| Primary
Source |
| Imperialism |
Colonial Policy | [P|S|M] |
Deutscher
Kolonial-Atlas mit Jahrbuch, edited by the German Colonial Society, 1905 - Retrospect on East Asia's Development in 1904
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Retrospect on East Asia's Development in 1904
(p.22) The East Asian
lease area Kiautschou, which was visited in 1904 by a son of our Kaiser,
Prince Adalbert, has continued to develop oustandingly in the past calendas
year. An important event was the completion of the Schantung Railroad on June
1st, connecting Tsingtau with Tsi nan fu. The main line is 395 km long, a side
line in the Po schan valley 40 km; it has 59 stations. Now 20 locomotives, 107
waggons for passenger transport and 670 waggons for cargo use it. Every week,
12.000 to 15.000 passengers are transported; freight traffic has tripled over
last year. It has been observed, that country products such as silk, straw
products, glassware and pottery, hitherto transported on country roads (p.23)
to the usual ports, now reach Tsingtau by railroad to be shipped from there.
It is expected, that new markets will also be opened up to Schantung's
agriculture, for
fruit, vegetables, oil, tobacco and grain, and that in turn the province's
population's power to purchase foreign goods will increase. The Schantung
trains, on standard gauge of 1.435 m can reach a maximum speed of 60 km per
hour. After less than 5 years the Schantung Railway Corporation, established
on June 14th 1899 with a capital stock of 54 million Mark, has accomplished
its task. The former governor of Schantung province, Tschou fou, was
keenly interested in the railroad. In his place, the former treasurer of
Schantung, Hu ting kan, was named governor in Tsinanfu. Vice
governor is Schang tchai lang, hitherto provincial judge. The former
governor's intention to have the last memorandum on Kiautschou translated into
the Chinese is seen as an attempt on the Chinese side to better understand the
Germans, and to get closer to them. Tschou fou intended to send the memorandum
to the trade office, for it to see how the Tsingtau trade grows daily, a fact
equally blessing for the peoples of both empires. The report of the German
newspaper published in Tsingtau, that the Chinese interest in the German
schools is ever-increasing, has to be interpreted the same way; lately a
Chinese textbook for German language has been published.
The Schantung Railway Corporation thrives to promote and improve coal mining
in the Wei hsien area. At the Fang tse pit a hauling figure of 440 tons daily
was achieved; the total hauling figure from January 1st to September 30th 1904
amounts to 84,700 tons. On June 6th drilling of a second pit was begun. In
order to better utilize the coal, the establishment of a coal washing facility
and a briquette factory are planned.
In the Po schan coalfield in summer 1904 also drilling of a pit was begun,
which is expected to haul a bituminous coal of good quality, suited for
steamer boilers.
The German Corporation for Mining and Industry was still busy developing the
field, with is mainly concerned with tertiary gravel containing gold, and with
gold ore.
In 1903 a special statistical table regarding the trade between
the German customs area and the Kiautschou protectorate with the free port of
Tsingtau has been published for the first time. It shows an extraordinary
increase in the German exports to Tsingtau, especially in the areas of
unrefined ironwares, machines and railway supplies. Since November 1st 1904
"Tsingtauer Neueste Nachrichten" (Tsingtau newest news) are issued
daily, in
addition to the weekly "Deutsch-asiatische Warte" (German-Asiatic
Observer).
In Tsingtau, busy construction goes on. Along the Auguste Viktoria Bay a new
villa quarter was erected, where the best parcels have been sold already.
Tsingtau's installations as a seaside spa again have proven to be its
main attraction. A large, modern-equipped beach hotel was been constructed,
and in addition to last year's visitors many new ones have come. On September
1st the sanatory in the Lau schan mountains, financed by contributions of the
German Colonial Society's welfare lottery and by the East Asia Aid Committee,
was opened, after it had been christened Mecklenburghaus in honour
of the president of the German Colonial Society, Duke Johann Albrecht zu
Mecklenburg.
On August 11th, the very day on which General von Trotha attacked the Herero
in their positions at the Waterberg in Southwest Africa, Russian warships
fleeing Port Arthur searched refuge in Tsingtau. The heavily damaged line-of-battle
ship "Casarewitsch" and a number of torpedo boats were disarmed, a
cruiser left the port again. At the begin of the year postal service on
the Siberian line was interrupted, and all mail had to be directed via the
Suez Canal.
Colonial Literature of 1904. (main titles)
Behme, Fr. und M. Krieger, Führer durch Tsingtau und Umgebung. (Guide for
Tsingtau and surrounding) Wolfenbuttel 1904. Heckner. 2.50 M.
Denkschrift, betreffend die Entwickelung des Kiautschou-Gebiets in der Zeit
vom Oktober 1902 bis Oktober 1903. (Memorandum on the Development of the
Tsingtau Area between October 1902 and October 1903), Berlin 1904. Dietrich
Reimer (Ernst Vohsen). paperback 3 M.
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Source: Deutscher Kolonial-Atlas mit Jahrbuch (Atlas German Colonies
with Yearbook), edited by the Deutsche Kolonialgesellschaft (German
Colonial Society). Berlin 1905, p.22f |
GM
(digitalisation) and AG
(translation)
posted on the web for psm-data;
many thanks to
Staatsbibliothek
zu Berlin / Preußischer Kulturbesitz
Kartenabteilung
Dokument in deutscher
Sprache
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