The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1897-12-08
COAST ITEMS.

The Sacramento, Cal. s. p. car
shops will be REBUILT there.
A Port Angeles, Wash. firm has
secured an order for SOC, 600 cedar
shingles from Honolulu, 4. s. A.
Snow on the mountains and rain in
the valleys during the week have been
general in California.
The Baldwin Hotel San Francisco,
was destroyed by FIRE on the Esd inst.
loss 81 500, 900, insurance 500, 0OO
The surveyors OF the Vancouver,
Victoria & Eastern Railway have To-
Gated the line through Midway, b. c.,
and are continuing the survey up
Boundary creek.
The Great Northern railway is sur
yeying line from Trail to Sayward,
Il. c. II is proposed to run branch
line from the Nelson road to the Trail
smelter to carry ores from the Salmon
River and Ymir districts, competing
with the G. p. X. II. 1t is also pro,
posed by the Great Northern to put
steamer on the Columbia river between
Northport, Waneta, Sayari, Trail and
Waterloo, to carry ores from any port
on the river to either Of the two smelt-
ers.
In the central and western portions
OF the Los Angeles, CAL, oil fields
something over forty new wells have
been put down. While they are not
all producing, some, among the deeper
ones, are producing more than sufficient
to pay expenses. The production in
October was about 23O0 barrels per
day. II to the value of the oil, at cur
rent prices, be added the amount ex-
pended for wages, hauling and other
expenses, the oil industry Of the Los
Angeles field represents at the present
time business of $4,000 a month,
or 81 $50, 00O year.
The Belgian consul at Shanghai
points ont that the indispensable inter
mediary Tor, as he is called in Eng
land, a mddleman'D between the
Europe and Chinese traders, is the
'compradofe, whose name is derived
from the Spanish comprador ii. e.,
buyer. The earliest foreigners who
came to settle in China for purposes of
trade carried on business on the prin-
ciple OF exchange only, receiving mer-
chandise in return for that which they
brought with them, and the interior
OF China being closed to foreigners,
they were obliged to have recourse to
Intermediates to procure what they
required Though close competition
has been created among these new
comers-all workers-a keen, constant
struggle, in which the old wealthy
firms have succumbed The role OF
"compradore' has thus been modified;
he continues, as before, to hold all the
business in his hands, both in buying
and selling markets; but to these pro-
fessions he has added an important one
that of money lender. 1t may be
asked why this costly and Iuinous mid
dleman is not suppressed, and it may
be answered. because it is impossible,
and because firm that had no Com
pradore would do no business These
middlemen have been Incorporate for a
long time; their corporation is the
richest and most important in China,
and any person wishing to do business
with foreign firm must deal first
with the 'compradores. If trader
tries to trade direct, he is annoyed in
SO many ways that he hastens to re.
turn to what are called old customs
and China, it should be remembered,
is an essentially conservative country,
where an established custom has the
force OF law.