304 [November, 1902.] 
IMPERIAL INSTITUTE JOURNAL. 
and clearing of their vessels at any time, day or night, except 
national holidays, reduction of 30 to 35 per cent, in tonnage 
dues, etc. ; and, in compensation for the usual privileges reserved 
by the Government, the vessels of this company will pay only 
50 per cent, of the charges of the health officer, the stock of the 
company will be exempt from all federal taxes except such as 
are required in the way of revenue stamps, and all vessels 
belonging to this company under the Mexican flag will enjoy the 
same privileges as any other Mexican vessels. The company 
is authorised to employ foreigners as masters and chief 
engineers on the vessels, whenever it is impossible to fill the 
posts with Mexicans, provided such officers shall pass an examin- 
ation and be qualified under Mexican law. The company may 
establish its own coaling depots, on land or on pontoons, and 
repair-shops at such port or ports as may be found necessary and 
convenient, and make contracts with established steamship lines 
or new ones to promote direct inter-oceanic traffic, and with 
railroads for direct transportation to all parts of the Republic, 
The Railway Block in South Russia.— The Times' 
Odessa correspondent writes, under date October 14 The 
state of affairs on the Russian South-Western Railway system is 
daily, I might say hourly, becoming worse. The number of 
grain-laden vans, wagons, and trucks now blocked in the goods 
sidings below Kieff is 18,500, containing about 200,000 tons of 
grain. There seems little or no hope of getting rid of this extra- 
ordinary block until well on in November. Meantime the grain 
trade in the majority of the leading exporting centres in South 
Russia is suffering most severely. Not the least unsatisfactory 
feature of this year's block is the fact that the tarpaulins and 
other truck covers have given out, and consequently there are 
several thousands of open trucks laden with grain lying in the 
numerous sidings south of Kieff exposed to the rain. Not only 
is the grain trade very seriously disorganised, but the fruit and 
kindred trades are temporarily at a complete standstill. 
Hundreds of tons of valuable fruit consigned to the ports by 
up-country fruit growers have had to be sold for next to nothing 
at various railway sidings for cattle- and swine-feeding. 

OFFICIAL AND COMMERCIAL CONTRACTS. 
UNITED KINGDOM. 
Enniscorthy. — Tenders are invited, until the 19th inst., for 
erecting a Fuel Economiser, to be connected with present 
boiler. Particulars may be obtained from the resident medical 
superintendent, District Asylum, Enniscorthy. 
Glamorgan. — Tenders are invited, until the 6th inst., for 
the Erection of a Fog Signal House, etc., at Nash Point, 
Glamorgan. Particulars (j£i) may be obtained from Messrs. 
Corderoy, Selby & Corderoy, 21, Queen Anne’s-gate, West- 
minster. 
London. — Tenders are invited, until the 18th inst., for the 
Supply and Delivery of one 50-Ton Electric Power Overhead 
Travelling Crane, with Auxiliary 2-Ton Hoist, and for the 
Erection of the same in the Council's Electricity Generating 
Station at Greenwich. Particulars (£2) may be obtained from 
the County Hall, Spring-gardens, S.W. — Tenders are also 
invited, until the 18th inst., for the Roadwork and Plate- 
laying required for the re-construction, on the conduit system, 
for electric traction of the South London Tramways. Particulars 
(_ 4 "io)inay be obtained from the Engineer's Department, County 
Hall, Spring-gardens, London, 
Newcastle-upon-Tyne. — Tenders are invited, until the 
8th inst., for the Supply and Erection complete of a New 
Triple-Expansion Direct-Coupled Engine, of 3,000 horse-power, 
at the Power Station, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Particulars 
(£3. 3s.) may be obtained from the general manager and 
engineer, Manors Power Station, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
Swindon.— Tenders are invited, until the 8th inst., for the 
Supply, Delivery, and Erection of Pumping Plant for 
the Waterworks at Ogbourne St. George, Wilts. Particulars 
may be obtained from the borough surveyor, Town Hall, 
Swindon, Wilts. 
COLONIES. 
Malta. — Tenders are invited, until the 14th inst., for the 
Supply of Cast-Iron Pipes and Irregular Castings. 
