CHINA AS A NAVAL POWER.

Otago Witness, Issue 1932, 30 November 1888, Page 7 (Supplement)

CHINA AS A NAVAL POWER.

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(From a Standard Correspondent.) In these days of almost universal warlike preparations, when the chief energies of the Great Powers of Europe, and of the small, too, are directed to 'the multiplication of armies and the fitting out of great fleets, and when the war cloud seems to hover over all from St. Petersburg to Portsmouth, it may perhaps be useful to turn our eyes further eastward for a little, and see what the great nations of Asia are doing in the game of getting ready for the day of reckoning. In such a survey, China, with her almost countless millions, naturally, comes first amongst fc^ e . natjon^ofthe Orient who are quite in- | WsJEr M^Jjy by reason of the* more ■ ffhrffl ■^I^B' 'copnecfc the idea of \ Ji' °^ * quaintly-shaped and vessels astfienew Armstrong and the new Stettin cruisers, Lai- Yuan, King-Yuan Chmg-Yuen, and Chi- Yuen, which are the latest additions to the Chinese Northern Fleet. Indeed, taking ship for ship in his own fleet and those in the British squadron north of Hong Kong, the Viceroy, Li Hung Chang, may well feel proud of the success which his efforts to establish a means of maritime offence and defence for his country have attained. It may be answered with much force that m the composition of the splendid looking fleet that recently left the Peko for a two weeks' cruise for the special benefit of the great Viceroy himself, with a select few foreign guests, more attention had been paid 3 to the materiel than to the men, without I C( which the best ships and guns would be it useless. But it takes generations to beget T that all-conquering dash and dogged courage P ( which have ever distinguished the British fc * tars. Still, the feeling that a nation who is & only just beginning to shake off the dust of ages from her feet, and to enter the race e l with competitors she so. long affected to tr despise, has already such a fleet must not be ai at all a comfortable one for those who know in the value of such wise preparations as China fcr is now making for taking her place amongst ci militant nations. The evolutions under fc i notice here have elicited the highest a] terms of approval from #11 who had II P J the opportunity of witnessing them n < and the feeling of the British naval Ti officer who met the fleet on its way to the ac rendezvous is one cf complete surprise at nc really seeing all at once that China, in so few axyears, has been able to acquire such a for-J fc h midable force both in ships and guns. The I flagship, the Ting- Yuen, on which the Vice- fa roy and his party travelled, is a very fine type of her class, albeit she is a little obsolete 15 now. She is of the first-class ironclad frigate So type, and is in all points very similar to the is German man-o'-war Sachsen. Her driving se£ power' is furnished by a twin screw, with S iv engines of 6200-horse power nominal • her P e] displacement is 7430 tons ; her engines, **« boilers, and magazines are well protected with vertical armour 14in in" thickness, of su£ -H-nghsh steel and iron. Her armament con- 1 y es sists of four breech-loading Krupp guns six capable of throwing a shell of 7251b. These W* S-f a w e ?f i^ e?ofd ® sfcrucfciona re mounted Ih. with oth W^pJWttfohfr?^ 118 L ? Hung Chang's aoti

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sister ships ; but dicabing 5000-ho is only given at . perts here have inferior to the sb yard; They ha\ B£in 12-ton, br from a j;urntabl barbette* of 3in s guns, mounted < ships. They als draught, could b vessels as the Hei posite sloops oi: o power, with a coi could be success: these four cruis from Europe a f< Lang, have rnatrj war time which i as far as the Cl In addition to

ships there is th cruiser, of over i 1883, and partia speed, however, She carries two ling 8.24 in Etig 3081b, with a c attaining a veloc furnished wit li tubes, and is able-looking mo there are two An Wen and Chin-Y still eminently enough for the w I had almost fc torpedo boat Yj naval authorities model in a numb about to construe Foochow. A fiot them lightly arm 12 knots, other •? <. as the " Alphabet 35-ton gun, vjitl ship, and the We: up the squadron, that Li Hung 01k be treated lightly ships are armed loading guns, it and manned, be enemy for even oi its present condit It must be rec squadron only fc naval resources, Canton or Souti headquarters at transitory stage, that by-and-b3 r brought under the the maritime sl,re greatly increased, eastern waters, i that there always of ships detachet and the Peiyangthe seas north of fleet's domain lan Vladistock. THE PItESE [By Alexander J3 The freezing am able for the etcp( are unfortunately keeping of eggs ness, neither :;or journey. Many < ving can be appl quantities, witli have tried 17 of tl keeping monthly eggs, as experimei and trials, as cles English, French, no process excep composition can bi keep eggs in qua none gives, prope for family purpos universally applied factories, dye wort turer in every coi when eggs are pier cheap. For industrial pickled in lime a Zealand for the p poultry farm nor p regions in France, but for family pu kept, would find exf high prices for the As fresh eggs th< is prohibited in n countries, exactly a allowed to sell as or margarine, lies the following drawk served in lime for special taste and un poaching. 2. The < Jggsoutofthe lime md to clean them pj ;raceoflime. Some process to do this lucing the large losi ess the percentage < n lime varied fr< iccording to the hem, and the >ost, in which 1 . The albuminous i olourof the white i ; looks more watcn 'hey must be used, ossible, or they ,300 iken out of the con reatest drawback o The most successf £gs at present km raction of the air c ir" of the egg, an loffensive gas or ha rials were made wit Qters for about fou on of the air. Ai pplied afterwards oi acked ready for salt o knowledge of the j ideman for preser ;id, and having aofc )t know if that ger ly inner part of the ie production of azc free from the ds brication of carbon; My first experiment ; months ago witl •me of the eggs aft the required time ison to the other) am, and they reac] rfect order, althoug 3 cool chambers of able i£ these ar& dr 3h as a safe or a gr< ir*s preserving clid weeks. To work t ires some utensils a aye not on account lerwise the priceually per do*en' of uceS. £*l* c qneation cjf th

