, the first
two being wholly coal. I have been over
the whole of the workings twice and into
every one OF the galleries, and even taken
photographs of the miners at work. So I
can speak with some confidence. As regards
the quantity of the coal, it is practically in
exhaustible. There are millions of tons in
sight and nobody can guess how much lies
below. I have been in score galleries,
each of them in a solid seam from 10 to 20
feet thick. At Hatou there are seven seams
side by side. aggregating 81 feet of coal.
And yet these are merely the preliminary
works of prospecting.
A MOUNTAIN OF COAL.
The "Marguerite Mine" at Hongay is a
great mountain of coal. As regards quality.
the prospects are equally good. The works
at present have been made chiefly with the
object of discovering the proper place tor
the deep shafts, and therefore the coal has
almost all been surfacec coal. Yet its analysis
has been excellent; 1t has been tried sue
cesstully ON board a French gunboat, the
days in 50-ton launch with high pressure
engines burning it all the time and keeping
go pounds of steam up; first contract for
the sale of 500 tons has been made; and
within the last week coal has been reached
at the Marguerite Mine" giving on an
alvsis 16 per cent of volatile matter.
This was all that was lacking in previous
analyses to show a coal slightly superior to
Cardiff. Curiously, this is exactly what the
French Government engineer, whom have
previously quoted, foretold two years ago.
"Our opinion is" his report concludes,
that Tongking possesses an immense
wealth of excellent combustible
rival1ng Amin and Cardiff by its extreme
purity, the absence of iron pyrites, and by
a development of heat at least equal to that
furnished by these Goals" I asked the en-
for his formal opinion.
"C'est une richesse immense, he said. And
he staked his reputation-and he has one to
lose-that In four months from now he
would furnish in quantity coal equal to
Cardiff.
In Europe ten companies would be
formed to exploit what has already been
discovered on this single concession. When
it is further developed the societe will
need small standing army of miners and
staff corps of engineers. As proof Of how
this fact is appreciated in the East 1 may
add that to-day, as I write, there are in
buyers of the 500 franc shares of ,
the company at 500 per share-400 per
cent premium-and no sellers, although
there are thousands Of shares in the colony.
ToNGKING's FUTURE.
I think have now said enough to show
that there is possibility certainly of
and perhaps even of magnii-
cent future Of Tongking. ] said, however,
10 beginning this letter, "that depends"
home, and upon their influence on the
authorities on the spot, and upon that alone.
AS tried to make clear in my previous
letter, Tohgking is grieyously misgoyerned.
Instead Of finding helping hand, the
French colonist encounters closed fist.
The "functionary, clothed in his little
authority, has utterly forgotten that be
is the servant of the colonist, that
he has no other reason for exist
ence except to aid and protect and
encourage his self-exiled countryman.
As it is, while the colonist is the
blood of the new country, the function
ary' is the leech. Day by day the cry of
the French colonial civilian goes up to
heaven, Pas tant administration"
else in the world, capital is |
welcomed, no matter whose pocket it comes
out OF. In TongkIng alone gold must be |
stamped with ''liberty, equality and -frater-
nifty" before it is received, and man must
be Frenchman before he is allowed to
labor with the rest. The anniversary Of the
seems joke when one learns in
Tongking that one of the conditions at
tached to concession is that nobody but |
Frenchmen shall be employed on it. do
not believe there is another country in the |
world which would make such a pitiful |
stipulation. Does France not know what is
done In her name? or is she not ashamed re-
membering $50, to setsuch an example to-day |
10 the world? HENRY NORMAN.