193 THE BRITISH NORTH BORNEO HERALD. [Se pt. 1, 1909.
NOTES OCCASIONAL.
Db. v a n Ri i e d e n has arrived to join the staff of ' ihe B. B. Petroleum Syndicate.
A Br id g e tournament at Sandakan Club has been won by Messrs. Johnston and Apel.
Th e La w n Te n n i s To u r n a me n t has at last been concluded. We hope to publish results in our next issue.
We regret to hear that the publication of the Labuan Observer, which had only reached its third issue, has ceased.
We hear that Mr. P. Butler has joined the Government Service and will open up the new Government Rubber Estate.
We are informed that the Government Estate at Membakut has been sold and that a new Estate is now being opened near Bongawan.
Th e stall’ of the B. B. Petroleum Syndicate left by the s.s. Marudu for the West Coast to prospect in the neighbourhood of Nosong Point.
Mb. G. C. Ir v in g returned to Sandakan by the s.s. Darrel on 29th nit, having completed his walk over the telegraph rentis from Sandakan to Tenom.
' We regret to hear that the s.s. Fiume, which has /piled here several times for bunker coal, ran aground ..‘ar-Balabac and again near:Cebu. We-understand that she was so badly injure? it ha« been necessary to condemn her.
Th e Rev. W. H. Elton left for Kudat on the s.s.
Marudu on 21st ult. und will, we understand, meet the Bishop on the West Coast. During the vicar’s absence Mr. R. Bryett Turner iB acting as lay reader and con- ducts the Sunday evening services.
We beg to offer our respeotf ul congratulations to the Government Secretary and Mrs. Pearson upon the birth of u daughter, and to II. E. the Governor and Mrs. Gueritz upon the birth of a grand-daughter, as announced under “ Domestic Occurrences.”
II. E. t h e Go v e r n o r has been notified that the Dutch authorities are about to establish a station at or near the Kuala Pajungan, a tributary of the Bahau which is itself a tributary of the Bulongan.
From the map the place appears to be some dist- ance from our boundary.
We hear that, the s.s. Hc>m and the s.s. Fri called in at Sandakan for bunker coal on 29th iust. and were both cleared the same day. We congratulate the Cowie Harbour Coal Co. and their Sandakan Agents upon this smart piece of work. The value of a coaling Port depends, to a great extent, upon the celerity with which ships can be cleared.
Mr. a n d Mr s. Ne w s o n’s child was christened at St. Michaels Church on 17th August bv the Vicar, Rev. W. II. Elton and was named Phyllis Irene News >n Dr. Robert llirsch was godfather and the godmothers were Mrs. Robert llirsch and Mrs. Van
riinsehot.
After the cereniouy a reception was held at Strauu House.
Mr s. Gu e r it z gave a very enjoyable picnic to Taganac on Saturday, 21st ult. The party left Sanda- kan on the C.S.Y. Prt:rl about 2 o'clock and returned about 8 o’clock. On the return journey a game which was new to most of us and which consists of filling in a
“ Press Letter ” with the names of periodicals, 4c., was played. Mrs. Gueritz kindly presented two prizes of silvar penholders, which were' won by Mrs. McEnroe and Mr. Turner.
Th e Ge n e r a l Ma n a g e r of the New London Borneo Tobacco Co., Ltd. through the Resident, Kudat, requests us to contradict a misleading statement which appeared in our issue of 16th August in a paragraph with reference to the tobacco crop for this year in which it was stated “ in fact an almost record crop is expected."
We now learn that, although the General Manager is satisfied with the crop, it is far from beiug a record crop.
Th e Court of Directors have sent out to the Mem- bakut Estate a supply of seeds of the new Rubber .tree, the Manihot Dichotoma, with which a few acres
will be planted as an experiment.
It i9 claimed for this tree that 1,200 trees can be planted to the acre, that trees can be tapped when three years old and that the latex contains from 70 to 92 per cent, of caoutchouc.
The result of the experiment will doubtless be of great interest to planters here.
