Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/701

Rh sites" as they were in the early days in Canton. But it was not until the persuasive influence of the Navy had been employed that a lease of the area required was granted to the British Government, in perpetuity, conditional on an annual payment of $138·05. Until 1895 this remained the only foreign concession in Hankow. According to the original agreement the land could be let only to British subjects, but this was altered in 1864 so that land might be leased by subjects of any power having Treaty relations with China. Of the 74 lots of the original concession, 52 are held by British subjects, 11¼ by Russians, 3 by an American, 2 by an Italian, and 2 by a Spanish Mission, 2 by the Hankow Club, 2¾ by Japanese, and 1 by a German. In 1898 the Concession was extended by a grant of a further area of 74 acres, and of this 45 per cent. is held by Britons and their Municipality. 27 per cent. by the Italian Mission, 10½ per cent. by Germans. 11 per cent. by French, and 5½ per cent. by Russians.

Russia was the next foreign Power to obtain a concession. This adjoins the British, and has an area of 247,000 square yards, with a river frontage of 722 yards. Then the French secured a grant of 137,000 square yards of land, with a river frontage of a quarter of a mile. The German Concession was obtained in 1895 by a German company called the Deutsche Neiderlassungs-Gesellschaft. It has a frontage of three quarters of a mile and an area of 506,000 square yards. It was developed by a syndicate at great cost, and, in 1905, was taken over by a company of German landowners and placed under the administration of a municipality. Further along the river and adjoining the German concession the Japanese were granted an area of 147,000 square yards a few years ago. This they have commenced to develop on lines similar to those followed by the other nationalities. A bund some four hundred yards in length and a number of streets are being laid out, and the area generally is the scene of much building activity. Beyond the Japanese Concession a Chinese syndicate holds a parcel of land on which it is proposed to erect a model Chinese settlement. Some work has been done in this direction. The British Concession, being the oldest, was for a long period the centre of foreign trade, and many of the largest and oldest firms have their premises here. Of late years the other concessions have made great progress, and now also contain a number of fine buildings. The British wharfage dues, however, exceed those of the Russian and German Concessions combined, and in trade the British are still predominant.

The visitor who is familiar with other foreign settlements in China cannot fail to be impressed with Hankow. When the Japanese have completed the work upon which they are engaged, the Settlement will possess a main street, four to live miles long, which will form an extremely pleasant riverside promenade. Lined with well-grown trees, it has a pleasing appearance from the water, and in the summer season it presents a very animated spectacle. Some of the houses along the water-front would be a credit to any city. Owing to the ample accommodation afforded by the Bund the town has no great depth. The first three streets running parallel to the river bank are broad and well laid out, and contain most of the important hongs, the rear portions of the various concessions being occupied mostly by Chinese, Japanese, and smaller firms. Another feature of the Settlement which cannot fail to be observed is its air of commercial and industrial activity. Numerous hulks used for storing and shipping the cargo brought by the various steamship lines trading with Hankow are ranged along the Bund wall: tall chimneys and large factories rise above the town in almost every direction; and thousands of coolies carrying goods may be seen in constant procession between the Bund and the godowns. The town possesses many large mills: there are several Government factories on the Wuchang side of the river; and extensive iron and steel works have been established at Hanyang.

The native city presents no distinctive features, being much like other native cities—a maze of narrow streets flanked by more or less dilapidated-looking houses. Its wealth