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“...rose fully 15 per cent.
Sheep's wool Sheep's wool is the staple export of Tientsin. The
great bulk of it goes to the United States for carpets, smaller quantities
being shipped to Japan, and also to the United Kingdom The business
in 1907 proved disastrous for exporters, and large fortunes were lost in
speculative ventures. At the close of that year accumulations of sheep's
wool were reported from markets throughout the world, while with
the general depression in trade and restricted credit, mills were shut
down, and the demand thus further curtailed. It was estimated
that the loss to shippers on the year's purchases must have amounted
to about one-third of the landed price after American duties had been
paid. Operations in sheep's wool were the main cause of the failure
of one of the oldest and largest German firms in Tientsin. The year
1908 opened with large stocks and low prices in Tientsin, but from
July onwards the shipments gave profitable returns to speculators.
The volume of business...”
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“...Peking-Kalgan
Railway, and is also exported to the coast and river ports of China.
A quantity of some 280,000 tons annually finds its way to Tientsin
for disposal to local consumers and to native craft navigating the
Grand Canal and other inland waterways. A very large proportion of the:
output is taken by the Imperial Railways of North China, the Peking-
Kalgan Railway, and the various steamship lines. The coal is
bituminous, lump and slack, and in its various grades is utilised by steel
makers, mills, locomotives, steamships, brickmakers, and for household
purposes. Steamers visiting the Pei-ho River take their coal at
Tongshan wharf or from lighters outside the Taku Bar. The river is
closed by ice during three months of the year, when all shipping
business is transacted through the port of Chingwangtao. This is an
ice-free port with a fair harbour in the Gulf of Chihli, connected by
a 4-mile branch with the Imperial Railways of North China. It is
85 miles distant from the Kaiping collieries...”
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