Ma j o r Ha r in g t o n has supplied us with the fol- lowing statement of account regarding the tombstone erected to the memory of the late Lieut. Atkin.
THE: “ ATKIN MEMORIAL.”
By collections $273.00 1. Treasurer—on a/c cost stone and
charges $247.50 2. Ah Pong—photos 9.00
Cooly hire 0.50
Bank charge Behn, Meyer & Co. 1.00 Cost of erecting stone 15 00 Total $273.00 Th e Sa n d a k a n Ic e: a n d Ae r a t e d Wa t e r Co., Lt d.—The Second Annual meeting of the Shareholders of this Company was held at the Offices of the Com- pany on 25th August.
The Report submitted states that the business of the Compauy continues to improve slowly but regrets that the results are not of a more favourable nature.
Considerable cost has been incurred in maintenance and repairs owing to some of the machinery proving rather too light for the work required of it but it is anticipated that, this item will be considerably reduced duriug the coming year. The accounts show u consi- derable loss on the year’s working.
Th e Sa ba h St e a ms h i p Co., Lt d.—The l.‘»th Annual meeting of the Shareholders of the Sabah Sieamship Co. was held at the offices of the Company at Sandakan on 25th August.
From the Report presented by the Directors it appears that the profit for the year was §6,235.13, from which it is proposed to pay a dividend of 6" „ and to carry forward $235.13 to a new Profit und Loss Account.
The Directors have been able to redeem, during the past year,the balance of the 1st Issue of Debenture Bonds.
It is stated that the operations of the Company’s boats had been unremunerative but that the South Philippines Steamship Co. had a fairly successful year.
Se pt. J, 1909.] THE BRITISH NORTH BORNEO HERALD. 194 Se k o n g Ru bbe r.—The directors have decided
to issue the remaining 7,493 unissued shares and offer the same to the shareholders pro rata to their holdings at 21s. per share. The circular states a factory and drying house have been erected. The 'labour force has been gradually increased as accommodation was provided, by successive drafts of coolies from Java, and tapping on a larger scale is now proceeding. During the six months, and prior to the arrival of the machinery on the estate, 5,855 lbs. of rubber have been received in London and sold at an average price of 6s. OJd. per lb. Mr. Bruce reports the growth of the trees is remarkably good. A commencement has been made in felling and clearing an additional 400 acres.—The L. 8f C. Express.
II. E. t h e Go v e r n o r has received information from Vice Admiral The Hon. Hedworth Lamb- ton K.c.v.o., c.b., that, according to present arrange- ments, H.M.S. Flora will visit Labuan, Jesselton and Sandakan about the end of September or beginning of October.
The L. C. Express of 16th July states that the Flora is to be re-commissioned at Colombo and that Capt. John Nicholas has been appointed to the command of the Flora as relief of Capt. Nugent.
Capt. Nicholas (promoted Capt. in June 1906) was a midshipman of the Monarch at the bombardment of Alexandria, 1882, and during the Egyptian War (medal with clasp and the Khedive’s Star); was senior lieutenant of the Powerful during the South’African War and, for his service was promoted Commander.
Th e Sarawak Government Gazette of 16th August contains the following Notification:—
On leaving Sarawak this month for England I have authorized The Hon’ble H. R. A. Day to be my Deputy to attend to ull outside correspondence and to administer the Government until His Highness The Rajah Muda returns from England. During his and my absence there will be a pro tern: assembly appoint- ed for the Resident and Treasurer to meet the Datus to Consult with them about any matters that muy require attention. I would request the community to consider the Hon’ble The Resident, H. R. A. Day and the Hon’ble The Treasurer, F. H. Dallas as my two representatives in the country till His Highness the Rajah Muda arrives when the Supreme Council will be again assembled under his administration.
C. Br o o k e,
, Rajah
Kuching, Sarawak, 14th August, 1909.