Particulars may be obtained from the Public Works Depart- 
ment, in Malta, or the Crown Agents for the Colonies, Downing- 
street, London. 
South. Australia. — Tenders are invited until the 10th 
December, for the Supply of the following materials, delivered 
in bond, on wharf, Port Adelaide ; wharfage to be paid by the 
Contractor : One sixteen tons overhead travelling crane, rope- 
driven, with driving gear, straining gear, pulleys, brackets, etc., 
complete {3 drawings, 2s. each) ; Four thirty-five tons overhead 
travelling cranes, electrically driven with motors, etc., complete 
( 1 drawing 2S.). Particulars maybe obtained at the office of 
the chief mechanical engineer, Islington, South Australia ; also 
at the office of the Agent-General for South Australia, 1, Crosby 
square, London, E.C. — Tenders are invited, until the 8th 
January, 1903, for the Supply and Delivery of Cartridge 
Paper : 200 reams double crown, 30 in. by 20 in., weight 55 lb. ; 
100 reams imperial, 30 in. by 22 in., weight 60 lb. ; 60 reams, 
30 in. by 15 in., weight 41 lb. Particulars may be obtained 
from the office of the Inspector-General of Schools, Adelaide. 
— Tenders are also invited, until the 8th January, 1903, for 
the Supply and Delivery of 250 reams of Pressing Paper, 
Caledonian grey, i6| in. by eo'in., weight 24 lb. Particulars 
may be obtained from the office of the Inspector-General of 
Schools, Adelaide. 
FOREIGN COUNTRIES. 
Belgium. — Tenders will be received, up to the 21st inst., 
at the office of the Ministry of War, Rue Royale No. 5, Brussels, 
for the supply of Leather for the use of the army. Particulars 
may be obtained from the office mentioned. — Tenders are also 
invited, until the 26th inst., by the Soci^td Nationale des 
Chemins de Fer Vicinaux. 14 Rue de la Science, for the Con- 
struction of the section of the Line from Courcelles to Tilly, 
on the local line from Courcelles to Incourt. Particulars (iod. ) 
may be obtained at the office named and from M. Dartevelle, 
18 Rue de Turquie, Saint Gilles, Brussels. 
Egypt. — Tenders are invited, until the 20th December 
next, for the Supply of a small Steamer for inspection work 
on^ the Nile and canals. Particulars may be obtained from the 
office of the Inspector of Irrigation, 3rd Circle, Alexandria. — 
Tenders are also invited, until the 15th inst., for the Supply 
of Teak Logs, Swedish Deals, etc., for the construction of 
railway carriages and trucks. Particulars (2s.) may be obtained 
from Lieut. -Col. Western, R.E., C.M.G., Broadway Chambers, 
Westminster. 
French Indo-China. — Tenders are invited, until the 17th 
January, 1903, for the work of Constructing Metallic 
Bridges over the Son-Calo at Phu-lo, and over the Song-Cong 
at Phu-da-Phut on the road from Hanoi to Thai-ngoyen. Par- 
ticulars may be obtained from the Inspector-General of Public 
Works for the Colonies, Ministry of the Colonies, Paris, or from 
the chief engineer, Rue Vong-duc, Hanoi. 
Uruguay. — Consul A. W. Swalm reports from Montevideo 
that the Department of Fomento has published the official call 
for Tenders for the Construction of the new Sanitary 
Works for Montevideo, which will comprise a tunnel cut in the 
rock, 1,278 metres (4,193 feet) long by 3'65 metres (n'9 feet) 
high and 3 metres (9^9 feet) wide ; a principal collector of about 
4,000 feet ; and a second collector of nearly equal size, together 
with several auxiliaries, as set forth in the plans and specifica- 
tions, which may be obtained by application to the Minister of 
Fomento in Montevideo, or to the Uruguayan legations in 
London, Paris or Berlin. Bids will be opened December 15, 
1902, in Montevideo, The work is estimated to cost something 
over $3,000,000. 

COMMERCIAL LAW INTELLIGENCE. 
