Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/758

750 The Russian boat was the messenger that brought to Chefoo the news of the fall of Port Arthur, having been selected for this duty by reason of her speed. Messrs. Telge & Schroeter, who have several representatives travelling in the interior, are at present building a bridge across the Yellow River at Lanchoufu, in Kansu, and constructing a railway from Tsi Tsi Bar to Nan Nan Ch'i in Manchuria. They are also part owners and general managers of the Ching Hsing Coal Mine, which supplies the Peking-Kalgan Railway, the Peking-Hankow Railway, and the Government mints and arsenals, as well as the residents of Tientsin and district. The offices of the firm are in the Taku Road.

Mr. Fritz Somnier, the managing partner, joined the tirm in 1890, and was admitted a partner in 1901. He is a native of Bremen, where he was born on January 6. 1868. He is Vice-Consul for Norway, to which post he was appointed on February 18, 1907.

To prepare the large quantities of wool that come from Kokonor and Kansu before forwarding them to their ultimate destination, several wool cleaning and press packing firms have been established in Tientsin. One of the most important of these is the Tientsin Wool Cleaning Factory. Ltd.. which was opened in 1904, and registered as Tientsin Woll Reinigungsfactorei, G. m. b. H. at the German Consulate. Beside wool cleaning, the proprietors undertake the hydraulic press packing of every kind of goods intended for export, and the storing of imports on behalf of banks, &c. As they do not engage in either the import or export trade themselves, they claim to be the only public press packers in the Settlement. Their headquarters are in Canton Road, in the British extra Concession, and here Mr. E. Luer, the manager, supervises the conduct of the business.

The firm of Mackenzie & Co.. Ltd., hydraulic press-packers, commission agents, exporters, and importers, established themselves in Shanghai between thirty and forty years ago, and extended their business to Tientsin in 1888. Their offices and godowns stand on the firm's own property at 42. Taku Road, where an extensive modern plant has been laid down for cleaning and packing wool, cotton, skins, furs, jute, and other produce. The local manager is Mr. W. A. Argent. The managing director of the Company is Mr. Arthur Hide, who lives in Shanghai.

Details of the formation and development of the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha will be found in the Hongkong section of this volume. The Tientsin branch was established in 1885, and the first manager, Mr. Sasaki, was appointed Consul for Japan. The district sub-offices, such as Peking and Kalgan, are under the supervision of the Tientsin branch, whose business has grown to such an extent that eighteen assistants are employed. The present manager, Mr. Y. Yasukawa, was born at Kyoto in 1870, and received his education at Osaka Commercial College. He joined the Mitsui Bussan Kaisha at Osaka, and within two years was transferred to Tokyo. In 1894 he opened a branch at Bombay, and remained in charge of it for six years. Then for eighteen months and three years respectively he carried out the duties of sub-manager for the Company in New York and Kobe. He was appointed to Tientsin in 1904.

The French troops stationed in Peking and Tientsin furnish the chief part of the business transacted by Messrs. Th. Culty & Co.