Sa i’On g Ru bbe r a n d To ba c c o.—The report states the 1907 tobacco crop realised ±‘4,722, und the sum ohargeuble amounts to ±6,032, showing a loss of ±1,309. After deducting from this the bulanoe forward of ±863, there remains a loss to carry forward of ±445. The crop of 1907 consisted of 700 bales from 80 fields, as compared with 762 bales produced in 1906 from 80 fields. The price obtained was o 60} per half kilo, as compared with e.l 13} obtained for 1906 crop. The 1908 crop from 110 fields has produced 825 bales, of which 295 have been sold at Amsterdam at c.76;] per half kilo. It is proposed to plant during 1909 about 150 fields. Ou April 30 737 acres hud been planted with rubber trees, and a further 153 acres had been felled. The total number of trees is now about 122,000. The directors consider it advisable to issue the remainder of the company’s capital, and shareholders were offered ±28,622 Six per Cent. First Mortgage Debenture Stock at par., carrying an optiou of conversion into Ordinary shares. The issuo was subscribed.—The L. $ C. Express.
We have been requested by the Secretary of the North Borneo Chamber of Commerce to publish the following :—
At the Second Annual General Meeting of the Members of the North Borneo Chinese Chamber of Commerce held at Sandakan, the following were elected members of committee for the period July, ISHt'J to June, 1910:
President: Kweli Sui Thong.
Vice-President: Kwan Woon Kwong.
lion. Secretary : Lam Man Ching.
lion. Treasurer : Lao Long Tlieng.
Committee : Koh Kim Hin, Go Buck Lim, Lo Tin Hin and Mak Chee Sang.
Sub-Committee: Tan Chiap Pow, Sim Chong Klioon, Kweli Tsz Kia, Phoa Tean Seng. Aug Keng Jinn. Lao Mali Soo, Kweli Tlieng Joon, Lai Pong Plioon, Cheong Yao Kee, Lee Chun Lam, Lee Yan Kee, Thomi Pak Tung, Lam Yew Thong, Tan Poli Koo, Chew Chun Cheong and Kah Mow Kap.
For Kudat: Chan Cheong Nam and Lo Tin Clunk.
For Jesselton: Chin Sam Loong and Teh Bee Yong.
For Lahad Datu: LaniWanCliung andSohEngHo.
For Tawao: Plioon Cheong Sui and Sim Kia Kee.
Ar the half-yearly meeting of the British North Borneo Company an interesting apereu of the material resources of the country was made by the managing director, Mr. W. C. Cowie. He gave a list, for instauec, of the rubber companies which are planting in the territory. These companies have raised about half a million sterling of capital, and their expenditures have assisted the revenues of the company. Mr. Cowie looked forward to the time when these companies will be pro- ducing rubber, when they will expend much more than they do at present. He looked to that day because each would then spend four or five times as much as it does now; “ and, as the bulk of our revenue is derived indireotly from the expenditure of money in our territory, our receipts should then be considerably augmented.” At present only one of the eight com- panies established in the country is producing rubber, but the prices it has realised on the occasion of its last two sales indicate that Borneo rubber cun hold its own with that produced in other parts of Malaya. More- over, the growth of trees in Borneo seems to fully equal, or surpass, the proportions attained in a given time in other parts of the Archipelago. It is small reason for wonder, therefore, that Mr. Cowie called pointed atten- tion to the price at which the shares in Borneo rubber companies stand in comparison with some of the pheno- menal quotations attained by companies in the Malay Peninsula.—L. $ C. Express.
Books Received.
We have to acknowledge, with thanks, the receipt of the following books published by Messrs. Greening’s Colonial Library:—
The Spitfire by Edward Peple.
The Tragedy of a Flirtation by H. B. Vogel.
Rubber Land near Jesselton.
The Chief Government Surveyor in the course of a report on a. visit to the West Coast in search of land suitable for rubber planting writes:—
I also examined land directly behind Jesselton at a distance of say 2 miles, the greater part of which distance has already a good road ; this land is of a very- open nature being rough grass aud scrub with very- little real jungle but the land is excellent and, altnoug'h somewhat cut up with swampy valleys, mostly drumable, would I think make a very excellent rubber estate of about 1,500 acres; its nearness to Jesselton should be a very great inducement to any small company to a: <>ncu start operations.