Maintenance of Crew, etc. — This was a motion in the 
Chancery Division on behalf of Captain D. N. Berlingeri, 
on behalf of himself and the crew of the Italian s.s. Tergeste, 
that the Vacation Judge might direct the Admiralty Marshal to 
forthwith sell as much of the equipment of the Tergeste as would 
realise ^250, after payment of the Marshal's charges, to enable 
plaintiff to obtain food for the maintenance of the crew 
pendente lite, and also to make further advances on account of 
the crew’s wages or, alternatively, that a commission might 
issue for the appraisement and sale of the Tergeste , the vessel 
not to be sold for less than the appraised value. The vessel 
left Genoa on the 2nd December last for Sulina, and arrived in 
the Thames on the 9th March, after having sustained serious 
damage. She was placed in Messrs. Rait and Gardiner’s dry- 
dock, and overhauled and repaired, the cost amounting to over 
,£4,000. As no money was forthcoming all the work on the 
ship was suspended in June. On the 28th July Messrs. Rait 
and Gardiner issued a writ against the ship for necessaries. 
No appearance had been entered to the writ, but there could 
be no motion for judgment in the action until after the long 
vacation. The crew were still living on board, were clamouring 
for their pay, or for advances to remit home, and would not 
leave the vessel, while the master had no right to sell her with- 
out the intervention of the Court on account of the possessory 
lien of Messrs. Rait and Gardiner. The owner was of opinion 
that the bill for repairs would be more than the steamer was 
worth, so he had abandoned her and was making a claim on 
the underwriters. His Lordship (Mr. Justice Jelfj ordered that 
a commission issue out .of the registry for the appraisement and 
sale of the Tergeste, all parties to be at liberty to bid at the sale. 
The proceeds of sale are to be brought into Court without 
prejudice to the question of Messrs. Rait and Gardiner's 
possessory lien, and to all other questions as to priorities. A 
sum of £250 is to be paid out of the proceeds of the sale to the 
solicitors appearing for the captain and crew, such sum to be 
brought into account when the amount of wages due up to 
8th April and repatriation expenses are ascertained. The 
Admiralty Marshal is to make arrangements for the maintenance 
of the crew until the date of payment of the said sum of £250, 
the judge expressing the opinion that the crew were not entitled 
to the cost of maintenance after the date of the payment of the 
^250. 
Musical Copyright Act : Important Decision. — An 
important judgment under the Musical Copyright Act was given 
by Mr. Curtis Bennett at the Marylebone Police-court last 
month. On the 4th of the month an application was made for 
the destruction of a number of copies of alleged pirated songs 
seized in the Kentish Town-road, at the instance of a music 
publisher’s agent. Mr. Curtis Bennett refused to make the 
order for destruction, however, until the person from whom the 
music had been seized had been summoned, and thus been 
given an opportunity of being heard in his defence. It was 
argued by a solicitor appearing for the music publishers that a 
summons was not necessary under the 'Act, and that the 
practice at other Courts was for the magistrates to grant a 
certificate lor the destruction of the music on being satisfied 
that it was an infringement of the copyright. Mr. Curtis 
Bennett said he held a strong opinion that a summons was 
necesssary before he could so act, and he offered to grant one, 
but the offer was not accepted, and the application was then 
adjourned. Mr. Curtis Bennett, in a long written judgment, 
said the Act in question gave probably the largest powers ever 
granted by the Legislature to private individuals. There was, 
however, nothing in the Act as to the application for an order 
to destroy music being ex parte, and without that special power 
the application must be heard in accordance with the Summary 
Jurisdiction Acts and the person complained of duty summoned 
to appear at the court, when the order would either be made or 
refused. The contention in this case was that the person 
accused of hawking the music was not to be afforded the oppor- 
tunity of demonstrating that the copies complained of were not 
an infringement and showing that he was entitled to have them 
returned to him. To say that these people were not to be 
heard in their own defence appeared to him to be amazing, and 
entirely at variance with the judicial procedure of the country, 
which had hitherto always considered no person guilty of an 
offence until his guilt had been proved. This Act was not for 
the public good, but for the good of private persons. There 
was nothing in music, as there was in meat, to require its 
immediate destruction. Under all these circumstances he must 
refuse to make the order for the destruction of the music asked 
for until the hawker of the music had been summoned ; and he 
again offered the applicant a summons against the man whose 
address the constable took when he made the seizure. Mr. 
Rutland, solicitor, who was making the application, said he 
would not attempt to discuss the question, but would simply 
ask his worship to state a case. Air. Curtis Bennett replied 
that he was quite willing to state a case. 