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got - to ! the name of %^^S^taa^ abbreviated. He felt rj meeting as should be decided so , mucn^oy manity ; by the public evening they gss^*^^ weil be setfcle that evening. t proposed fco would decide afterwards er . DrHocKBN remarked that tne no{ . Baty of the f ounda on of the colo take P lac^ tlU t d P wav of colonisation V ere taken first steps in the way ore Government, in 1839; th » w " Zj 7 As regarded the but by a Pr at « pp CC n ° a^» 88 y eemed to him a very name, " Semi-centenary see eX p ress ive. agly and jnj^CSSS^ Tot 'ate, and had "Jubilee "had been oire fch celebration founding of the polony. be ite a Mr Staotobd though Bxhicalamity to caU it the be ft fe^ cftUed Sflo'h ytr^tho Foundation of the Co ] I ? U^' n Rtewabt said a certain amount of CO m7cabi,tok thought the qaestioi l would best i a ipffover for public opinion to decide. Mr Twopeny repeated that it was merely desSed rfnSe a discussion on the subject offering to formally move said he thought it better there should be no distinct resolution passed by SabmSg. The matter might safely be left in the haads of the committee. The proceedings then terminated.

jcamb • for. its even ever, tbat'pricea'were^^^^^^^ in for a fresh t^^y^S^SS^ii in having an exhibition-there wu I $otov thing to work upon. It must not be sup tho progress of the community. He hoped too, that public attention in £ mt ™ ll *£"^lu°™ extent in Europe, would be attracted Jo there sources and industries of this colony. Of course ley could nob expect any large number^ of visitors from Australia, not more than i a .tew thousands, but still they would L have ßeports in the Australian papers, and the reports .they would give of our industries and resources would, he had no doubt, do the colony a great deal ot good. Then, again, he hoped they would have fome reports in the English press, and these would direct attention to our resourc es and do good. Coming a little nearer home, it seemed to him that our manufacturers would thereby each have an opportunity. of seeing what the others could do, of finding out what mis takes they were making, an^ of judging n what the/could go-ahead. And net -only -wouM manufacturers see this, but capitalists of various kinds, who would come, would see things, ana though they would not start industries because of the exhibition, yet they would inquire, and following upon inquiry they might get new enterprises started. He had begun by sayinghow very strongly he felt that the success of the exhibition depended upon the Wl?'^.?**^W I ?'^.?**^ notonlyfromafinancialpomtofviewthatsuccesg depended, but upon theiaterest the people tookm the project. He considered that a f gjeat f ortof public spirit was never lost in this world, and that they had here an opportunity of showing what they could do for the colony, and of giving it a shove ahead at an important crisis, lac more they threw themselves into this movement the more good it would indirectly do them. It would brighten their hopes, and he was per suaded that every effort they made for the pubhc good would strengthen their minds so as to make them more acute in their private affairs. He did not know there was anything else he could say except this, that he was very sure no exmbition h& ever yet been held which had reached one-half of the popularity that was possible What was wanted was to make everyone teel fiat it was their exhibition, and that they must help it on, and that it did not depend merely upon those whom they had been kind enough to give imuortant positions in connection w«nw. ft depended upon every shareholder- and far * yond that, upon everyone who took an »* ete g in the concern, to further its P°P^"ty. " neople made the exhibition a sort of nucleus where people could see the things exhioited to Stand then go to the faetones and jeethem Lade in that way they could give apartjd turn to the exhibition, and make it a more national and larger public concern than an thing of the kind yet held. He d.d not suppose they could imitate tho grandeurs of exhibition, and thought it would be a great mistake to attempt to do so. But surely it was amistaketotWnkthatsize was theonly^element of success, and that to be grand was the only good thing in this world. If they could throw themselves with spirit into this exhibition, and show things in an original light, and in a more practical light, so as to make it an engine of Material and moral progress, then the exhibition would be a far greater success for all practical nurposes and for all national purposes than any exhibition that had yeb been held.-(Appl a use ) The Rev. Dr Belcher said that as this waa probably the only occasion when the whole body of shareholders would meet together he would like to say that it would be just as well for them to understand that they had the imprimatur of the body of shareholders as to tue spirit in which the exhibitiou was to be approached, independently of the industrial side or it. we hoped the meeting would feel that the exhibition and the collateral matters connected with it were not to bo approached in any narrow-minded or puritanical spirit. He trusted the meeting would feel that the exhibition was to be made as attractive in every possible way as it could possibly be made. That they should have, tor instance, a good band connected with it, a concert hall, and he hoped he might hint at a skating rink, and collateral matters of that kiad, which would bring people together, not ouly to be instructed but also to be amused. As a professional l instructor he had found in his life that if there was one thing above all others that people hated it was to be instructed, and if they could be decoyed into instruction by way of amusement— the two things were done simultaneously— they not only took the sugar but swallowed the pill with it, and he hoped that in this particular matter the coating of sugar would be tolerably thick. The exhibition, he was sure, would do a great deal towards raising the spirits of our community. Victuals were very cheap in this country, but he recollected there was an adage he was taught in his childhood which ran something like this :—

