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Rh to force of circumstances than to the weather, which the article elsewhere on that subject will show to be extremely trying.

Hongkong, unlike most other cities, is now without a weekly paper (excepting the weekly news editions of the newspapers), though many attempts have been made to establish one. Already mention has been made of Punch, which enjoyed but a brief life, and from the cessation of that paper, no attempt seems to have been made to conduct a genuine weekly paper until within the past three or four years. When the South China Morning Post was established, an attempt to run a weekly illustrated was made, but the production (the Weekly Post) was suspended after a few months and converted into a news summary. In 1903 a weekly advertising sheet called the Reminder was published by Mr. T. Swaby, and it afterwards developed into the Island, a more pretentious paper, but without any particular literary merit. Then, on August 4, 1906, the China Mail established a weekly illustrated paper, and offered $500 to the general public for the best title, titles to be selected and voted for. Until a name was selected the paper was called the New Weekly, and when the "name competition" closed, it was felt that not one of the numerous titles selected would suit, and the proprietor paid the $500 to the person whose selection had secured the highest number of votes, and called the paper the Hongkong Weekly. No effort was spared to make the paper popular; high rates were offered to encourage literary and artistic assistance, and though a little was forthcoming, sufficient was not available to bring the paper up to the ideal the proprietors had in view when they started it, and reluctantly they ultimately decided to abandon it. The last issue was on March 7, 1908.

The public of Hongkong do not seem to have reached the weekly paper stage. Neither do they want magazines. The China Review, established many years ago by the China Mail (to supplant Notes and Queries, published by the same paper), though supported and widely read for many years, treating as it did on Chinese subjects, ultimately left the Colony for Shanghai, whilst a second trial of the kind was made under the title of the Review of the Far East, by the Morning Post in 1907. This collapsed after two issues. A small sporting magazine called the V.R.C. Magazine, conducted by the Victoria Recreation Club, lingered through part of 1906 and 1907, but ultimately failed for the want of support. The bones of many forlorn hopes whiten the "inky way" in the East.

Of more serious publications, Hongkong has the Directory and Chronicle of the Far East, issued annually by the Daily Press, whilst Who's Who in the Far East was originated in 1906 by Messrs. F. L. Pratt and W. H. Donald and continues to be largely supported to date. It is published by the China Mail.

The China Mail.

Rising amid the bones of several futile enterprises that bleached on the journalistic wayside in the early days of Hongkong, the China Mail was of vigorous birth and was thus able to withstand the withering influences that laid waste all predecessors. To-day it thrives with the distinction of being the oldest paper in the Colony, if not in the Far East. Started on February 20, 1845, as a British journal, it has, through the years that have been lean, or fat, remained true to its colours, and the high policy it established at the outset of being fair to all men in general and stoutly loyal to British traditions in particular has been maintained through varying changes to the present day. It now stands, without prejudice, for the best that is British and the best that is cosmopolitan in the Colony. Its criticisms—when necessary unsparing, but at all times studiously free from rancour—bear the impress of genuine effort to uphold the right. A watchful eye is first kept upon the Colony's interests, and, withal, a broad imperialism is the political gospel preached, with a fair commercial field and no favour to all men.

Its columns are never sullied by personalities, and, in general, the conduct of the journal is in line with the very best traditions of English journalism.

The first appearance of the China Mail, in 1845, was as a weekly paper, published each Thursday. Then the Colony knew not the cable, and news came only by the occasional steamer, or by the sailing ship which was such a feature of the Eastern trade of sixty-three years ago. With the growth of the Colony the China Mail kept pace. It soon developed into a daily paper—first of four pages, then of eight, and a further increase is now contemplated, and will probably be effected before these lines are in print. The China Mail, too, has been the parent of several "little ones." First, there came the now long-defunct China Punch, a highly popular illustrated humorous paper in its day; later, the China Review, a scholarly journal dealing with Far Eastern affairs, which still lingers, though under different ownership; then Notes and Queries, confined to Eastern subjects; and, in the present day, the Hongkong Weekly, an illustrated Saturday paper, dealing with sport and the lighter side of the Colony's life. All along, there has been published in connection with the China Mail, the Overland China Mail, which devotes itself to giving the week's Far Eastern news and comments. The China Mail also originated and published the Hongkong Directory, afterwards disposing of it to its present owners. For many years the proprietors of the China Mail have published a vernacular paper, the Wa Tsz Yat Po (Chinese Mail).

