Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-07-25

nANGOON. Burma'-ln a lanu %
rilded pagodas, where the people
~ native to the soil are Buddhlsts
who think more Of acquiring merit
than riches, Rangoon, with us re-
markable record for recent CROWN anu
it's great future as an ASIAN hi i's.''i ~,
lis. is as anachronistic in appearance as
an English made coat upon Burman
still wearing q flaming silk skirt
adorned with embroidered peacocks'
More than any other city east OF Suez'
il suggests a rapidly poisoning boom
town of the American west. Whlle
the travelling steam crane has not YET
entirely suppanted the elephant plllns
teak logs in the saw mill yards anu
the punctuality of the west Is not yet
a feature of business negotiations III
fine great commercial houses, Rangoon
is much buster looking than any otner
citv In the Indian empire. The mar
Dor. filled with ships from all quarters
of the globe, loading ana unloaulns
cargoes, presents a spectacle mover 10
the eve of everyone who has thought
of the FIRST city in the former domin-
ions of King Thebaw as being dun
A reflection of the Rangoon spirit Is
found i'm the makeup of the Leading
morning newspaper, printed, OF course,
in english. This journal commonly
nubIishes 100 columns of advertising
upon week days. The reliance OF
Rangoon merchants upon the power ol
printers ink as promoter OF pros.
peritv may be judged from the fact
that the iewelry stores publish hal1-
mage and sometimes full-page display
advertisements illustrated with pic
lures of articles of jeWelry'
The value of the private sea norm ne
trade of Rangoon is about SlOo,VOO,OoO
and 1000 steamers enter ana clear tne
mort each year Much less Ihah
nne-third of the 100000 population is
burmese. and from the number of In
dams seen in the streets the appear
ence of the business section IS qulte
similar to Calcutta, on the other size
Of the Bay of Bengal. RICE, iuinper
and oil constitute the principal artlcles
of export from Burma, ana arouhu
Rangoon are situated rice mills saw
mills and oil works through which
these products are handled. The
country imports finished products OF
MANY kinds, and these are at present
handled chiefly through large British
and German firms, which MAINTAIN
trading houses in Rangoon ana the
other leading cities.
The United States is as yet but httle
represented in Rangoon commerce, out
The field. in the opinion of everyone who
such American establishments as Will
enter upon its development with sur
fcient yiCor. There are two ways OF
building up trade in the orient. Inc
British way Is to get on the grouhu
first, in the wake of a conquest Where
the territory is British, and make the
natives buy what English manutac-
tories turn out. The German method
is to get upon the ground, usually a
little later, find out what the natives
want manufacture II to meet the de-
mand. and overcome the British by eX-
ira effort In the direction or pleasing
the customer by both prices ana
methods of dealing. Both BRUSH ar, anu
German methods entail the establish
ment of trading houses that carry large
stocks of goods. The theory Is OF q
niece with the military maxim that an
invasion is likely to fail when the van
guard is too far. from the base
The American method, so far, has
been to send travelling representatives
into the orient with large stores OF
samples. It has not prospered because
of the necessarily great delay In ming
| orders. A drummer" from large
American house recently arrived IN
| Rangoon with twenty-eight trunks full
of samples. A mail order requires
month or more for transmission, an
other delay is caused by the shipment
of the article ordered, and II 1t is found
unsatisfactory the something little
different" which may be found in stock
in a local trading house usually gets
the second order. If American manu-
facturers would establish trading
houses as bases OF supply they might
claim a fair share OF the trade in
| Burma.
In expectation Of its attainment of a
larger growth Rangoon has been laid
out in the European quarter upon the
liberal lines that characterize the
greater Indian seaports, Bombay and
Calcutta, but 1t is without the vast and
| lonely spaces of Madras. Road build
| ing. a fetch of the British In all OF
their foreign possessions has made RAN
COON a city of fine boulevards, and her
parks are the most beautiful In the In
| dian empire. One of them includes a
! lake of sufficient area to afford good
sport for a boat club boasting a feet
of sloops and knockabouts as we'll as
| fotilla OF rowboats and canoes.
The weather in Rangoon varies from
warmth somewhat trying to the con-
stitution, to heat altogether trying to
the disposition. In all seasons 1t is es-