Substitutes for Coffee. — The Natural Food Company, 
of Patriot-square, Hackney, were summoned at Worship-street 
by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue for having sold a 
certain article as a substitute for coffee or chicory without the 
same being stamped with a label denoting the duty payable on 
the same. Mr. Hawkins represented the Excise, and Mr. 
Schultess Young, barrister, defended. Mr. Hawkins said the 
matter came before the Court as a test case, to have it decided 
whether the article in question came within the Inland Revenue 
Act, 1882, as liable to duty. The article in question was known 
as Brunack, and was put out and sold by the defendant company 
in quarter-pound packets. Under the Act, a substitute for 
coffee or chicory was liable to a stamp duty of |d. per quarter- 
pound. Correspondence had taken place between the Com- 
missioners and the company, the latter denying that the article 
was a substitute for coffee. Mr. Proctor, an analyst at the 
Government Laboratory, said that the contents of the packet 
had the appearance of coarse-ground coffee, was brown, and 
had the smell of coffee. He had analysed it, and found it to 
be roasted barley, Mr. Young, for the defence, said he thought 
there was a very great distinction between the intentions of the 
Act and the preparation in question. It was prepared as a 
beverage, and might be used by persons who could not. or 
should not, take tea or coffee. Cocoa was a beverage similarly 
useful, but he urged that no one suggested it was a substitute 
for coffee. If so, it would be dutiable, yet it was often taken 
instead of coffee. The magistrate asked the price at which the 
Vol. VIII. No. 95. 
preparation sold, and being told iod. , remarked that the shares 
of the defendant company ought to stand very high. He held 
that the production was a substitute, liable to duty, and imposed 
the nominal penalty of 20s, and three guineas costs. 
+ 
BRITISH CONSULAR REPORTS. 
Algeria. — The reports from the various British Consular 
officers in Algeria for the past year show considerable prosperity, 
although the volume of trade does not appear to have increased. 
Wine is now the largest industry in the province, and up to two 
years ago many large fortunes were made in it. But during 
1900 and 1901 the abnormal yield in France kept prices low, and 
caused loss to the Algerian growers. In 1899 the export of 
Algerian wines was nearly a million gallons, while in the 
succeeding year it fell to a little over half a-million. Another 
main Algerian product is alfa, which covers an area estimated 
at more than 12 millions of acres. The chief area in which it 
grows is called the Alfa Sea, and is 210 miles by 95. 
An acre produces, on an average, 8 cwt. after drying and sorting. 
The cutting, sale, and export are governed by special rules 
framed to prevent improvident and unskilful working, Algeria 
exports, also, large quantities of grain. In 1900 it sent abroad 
over 4^ million cwt. of grain, chieily wheat, oats, and barley. 
Algerian barley is much in demand on the Continent for malting. 
As to agriculture generally, it is stated that improvements are 
slowly taking place in Arab modes of cultivation, the richer 
Arabs now appreciating the advantages of using French ploughs 
and a more careful selection of grain. Last year, 60 ploughs 
sent to different addresses from Philippeville were all for Arabs. 
The Vice-Consul at Philippeville draws attention to the marbles 
of Algeria, which, he regrets, are not more widely known. The 
quarries of Chemtoll, he says, produce the most beautiful onyx 
marbles in the world. The interior of the new town-hall at 
Constantine is decorated with them, and the grand staircase 
and reception rooms are lavishly adorned with the most 
delicately veined and coloured onyx. A new quarry has been 
discovered near Ain M’lila, from which he has seen specimens 
of pure white, rose, and yellow onyx quite uniform in tinting. 
China. — The Trade of Manchuria.— The report of the 
Commissioner of Customs at Niu-chwang for the past year 
states that Manchuria has recovered from its troubles, and has 
resumed the interrupted task of development. The Russians 
suppressed the piracy prevailing on the Liao River, so that the 
vast quantities of produce, especially beans, accumulated close 
to that stream were able to make their way down to the coast. 