From its first issue and for several years—until the Government Gazette was established—the China Mail bore the following notification on its title page: "Government Notification.—It is hereby notified that from and after the 20th instant (February, 1845), and until further orders, the China Mail is to be considered the official organ of all Government notifications." Then, as now, however, the paper was a free critic of Government policy, and through its career has been distinguished for having the courage of its own convictions in regard to questions vitally affecting the public. In Sir John Pope-Hennessy's time the China Mail conducted a campaign against what is historically known as that Governor's "vicious policy," and was instrumental in preventing considerable harm being done the Colony. As a newspaper, the China Mail ranks as first in the Colony. Its telegraphic services from London, Australia, and the whole of the Far East, including Japan, Colombo, and the Straits Settlements, enables it invariably to give the earliest information of current events. The publication of news of Chinese affairs, with criticisms, is a feature of the journal, and one that is of distinct service to all interested in the Chinese Empire.

The present chairman of directors of the company, Mr. George Murray Bain, became proprietor of the paper in 1872, and between 1894 and 1904 had as a partner and editor, Mr. T. H. Reid. In 1904, Mr. W. H. Donald succeeded as manager and editor, and in 1906, when Mr. Bain decided to convert the business into a private limited company, he was made managing director and editor, which position he still holds. Mr. G. Murray Bain being chairman of the board of directors, and Mr. H. Murray Bain, secretary. On the literary staff of the paper are Mr. W. H. Donald, Mr. F. Lionel Pratt, Mr. J. W. Bains, Mr. Taylor, and Mr. Li Sum Ling. As the "China Mail," Ltd., the company conducts a printing and publishing business—Who's Who in the Far East being the chief annual publication, in addition to the journals mentioned. The address is No. 8, Queen's Road, Nos. 2, 4, and 6, Wellington Street, and No. 5, Wyndham Street, Hongkong.



MR. GEORGE MURRAY BAIN, the principal proprietor of the "China Mail," Ltd., is one of the oldest journalists in the Far East. Born in 1842 at Montrose, he was educated at the Montrose Borough School, and joined the China Mail as sub-editor and reporter in 1864. His ability was quickly recognised, and his promotion, consequently, was very rapid. In a short while he was appointed editor, and within eight years of joining the literary staff, became the proprietor of the paper. During 1877 and 1882 he took an active part in fighting the vicious policy of Sir John Pope-Hennessy, then the Governor of the Colony, and has consistently upheld British interests and maintained an impartial attitude towards other nationalities. In conjunction with the late Dr. N. B. Denneys, he started the China Review in 1872, and in 1906 converted the China Mail into a private limited company. Mr. Bain takes an interest in all public movements, and encourages all sports. He is a member of the Hongkong, the Jockey, and the Cricket Clubs, and lives at "Birnam Brae," Conduit Road.



MR. WILLIAM HENRY DONALD, the managing director of the "China Mail," Ltd., and editor of the China Mail, was born in 1875, at Lithgow, N.S.W., and is the eldest son of George Donald, first mayor of Lithgow, and later M.P. for Hartley. He was sub-editor and afterwards editor of the Bathurst National Advocate, and, having served for some time on the staffs of the Daily Telegraph, Sydney, and The Argus, Melbourne, came to the Far East in May, 1903, to take up the position of sub-editor of the China Mail. In the following year he was promoted managing editor, and, upon the formation of the limited company in June, 1906, was made managing director. As the representative of the China Mail and several Australian and English papers, he did a great deal of important journalistic work in Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. He was the special correspondent for the Daily Express, London, and the China Mail, with the ill-fated Baltic fleet, under Admiral Rojdestvensky, at Vanfon Bay and Port Dyot, Annam, Indo-China, and was the only English correspondent to witness the final departure of the fleet for Tsushima on May 14, 1905. In conjunction with Mr. F. L. Pratt, he established Who's Who in the Far East, in 1906, and still retains his interests in that publication. He is the correspondent in South China of the New York Herald, Daily Express, London, Daily Telegraph, Sydney, and several other papers. He is a member of the Hongkong Club, the