According to a statement made by Mr. Dai En-kin, managing director of the company, to the ,5hanghai Evening Post, new fast Locklieed Electra 'planes will be used, making it possible to cover the 500 miles from Chungking to Yun.nan Fu, by way of Kwei-yang, in two hours and a half. Strikes in America, however, may delay delivery of the new craft. This air line will bethe first direct connection between Yun nan and the rest of China by modern transport, as the present railway runs by way of French Indo.China. In view of the mountainous country to be traversed, the use of multi-motored aeroplanes seemed advisable. Consequently the new Electras, with a cruising speed of close on 200 miles an hour, have two engines.

Canton Plans Airline to Hainan and Nanning: Preparations for the establishment of the Canton-Hainan-Nanning aeroplane service by the South-west Aviation Company are now in progress, according to reports from Canton. Trial flights have been successfully completed and service is expected to commence early in the auturun.

Shanghai-Soochow Highway Opened: The steady improvement of highway facilities in the immediate neighbourhood of Shanghai continued all through August, the most important innovation being the opening of a new road to connect the port with Soochow on August 7. The route is via the Hangchow highway to a point just beyong Cha-pu, where the new road turns off. It passes through Ping-hu and Ka-hsing en route. The road surface is reported to be good and the entire trip of 131 miles can be made in four hours.

In the 'same vicinity, the Shanghai-Wusib highway is to be completed before October 10, according to an order the Kiangsu Provincial Government issued recently. The road will touch Chen-ju, Nan-ziang, Ka-ting, Tai-chong and Chang-shu en routS, and will open a more direct Shanghai-to-Nanking highway than the present one by way of Hangcliow.

In Chekiang two bus lines have been inaugurated to help travellers. One is from Tze-ki to Lo-to Chiao, west of Ningro, which began operation on August 3, and the other connects Feng-hua and Hsin-chong, scheduled to open some time in August. This last road, running south-west from Ningpo, is roughly parallel to, but some distance from, the Chekiang-Kiangsi Railway, and opens up considerable new territory in the centre of the province.

TELEPHONES

Shanghai Telephone Company Expands: Telephones in use in the International Settlement and the French Concession of Shanghai totalled 50,588 on March 1, 1934, according to a report recently issued by the Shanghai Telephone Company. The total showed an increase of 15,188 telephones in forty-two months. In August, 1930, the figure stood at 34,700. In the same period, in addition to the increased number of instruments in use, six new buildings were opened, automatic equipment installed for 41,400 lines, and all sub-scribers in the International Settlement and the French Concession converted to the use of the dial. The entire work was done in about five-sixths of the time allowed by the franchise, while the capital required amounted to nearly $27,000,000.

Although the normal annual growth of installed telephones is from five to eight per cent. in most cities, Shanghai registered year]y increase of slightly more than ten per cent. during the period under review, and the demand continues. Last year it was necessary to place 800 new lines in the exchanges, and many thousands of feet of cable, both overhead and underground, of sizes containing from fourteen to 1,200 pairs of wires.

Tal Shan To Have Telephone Service : Modern telephone service linking the summit of Tai Slian, sacred mountain near Tai-an, Shantung, with the cities of the plains may soon be possible. General Han Fu-chu, Governor of Shantung, has issued orders for the work to be done immediately.