CHINA AND JAPAN.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1800, 27 November 1879, Page 3

CHINA AND JAPAN.

[By Telegraph.] [correspondent of press aobnoy.]

HONG KONG, September 29. Irtißt month was dull and uneventful. Great quantities of rain have fallen, and for the first month every day was wet. There were very heavy rains in North China, in many instances causing considerable damage to the crops. There has been a torpedo explosion at Peh Tang, a few miles from Taku. Several Chinese soldiers were killed. The Mamoi Arsenal authorities have received an electric apparatus from Europe, and the first exhibition of the light was very successful.

CANTON, September 22. A fire occurred here on the 19th, the loss being £SOOO. The same night a money changer's shop was robbed. The robbers were captured, but they paid a heavy fine, and were allowed to depart. The money changers have made a profit out of them. SHANGHAI, September 23. The committee of the China Famine Belief Fund held its last meeting yesterday. Latest acoouts from the North are more hopeful, and fair crops are expected. One of (the most important cases ever brought before the mixed Court of Shanghai is now being heard before the Toofai (a kind of Prefect) and the English Consul. Nowhere guilds and trade organisations flourish more than in China, but even foreigners, who have lived many years in the country, have little idea of their operation and the way they are used against foreign interests. One of the wealthiest of such corporations is called " the Swatow Guild," and they have recently directed their operations to prevent the importation of opium into Chinkiang, not from any opposition to the trade itself, but solely from a desire for their own gain to control its channels. To do this they "squared" matters with the largest of the foreign houses at that point, but some others would not meet the guild, and hence the present case. The charge is brought under the fourteenth article of the French Treaty, which says that "No privileged council or society can henceforward be established in China; and it shall be the same with every combination organised ior the purpose of increasing a monopoly of trade." It is of great importance there should be as few restrictions on trade as possible, and the result of the present case, about which the English Court has expressed the most decided opinion as being a gross violation of the Treaty, will be watched with much interest.

Cholera in Japan is decreasing. Very few foreigners have succumbed to the disease. A terrible fire occurred on the French concession, Shanghai, in which 1000 houses inhabited by Chinese were destroyed. It is believed it originated through an opium smoker having knocked over hiß lamp and set fire to a mosquito curtain. The heat of the weather and fire combined was terrible, and several foreign firemen suffered sunstroke. At another fire a few days ago three Chinese were burnt to death. Considerable interest is felt here in the expected arrival of the Russian transport Novgorod carrying exiles to the Island of Sagalien. It had been stated in home papers that the exiles were shamefully illtreated on board, and that 150 died on the voyage. The vessel only touohed at Woosung, twelve miles from here, so that what is known about the exiles comes second-hand. It is a fact, however, that the exiles were all landed in good health, and if the statements of the capteiu and officers are to be believed, the exiles were treated with much kindness on their way out. The China Merchants' Steam Navigation Co,, a Q-overnment concern established to do all the trade hitherto done by foreigners, and so drive the "barbarian" away, has just held its annual meeting. The business, according to its report, was much more favorable than last year, and a dividend on the snares is declared. The company has given up some of its more ambitious schemes, as for instance a shipping yard with a foundry, by which it was hoped to teach Chinese to build steamer*.

ADVANTAGES OF THE TOTALISATOR.

J The Chief Commissioner of Police in South ! Australia, in reporting to the Government on I the use of the totalisator, says :—" In my I opinion, the use of the totalisator on racecourses would have a beneficial effect, inasmuoh as it would tend to preclude, to a great extent, the system of betting which has hitherto prevailed at races, and has been practised by professional bookmakers. To guard against improper use being made of the instrument, the person using it should be under the control of the stewards of the race*, or the owner or leaseholder of the racecourse, who would doubtless prevent any chicanery being practised. It might also have the effect, of abolishing or reducing considerably the temptation which long credit given by the bookmakers offers to young persons excited by the prospect of winning heavy bets. Hitherto the totalisator has not interfered with the peace and general order of the visitors who attend races, and, if properly conducted, it would, without doubt, be highly appreciated by the public."