The evening times., 1900-06-11

hounSeYelle Niidman, the United states
Consul at Hongkong. has furnished to the
State Department a report on the chances
for disposing OF American manufactures in
China. which at this time. appears pc
euliarIy interesting in view OF the grave
troubles in the Orient.
According 10 the report there appears to
be very small demand for articles manu-
! faeturad in this country. as the customs OF
China do not admit Of their Ese.
Writing of the sale Of tinware, tools and
machines, Mr. Wildnlan says:
There is practically 10 opening for this
class OF goods in China Cheap unglazed
earthenware, in a great measure. takes tns
place OF tinware in other countries. The
tin that is used for small household aru
! cles is made up by hand. with the aid
Of a pair of shear and a soldering iron.
OF course, there is a considerable amount
Of 81 -et tin imported, and the thousands
OF kerosene tins that pass through the
hands Of the hawkers also fad their way
to the tin shops There Is no canning
industry among the Chinese. All Of their
sauces and compote5 are preserved in
earthenware jars, or in old wine and beer
bottles What tools they have are very
crude and are made locally at a small
price, aud there are no shops that make
a business OF iealing specially in them
The time has not yet arrived when for
eign tools Of any class can be introduced
among the Chinese Within the last year,
an American firm made a shipment TO
Hongkong embracing a complete assort-
ment OF modern tools. They were accom-
IL .Ha4.u
here and testing the market in an intel
h=sAnt nay he gaze I'D the enterprise and
reshipped all his tools to the United SuzJ=s-
As / said before, as long as labor remains
al 10 cents day. stones viii be quarried,
timber sawed bricks made. piles driven.
and goods transported by hand Maehin-
cry at present can not compete with cheap
labor. and the only tools that gain a
footing on this coast are those Of warfare.
and even these are Of the cheapest kind
All medicines. Consul Wildman thinks.
would have 70 be made up AT some point
on the Chinese coast and persistenly ad-
Vertised by the use Of samples. as the peO-
pie have 10 know the curative qualities by
actual experience before they could be
persuaded TO make purchases. He says
that ordinary advertising matter is OF 10
avail: Chinaman believes only what he
experiences The native drug houses adopt
this method OF bringing some patent spe-
cihc 10 the notice Of the trade. Necessa-
Cily. the labels as well as wrappers would
have to be in Chinese. TOnics Of which
quiuine is the principal ingredient. Will
sell in large quantities EnbrOcatiOns for
neuralgic and rheumatic anections-in
fact, anything for fevers, worms. coughs.
Gysentery. OnstipatiOn-woUld have
ready sale II properly introduced. IL
would appear. he says. that the usual run
OF patent medicines made in the United
States would have no sale If put on the
market in its original wrappers
He thinks China a good market for soaps
and scents Both soap and scents should
contain coal tar. musk, or patchOul. The
scents should be put up in very cheap
o1e-quarter and one-hah ounce stoppered
bottles and wrapped in yellow or red pa
per, lettered IN Chinese II an enterpris-
ing manufacturer would 20 into the mar
ket TO win and distribute a few thousand
dollars worth OF samples in Canton he
would sooa huild up a trade that would
astonish him.
There is q limited market for sweets,
but candies as understood by the Aneri-
cans are as yet unknown. and II would be
almost impossible 10 introduce them Mr
Wildman writes -Lozenges favored with
musk. rose. ginger. peppermint and MIN
teTgreen. II packed in cheap Well-stop-
pered bottles. would find a ready sale.
Stick candy might also be introduced
There is a small sale Of 3 cheap du-
rable sewing machine that will sew either
cloth CT leather. The machines should be
either hand or pedal AS soon as southern
China is more thoroughly opened he de-
mQnd for sewing machines will increase.
and the first in the field viii have a tre-
mendous advantage"
After naming various other articles made
in the United States. and Offering sngges-
tions as 10 their sale, Consul Wildman
concludes his report by saying:
Il do not think il viii be out Of pIace
TO again answer the many questions as
10 what character OF commercial man
would best serve the interests Of American
exporters to this coast AS / have said
before. there is only one class OF nan
that can command the confidence Of the
big firms here. and that is a gentleman
who can associate with gentlemen on equal
terms. and who is either a member OF the
nrm he represents or brings letters TO the
leading banks here that viii guarantee any
statements he may make. Three years
ago bright commercial man arrived in
this port with letters OF introduction to
me- in turn gave him letters to the lead
ing firms here. lie secured a large num-
Der OF trial orders When the goods ar
rived they were not up TO sample. A year
later the same man called on these same
firms soliciting further orders. On having
his attention called to the fact lat his
goods were not as represented. ne laugh
ingly replied that he could MT aeIp It:
that he was no longer represent ng that
firm, and consequently felt no rasponsibiI-
ity in the matter. This kind OF thing
speaks for itself.
1T must be borne in mind that a large
majority Of goods that might be fairly sal
able here are. from the nature Of their
con Sfructi0O Or Tr1arufscrrr-e VIII
ishable in this hot. damp climate. Any
article in the manufacture Of which glue
is used and articles of gutta-percha and
rubber quickly go. AS an instance. all
gummed envelopes that arrive from Amer
lea reach here completely stuck together
and are rendered almost entirely useless,
while those from England have dryers used
in their composition"
ANU,c MEnnnAr Horn