Railways aided in reviving trade by bringing down produce and 
carrying imports inland, especially while the river was low and 
the Chinese required their draught animals on their farms. But 
when the winter came on the older modes of transport prevailed ; 
the Manchurian railway is not yet able to cope with the require- 
ments of trade, and goods sent by cart are more certain to 
arrive punctually. The river, however, remains the chief route 
for produce. “No one,” says the Commissioner, “who 
traverses the great and wealthy plain of Central Lower 
Manchuria can think that any single, or even double, line of 
railway can carry away its vast productions and bring in its 
large requirements, as well as deal with the passenger traffic, 
foreign and native, which is already a prominent feature of the 
Russian line. . . . When the railways have carried all that 
their capacities permit, there will still remain ample freight for 
the river boats.' The foreign imports amounted to 2J millions 
sterling, and the foreign exports to over three millions. The 
principal goods arriving at the port in direct steamers are 
Japanese cotton goods and yarn, Indian yarn (a very large item), 
Japanese coal and matches, American flour, and Hong Kong 
sugar. Japanese coal is increasing very rapidly in Manchuria. 
The coastwise steamers carry large quantities of American drills, 
jeans, and sheetings. These three items formed a third of the 
total foreign imports of Niu-chwang. This trade in American 
piece-goods has grown with extraordinary rapidity in Manchuria. 
Next in importance comes Indian yarn, which seems to have 
captured the market, the English and Japanese 3 r arns being in 
small favour comparatively. Native cotton doth still plays the 
main part in clothing the people of the province, and it is to this 
quarter the foreign manufacturer must look to find his chief 
competitor. The Commissioner quotes, with approval, the 
remarks of the Blackburn Commission on the production of 
native hand-made goods: — “The sooner we drop the fond 
illusion that we, and other competing countries, clothe China’s 
millions, and grasp the fact that, as regards the trade in foreign 
piece-goods, every province of the country is an undeveloped 
market, the more hope shall we have for the future of our trade 
in the Far East. The fact is, we do not clothe China’s millions ; 
they clothe themselves, the purchasing power of the individual 
deciding whether he does or does not wear garments made from 
foreign cotton.” In Manchuria the people are comparatively 
prosperous, and probably use more foreign piece-goods in pro- 
portion than those of the 18 provinces. 
Japan (Nagasaki).— British Trade in Machinery 
and Metals with Japan. — The preponderance of British 
machinery and metals in the imports of these articles to Japan is 
shown in the last report of our Consul at Nagasaki, He says 
that, while all the cranes and drilling machinery were imported, 
without exception, from this country, the shares of the other 
exporting countries — Germany and the United States — in other 
classes of machinery were insignificant. The entire trade in 
metals also is, practically, in the hands of the British producer, 
although Germany and Belgium have a small share, the compe- 
tition of the United States, which at one time appeared to be 
assuming formidable proportions, having entirely died out, 
except iron nails, in which that country has a monopoly. Of 
the total imports to Nagasaki last year, over 92 per cent, were 
British. Mr. Forster, however, says it is to be regretted that the 
British producer, apparently, still fails to grasp the importance 
of supplying an article of uniformly good quality and in accord- 
ance with the specifications of the purchaser. Thus, in the case 
of a large order for iron pipes that was recently placed in the 
United Kingdom, the goods were found on arrival to be, in 
numerous instances, defective. Cooling cracks, uneven casting, 
and rough finish were observable, and the pitch and sizes of the 
holes were, in many cases, not according to specification. As 
an illustration of the careless manner in which these pipes were 
manufactured, it was noticed that in some of the flanged pipes 
the depth of the neck behind the flange was much greater in one 
half of the circumference than in the other, showing that the 
two halves of the pattern were dissimilar. The superiority of 
British manufactured goods is generally admitted by Japanese 
purchasers ; but the producers have only themselves to blame 
if, owing to such avoidable causes as this, orders in the future 
are placed in other countries. 
Norway.— Commercial Condition.— From the reports 
of the British Consular officers in Norway it appears that the 
past year has not been a favourable one for trade and industry. 
There was some stagnation as a result of the financial crisis of 
1899, and, for the first time since 1894, there was a considerable 
decline in the import and export trade. In agriculture the year 
was a good average one ; but fisheries, one of the most im- 
portant staple industries, proved bad, although the good prices 
obtained helped to improve matters somewhat. The industries 
generally have been depressed ; ice exporters had a bad year, 
