Singapore. On the Hongkong route, there is a regular line of thirteen steamers, and on the Singapore line, nine steamers. In addition to these, there is quite a fleet of tramp boats. At Hongkong and Singapore, close connections are made with steamers from San Francisco and New York. If goods are sent by proper routes, bulk need be broken only once-at Hongkong or Singapore. All boxes, bales, and packages should be marked with reference to transshipment at these points. For all exporters on the Atlantic coast or east of the Mississippi River, the cheapest and quickest way is via New York; for those on the Pacific coast, the best way is, of course, via San Francisco, Portland, or Puget Sound cities. Two or three steamers leave New York every month direct for Singapore and Shanghai, and afford the best facilities for that route; but if shipments are sent via Europe by steamers which belong to lines that also run to the Far East, equally low rates can often be obtained. From the Pacific coast, steamers for Hongkong leave every week, and competition has lowered the freight rates. Letters from New York or San Francisco require about forty days to reach Bangkok and ninety days for answers. Telegraph facilities exist, but the average rate to the United States is $1.50 gold per word. THE FUTURE OF SIAM. in conclusion and in response to the question, "What of the future of Siam?" I would say that the permanent prosperity and independence of the country depend on the developments of the next few years. The King Chulalongkorn I—has just returned from an extended trip to Europe, in which he must have seen and learned much that will assist him in improving his own Kingdom. He is a man who has the respect of foreigners and natives alike. He is easily the ablest statesman of Siam, and well fitted to be its ruler. Siam is making marked progress and, after Japan, is more open to new ideas than any other Asiatic nation. American exporters and manufacturers should do all in their power to establish and maintain a large and lucrative trade exchange with Siam. JOHN BARRETT, Minister Resident and Consul-General. BANGKOK, January 14, 1898. COFFEE IN THE STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. I inclose, with the suggestion that it be published for the information of the trade, copy of a report on the production and preparation of coffee, made at my request by Mr. T. Gibson, secretary of the United Planters' Association of the Federated Malay States, and transmitted to me through the colonial secretary. SINGAPORE, January 30, 1898. E. SPENCER PRATT, Area under cultivation (approximate) and estimated crops to end of 1899. The coffee berries are picked when ripe and are passed through a pulper with water, and thus the pulp is more or less separated from the beans, which are then run into a cistern and, after the water has drained off, are left to ferment for three to four days. This fermentation having made the saccharine matter on the beans soluble, water is run into the cistern and the beans washed until it has entirely disappeared. The beans at this stage are known as parchment, and this, on being taken from the cistern, is dried either on mats in the sun or by artificial dryers, to such a state that on being hit with a hammer it breaks into pieces. After this, the parchment is run through a peeler, which removes both the parchment skin and the silver skin within that, and more or less polishes the bean, which is now ready for the market. Hitherto, the coffee produced in the Federated Malay States has not been sized or graded, only picked over to remove broken or black beans; but sizing is certain to become general in the immediate future. NATIVE METHOD OF PREPARATION. No great care is taken by the native growers to see that only ripe coffee is picked, and consequently there is always a large proportion of green, unripe berries in their pickings. This coffee is crushed between two corrugated wooden rollers, with small strips of iron at intervals on the corrugations. After this, the pulp and beans are spread out to dry in the sun, generally on the ground, mats being seldom used; and the coffee is frequently exposed to all conditions of weather before it is ready for cleaning, which is done by means of rice stampers worked by coolies. As the native-cured coffee is never dried to within 20 per cent of the European coffee, the result, after pounding, is generally an evil-smelling, dirty-colored bean. No sizing is ever attempted, and little picking. * MARKETING. Hitherto, the clean coffee has simply been packed in bags and shipped to Singapore for sale, and, as long as prices were high, as in 1895 and 1896, when No. 1 Liberian fetched $40 to $47 per picul (1331⁄2 pounds), against $38 to $45 for Bali and Palembang, planters were satisfied; but when No. 1 Liberian fell in 1897 to $25 per picul and Bali and Palembang coffee remained at $40, it became evident that some other market for estate coffee must be found, the more so as there were good grounds for thinking that the main cause of the fall in estate coffee was through the mixing of the estate-grown coffee with the native grown and cured article, which was then shipped to Europe and America as "Straits merchantable." To obviate this pernicious practice and insure our coffee reaching the home consumers unmixed, many planters sent their parchment all the way to Ceylon, where it was peeled and packed in the manner coffee Arabica was treated years ago in that island, and, it is said, the experiment has been successful in every case. Efforts are now being made, with every prospect of success, to start central curing establishments at Klang and Port Dickson, and this will undoubtedly tend to place our coffee in a pure and unadulterated form before the public, where it can stand or fall on its own merits. BANKING ENTERPRISE IN KOREA. I have the honor to inclose an extract from the Kobé Chronicle of February 5, pertaining to the Russo-Korean Bank. Two gentlemen are now located in Seoul in