thing like tms :— Tliere was an old woman, and what do you think ? The whole of her nourishment was victuals am And though victuals and drink was the whole of hei diet, , ' . , This intolerable old lady would never keep quiet. That seemed to be the case with humanity ai large. People might have victuals and drink but they wanted something more. They wantec geniality aud those surroundings which were expressed by what had become almost a hackneyed quotation, " Sweetness and light " ; and as this was almost the lasb time the whole of the shareholders would be together, and as this was the only occasion when he had seen the building crammed— barring the dinner to the Governor, ■when they were all present for a similar purpose—namely, to be cheerful— he trusted the committee would be given to understand tha. they were to approach the matter in a large and liberal spirit, and try to make it in every way as attractive as was consistent with the mam obiect of the exhibition itself. „.,„. by the chairman wa.' adopted unanimously. AUTHORITY TO DIRECTORS. The Chairman said that, to obviate the calling of the shareholders together again foi some fittle time, he would move-" That so soon !sX> subscriptions for shares and guarantees reach the sum of £10,000 the directors be authorisedl and are hereby authorised to do everything necessary to the initiation and carrying out of all things required in connection with the exhibiSn" The scope of this resolution (the chairSan observed) was very full and wide ; it Svered almost every possible contingency in fact -and was deputing the entire after-work of the exhibition to the directors, who of course Solid work in conjunction with the other organisations of this movement. He might say ♦hat although the shares only amounted xo 1-5500 be had no doubt the £10,000 would be got. He did not assume there was any possibility of failure. . , Mr R. Wii-son had great pleasure m secondine the motion. He was certain the £10,000 be subscribed, and thought that some who had already taken up shares would come forward and add to their subscriptions. INCREASE OF CAPITAL. The Chairman said that the next question he desired to bring before them was the increase of capital According to the articles of association the capital was £10,000, and the committee thought it wise to increase that by £5000 shares of £1 each, which would simply give a little more assistance. He moved— "That the capital be increased by the addition of 5000 shares at £1 ca Qlr G. L. Oenniston seconded the resolution. Mr H. S. Fish said that they heard on all hands ih'at £10,000 would be sufficient, and that being so, he- thought they should not increase ?he capital- Besides that, the city had been thoroughly canvassed, and it was only by tne generous subscriptions by public companies that they had been able to make up anything like JICtfXX). He did not think they should ask for an d h c r Hon 0 W. H. jbnoo. said th at this would only divide the responsibility, lney Txpected to get £10,000 in Dunedin alone, £ orettY nearly that amount. In the country distr Sta he knew there were Parties^who were Sng to contribute]; and.why should; they not Teceivl subscriptions to the extent of £1 5,000, although the loss might only be £5000/ Only S of the capital would then require to be faUed up -the proposal was simply, to diffifee £? responsibility. Contributions were being offered from other parts of the colony. For £nee, there had been a contribution sent by. £ French Consul in Wellington. It was > quite right the directors should be in a POf^ lo^^ receive these contributions, and he believed if S Evince was thoroughly workedthe* > would be no difficulty iri getting £5000 beyond what had already been raised in |he city of Dunedin.— (A Tnl aU CHAiRHAN said that this resolution was