Arizona republican., 1900-08-15

creeks which flowed inland. and in cluded piece of ground about mile square. Tn 1S49. six years after the
 British commenced to settle atShanghai
 the French obtained a lease of the area between the southern limit of the Brit { ish settlement and the city walls, and they subsequently, added to this a fur ther tract on the south side of the na- tive town. Subsequently the Americana secured the lease of a settlement a6- joining the British area on the north of Soochow creek, and these colonies
 prospered and increased until today they present an unbroken line of hons es and stores along the river front, for
 a distance of over five miles. An idea of the size and prosperity of European Shanghai is afforded by the fact that the annual rental value of the British concession is upward of G100, 900, and in | the American settlement e63000, and the value of land has increased some | 250 per cent in tHe last twenty years.
 The crowding of She foreign settlements leG to their extension by the addition , of a considerable tract of territory
 last year, and this has been surveyed.
 and is now being laid out for building.
 Tne population, according to the cen
 sus CT 1895 was 4,6S4 of various nation
 :tnties, excluding Chinese, bling mora
 than double that of 1870.
 AL the outset the settlements were
 forbidden to the natives, who were re-
 stiiCttd to the Chinese city. whi,h to-
 day beasts a population of about l35..
 coo; but the close relations ergeniered
 with the Celestials by tHa require-
 ants of foreign trade tendc'i t0 cause
 his T. eulation to be overridden, and
 there are said to be no fewer than o20.-
 G11 Chinese located in the three sct.Ie-
 I"t Its. The disproportion between the
 European and native popula ton is of
 interest at the present juncturo. Leav-
 ing the Chinese city out of concidera- | tton. there are in Shanghai fifty natives to every European, fact which Is not
 altogether pleasant to contemplate.
 In appearance Shanghai would be a credit to any cline. It contains a pro-
 portion of fine buildings exceptional
 for its size, and its many churches. public halls and monuments give an air
 of prosperity and wealth unknown else
 where in the east. A specially nota-
 worthy feature is the handsome "bund"
 or quap. which fronts the river along
 the whole length of the settlement. The
 control of the foreign towns is vested
 in elected bodies of local authorities, who do their duties ably and thorough ly. Shanghai is, indeed a model city.
 and in point of it's municipal control affords an example which might ba fol-
 lowed more than any town in this
 country.
 The present interest in Shanghai is cenltered rather in it's possibilities of defense than in it's utilitarian or pie turos1ue features. The disturbed con- ditions of the Chinese provinces, and
 the attitude assumed by the natives to- i ward the foreigners, of whose presence they are so anxious to rid themselves, ! makes it more than possible that the Europeans at Shanghai may at any mo- ment have to defend themselves against
 the attack of an overwhelming force of Cel5stials. Great as is the diSpropor- tion between the Europeans and na- tives of Shanghai, the contrast is in creased by a consideration of the num- erous native cities in proximity. With in fifty miles are Su-Ch0u, Sung Kiang, Kia-Hing, Tai-Tsung Ferg-
 hein, and many othsr native cities which could send their teeming thous- ands to aid the rebeIlious people of Chekiang in their efforts to rid them sllves Of the foreigners, and a review of the position of the settlements af- lords series of contingent possibili-
 ties anything but reassuring.
 Shanghai is. as has been already sug- gested, built in the center If a low lying plain, res milling a swamp. h. deed, the ground is so damp as to ren- der system of drainage a very diff
 ficult matter. No bill is to be seen for miles. Military defenses are non-ex-
 istenlt. The only obstacles to a rebel
 attack are the diminutive creeks sepa-
 rating the various concessions, which. besides being shallow and narrow. are crossed by frequent bridges. A con- 1 centrated attack on th1 settlements by the natives would allow of no course
 but retreat to such vessels as happsn- ed to be available in the harbor.. or the
 standing of siege in the foreign build
 ings. Against the overwhelming force which would be brought to bear against
 these, the prospects Of a beIeaguered garrison are poor, and the military de-
 lenses of the settlement slight.