connection with this bank, which has already received $100,000 of the money of the Korean Government, and will soon begin a regular banking business. SEOUL, February 15, 1898. HORACE N. ALLEN, THE RUSSO-KOREAN BANK. [From the Kobé Chronicle, Saturday, February 5, 1898.] A telegram from St. Petersburg, appearing in the Times, says: "The new RussoKorean Bank is a companion institution of the Russo-Chinese Bank, which was established here two years ago. Both banks are substantially the same, being founded and managed by the same persons and intended for the same purposes in China and Korea, under the supreme control and direction of the Russian Minister of Finance. The Russo-Korean Bank is, in fact, only an offshoot of the RussoChinese Bank, and both have sprung out of the Russian International Bank, whose chief director, M. Rothstein, enjoys an extraordinary reputation as the cleverest *Mexican silver currency. friend and adviser of M. Witte, and as such possesses very powerful financial influence. The right and privileges of the new bank are extensive, including the transport of goods by sea, river, and land, the acceptance of merchandise on security, the issue of warrants, the minting of Korean money, the payment of interest on loans contracted by the Korean Government, and the performance of other financial operations and the acquisition of every possible concession with the consent and permission of the Russian Minister of Finance and the Government of Korea. It is needless to say that M. Witte is the presiding spirit over all these financial experiments in the Far East, the political significance of which is obvious.” ELECTRIC RAILROADS IN SEOUL. I have the honor to inform you that a company has been formed in the city of Seoul for lighting the streets and residences with electricity and for operating electric street railroads through the principal thoroughfares. Only the latter will be begun at once. The company, known as the Seoul Electric Company, is composed entirely of Koreans, with the governor of the city as president. They have an exclusive franchise from the Department of Public Works, Agriculture, and Commerce, and have paid in about one-half of the capital of $300,000. This company has made a contract with Mr. H. Collbran, of Denver, the American contractor for the construction of the SeoulChemulpo Railroad, for the construction and equipment of an electric trolley street railroad of the latest and most improved design. The railroad will be about 6 miles in length, and will run from the station of the Seoul-Chemulpo Railroad, through the south gate of the city, along the broad streets, past the new palace and foreign quarter, through the busiest part of the city and the great east gate, to the tomb of the Empress. Mr. Collbran has received a cash payment of $100,000 with his contract, and the work will be rapidly prosecuted. It is regarded as a profitable enterprise, since, with a city of 300,ooo people and no amusements, there will probably be enough passenger traffic from curiosity seekers to make it pay for a year or so, while the people are being educated to the point of regarding the road as a necessity. At present, all the financial ventures of importance in Korea are in the hands of Americans. SEOUL, February 15, 1898. HORACE N. ALLEN, PROGRESS OF THE SIBERIAN RAILWAY. At a combined meeting of the committee of the Siberian Railway and a department of the imperial council, which took place on the 10th of December of the past year, the work in the construction of the Siberian Railway was considered. The construction of the first section of the central Siberian line (including the branch to the town of Tomsk), with the exception of minor unfinished work, is completed; and it is now possible to begin regular traffic. The work on the second section of the central Siberian line, on the Irkoutsk Baikal, on the North Ouroussissky and Perm Kotlass sections is shown as follows: Seven hundred and eighty dessiatines (2,105.76 acres) of forest have been cut down and trunks uprooted, 2,329,000 cubic sagen (29,586,925 cubic yards) of earthwork have been laid, 224,960 square sagen (1,224,782 square yards) of railway embankment have been made, and 12,232 cubic sagen (156,391 cubic yards) of masonry have been completed. The laying of stone and cast-iron piping has been effected on the whole length of the Central Siberian Railway, and about 3,500 sagen (24,500 feet) of piping have been laid on the remaining sections. The construction of large and small bridges, with wooden and metal arches, is complete to the six hundred and thirtieth verst (four hundred and seventeenth mile) of the second section of the central Siberian line, as also on the North Ouroussissky Railway; and besides this, 241 bridges have been constructed on the section beyond the Baikal mountain range. One thousand and twenty-three versts (678.24 miles) of the main and station lines have been laid, of which 853 versts (565.53 miles) have been ballasted. One thousand and two line and station buildings have been erected on these railways. The water supply is opened and 47 stations are being partially supplied. Of sleepers, 1,163,600 are prepared, and 4,495, 100 poods (81,163 tons) of rails and fastenings. There have been completed 32 locomotives and 756 freight cars and platforms. The sections of the North Ouroussissky still in the course of construction will soon be finished. On the 1st of September of the past year, the first through train from Vladivostock arrived at Kharabarovsk. For the construction of a railway ferry across the Baikal Lake, parts of the frame and machinery of a ferry ice cutter and the machinery for a floating dock have been conveyed to the town of Krasnoyarsk and to the village of Listvinnichnoia, where storehouses and workshops are erected. The work of putting the parts of the ferry ice cutter together and of constructing piers on the lake has been begun. For the improvement of the navigation on the rivers Angora, Schilka, Amour, and |