The morning call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1878-1895, 1891-03-12

Drought large cargo ana lWelN0 cdOlu pas
sengers In the steerage were thirty-hYe
japanese and one Chinese.
The following items are taken from Hong
Kong exchanges of February 18th and from
Japan papers OF February oath.
China.
1t is stated that the Judge of the Supreme
Court at Shanghai is to be made Consul
General and the Assistant Judge Consul,
thus economizing an Office. Mr.. Hughes,
the present Consul General, resigned some
time ago.
Steam launches are now plying between
| Swallow and Chow Chow-fu, an inland town
on the Han River. The native mandarins
are taking to the innovation, and it is ex-
pected that more launches will soon be
ordered.
A disastrous gamble in silver dollars has
banks in Shanghai.
Several failures of Chinese merchants are
! reported from the north.
1t is stated that the Chinese high officials
have been instructed to travel henceforth in
| gun-Doats. on account of the frequent dlSaS-
tiers that happen to merchant steamers.
The TUnQEm papers contain few details
| about the sad death of Mr. William keeb!e
| and his young wife, married only few
| weeks ago. They were surprised on the 18th
| of January by band OF six or eight pirates
! between Si-Gan and Bac-le, at spot about
! thirt7-siX miles from Phu-lang-thuong on
! the way to Laug-sOn-there10re well on the
! Tonquin side of the frontier. The whole
| district around Lang-son is in a very dis
turbed condition just now. Bands of pirates
| are rowing about attacking every exposed
| position In Lang-sOn itself the aniseed
farm establishment was attacked and plum
dered on the 18th inst. Mr.. keeble,
PAvenir du TOnkin says. left without ask
Ing an escort tom the station on the road.
and an escort is indis pensuble in these re-
glonS at the present moment On receipt OF
the news men were s"nt from Bac-le to the
spot where the assassination took place.
The bodies were found and brought to
BaC-ls. where they were buried on the 20th
ult Owing probably to the approach Of the
Chinese New Year the pirttical bands in
Tonkin are giving a great deal OF trouble at
the present time. A Lieutenant, nou-com-
missiOned officer and seve al native soldiers
were killed 4 few days ago in an encounter
with pirates at Thanh-h0a-dOa. AT various
other points in Ionqun several other more
or less successful brushes with pirate bands
are reported.
The Empress DOwager has issued decree
in which she fixes the yearly annuity OF the
widow Of Prince Ch'un at $4,000 taels.
Isai-li, the eldest son of the deceased. sue
ceeds TO his title under the style of Prince
Ii, and also receives yearly grant OF $1,000
taelS.
Snow fell al Peking in the last part of the
ninth moon, and since then the weather has
been excessively warm tor winter. People
suffered much from throat diseases, the NOR
tality being great. Toward the end of the
past moon a wlud-storm arose which con-
tinued ward night, when heavy snow
storm occurred. An intense cold followed,
and the streets were almost deserted.
The FOochOw Echo says: 1T is rumored,
though we cannot youch for the accuracy Of
the report, that several hundred packages
of tea recently shipped from FOochOw TO
Australia have been found of too low quality
to pass the Government test III the above
prove correct IL is a matter much to be re-
gretted, and Will only work further harm to
the trade from Fouchow. 1t is a thousand
pities that tea Ut such doubtful quality as
the above implies should either have been
ordered Dy those catering for the public taste
in Australia, or that, even if ordered, 1t
should have been purchased by experts az
this.
The Tonquin papers, which arrived on the
10th inst, contain news OF serious disturb
ances. Che Be, on the banks of the Black
RIVER. was surprised on the night OF the 18th
and 18th OF January by band OF 800 rebels
and plandered and burned. The French
Resident, who had only forty native militia
men under him, was shot and decapitated,
ana two other French officials were killed
The rest of tie Europeans managed to
escape, some by swimming across tue river
and others BY hiding in the bushes. The
attack is said 10 be The outcome OF
vendetta.
The Shihpao, as translated by the Chinese
Times, has the following amusing instance
of the mpecuniosty of the Palace:
The lot Of AMMAN wood that arrived last
November for the Ieiairs of the Ta-ho
gate will cost the Imperial Government 200-
coo taeiS, but owing to the low condition OF
the treasury one-half has been paid and the
other will be paid next year.
The Liberdade OF Macao Of the 9Th ult.
SAYS that the police have. just effected the
capture OF two junks one Oh Saturday night
ana the other on Sunday morning last, on
suspicion that tue crew were concerned i'll
the late piratical attack on board the Namoa.
In fact, when the prisoners were taken to
the Harbor Office, one Of them confessed
that the murderer Of the Captain OF the
NamOa was brother OF his and was IN a
junk, which the other prisoners promised to
point cut TO Tie police. In view of this the
Chief of the Water Police, Sr. Bellino
Rodrigues, accompanied by ten armed men,
proceeded in the launch Taipa in search OF
the other junk, taking in tow one OF the
captured jHnks. but as the place pointed out
was too far distant they returned 10 Macao.
In tie two junkS there were found money
aud jeWclTy Of considerable value, which
are now detained In The HaTbor Office. and
the prisoners were conveyed to the jail. 4
somewhat extraordinary occurrence took
place i'll connection with these captures. 1t
appears that as soon as the Chinese au-
thOritieS heard OF tine capture, q request was
made for the loan Of the prisoners with the
view of capturing the Chief of the pirates.
The prisoners were actually lent them on
Tuesday morning last and returned the
same afternoon, alter having assisted In
effectng the capture OF the chief pirate,
who is at present in the custody OF the
maudarlns.
The China Mail says: The Chinese au-
thorities in the Kwangtung Province settled
few accounts before the old year died
Some 800 robbers, pirates and such like
were deprived OF their heads The officials
generously distributed the work through
the province, locating the execution ground
as near a. possible to the scene of the crimi-
nails exploits. The mandarin at kowloon
got his share Of the execution business, aud
last Sunday afternoon he presided over the
ceremony OF beheadlng SIX men, convicted
of various acts of piracy along this coast
The execution took place on the beach.
Contrary TO the usual custom, the heads
were not exposed, but were at once buried,
it not being desirable 10 begin the new year
with such grewSOme legacy.
The Foochow Echo says: China, we be-
lieye, is at last determined to adopt total
change of currency, at least the steps taken
by the authorities at Foochow during the
last two months lead us TO believe that such
is their intention. The latest of the
numerous proclamatiOns on this subject
is one that prohibits the circulation
of q certain kind OF bank-note which
is called Shang-plu. These notes, 1t Is
said, are circulated and used with the under
standing'that 20 per cent of the change is to
be of broken cash; as their currency will
upset previous proclamations prohibiting
the use Of spurious cash, the authorities
have wisely notified the banks that from
the frs. Of the second moon the use Of such
notes is totally prohibited, and if any bank
er5 dare to issue, or call in, all such notes in
circulation during the period mentioned,
they shall be arrested and punished. Though
this change should be highly praised. we
fear tile measures are taken too late for the
trade, the people, and indeed the country in
general, is in too decaying state to stand
or appreciate such an innovation. 1t is
very hard for man who is accustomed 10
an exchange of 1860 cash for dollar TO
only receive 1920. In these hard times the
loss will no doubt be very serious. AS Is
always the case with the Chinese Govern
ment, nothing is done in good time to save
ruin to the people.
Hong-Kong.