The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 - 1933)(about) |
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Monday 2 January 1922
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5 corrections, most recently by anonymous - Show corrections
Jan 2nd 1922, Brisbane C
INLAND CHINA
WORKING THE UPPER
YANGTSE.
THE STEAMER LOONG MOW.
RIVER GORGES ANO BRIGANDS.
"The finest country in the world, were it not for the internal political and mili- tary troubles that are a drawback to progress," ¡s Captain Hall's comment on China. Captain Hall is captain and lieu- tenant-commander of the steamer Loong Mow, which has made history by being the first vessel to trade on the. upper reaches of the Yangtse River and to open up to commerce the rich inland province of Szechuan. Captain Hall is married to a New Zealand lady, and he and Mrs. Hall are passengers for Maori- land by the steamer Eastern, which ar- rived in Brisbane from Japan, via ports, on Saturday morning. They will spend a short holiday in Christchurch before returning to China.
A RIVER ROMANCE.
The opening of inland China to the trade and customs of the world - and par- ticularly the navigation of the Upper Yangtse Kiang River - reads like a romance. For ages past the trade has been done in a fitful and uncertain way by Chinese junks. Captain Hall has a picture of one of these junks, with 1000 Coolies hanging on to a rope attached to it, and endeavouring to pull it over one of the worst of the rapids. That, of course, is an extreme illustration, but coolie lalbour is cheap in China, and it is not rare for the companies conducting the Upper Yangtse traffic to have bands of 300 trackers or coolies engaged merely for the purpose of tugging the vessels over the rapids in the upper reaches of the river. Captain C. Plant was the pioneer of the evolution from the old methods to the new. For over 20 years Captain Plant studied the Upper Yangtse in all its aspects, and as a result of his efforts steam navigation became possible. Captain Plant died in China last year, and his wife was laid to rest on the following day. Both were buried in
Hankow.
During the war the British gunboats Teal and Widgeon made voyages to the Upper Yangtse. They were specially con- structed for the purpose, and had a draught of only a few feet to enable them to negotiate the shallow water in the narrow openings. After the Teal and the Widgeon has come the s.s. Joong Mow, to ply the arts of peace.
RICH INLAND PROVINCE.
Captain Hall describes Szechuan as one of the richest provinces in China, and it is as pioneer to this new land that tho Loong Mow will go down to history. Last year Captain Hall made 21 trips in the vessel out of the 25 for which she was scheduled. Every now and then she has to drop a trip because of the attacks of river brigands. These brigands are really military troops out of control. They get on the banks in the narrow passes, and playfully turn on machine guns, or fire rifles, at a range of 100 or 150 yards. These attacks, though annoying, are not usually serious, as the shooters desist when brought under discipline. The Loong Mow provides a target for some band or other on most of her voyages. In addition to the growing tourist traffic the trade is largely in bristles (used for brush making), goat skins, medicines, gold, silver, and other products of the country. As to the pos- sibilities of return trade, Captain Hall mentions that he pays about 3/ a lb. for Australian butter, and is glad to get it whenever he can. As there are no vessels with cold storage chambers on the river, however, it is very difficult to get Aus- tralian or other outside products, which have to be specially ordered, and trans- ported over thousands of miles from Shanghai. Numerous rapids exist on this wonderful river, and the water ,at times attains a speed of 13 knots.. The Loong Mow is subdivided into nine compart- ments, with watertight bulkheads, and equipped with modern inventions to en- sure safe navigation The scenery in the upper reaches of the river is magnifi-
cent.
UNSETTLED GOVERNMENT.
The drawback to Chinese development is the unsettled state of government. Since the monarchy was abolished there is a republican government, but things are more unsettled than ever. The trouble between Southern and Northern China continues, and the general methods of government are a system of "squeeze," which breeds militarism, and keeps the country in constant turmoil and state of terrorism. Captain Hall mentions that at the Washington Conference only the Northern Government was officially recognised. Sun Yat Sen has control at Canton, and, although he has good ideas, he cannot get them carried into effect. Wu-pei-fu is regarded as the most power- ful military leader in China at present, and it is thought probable that his in- fluence will become uppermost in the country. If it were not for these troubles China would develop rapidly, and would be a great market for other countries, including Australia
OPIUM TRADE.
Captain Hall alludes to the illicit trade in opium that is still being done. At a conference during the war years it was agreed thal if England stopped import- ing opium from India no poppies for opium would be grown in China. In spite of this agreement Dr. Hall states that the illicit opium trade continues, and money from it is being used by the Gov- ernment. The poppy plant, he says, is being grown ad lib. in some inland dis-
tricts.