Notwithstanding the civil war， the trade of China reached a highfigure in 1926. The Customs revenue of Shanghai， excluding faminerelief surtax， increased by Hk. Tls. 6，68 2，443 over 1925. The totalrevenue of Hk. Tls. 32，705，651 meant that 41. 81 per cent of the totalCustoms revenue was furnished by Shanghai. As pointed out in theCustoms Report for 1927， on account of the general political upheavalin China， there was a marked decline in the revenue for that year. Thetotal amount collected under import duty was Hk. Tls. 34 ，903，322，a decrease of Hk. Tls. 7，951，705 as compared with 1926. A totalof Hk. Tls. 25，46 1，617 was collected on exports， a decrease on thecollection of 1926 of Hk. Tls. 802，170. The percentage of the totalrevenue furnished by Shanghai was 37 .34 per cent. Shipping made aremarkable recovery， and placed Shanghai in the list of the first six orseven principal ports of the world.
A good deal of the increased trade was due to the growth ofJapan"s commercial interests in China. Japanese manufacturers andmerchants enjoy special advantages through cheapness of labour，proximity to China， and a greater intimacy with the customs of thepeople with whom they deal， and hence are formidable competitors ofthe merchants of other countries.
Deaths of Prominent CitizensSome prominent citizens passed away during this period. Thefirst of these was Mr. John Prentice， on April 30th， 1925. He was oneof Shanghai"s oldest and most respected residents， having lived in theSettlement for more than fifty years. In connection with the ShanghaiDock and Engineering company， he became one of the most widelyknown shipbuilders in the Far East. He was interested in all thatmade for the welfare of the community， and took a prominent part inSettlement affairs.
The next to follow was the Rev. G. H. Bondfield， D. D.， who hadresided in China for over forty years， and had done a fine piece of workin connection with the British and Foreign Bible Society. Retiring fromShanghai on account of ill health， he passed away in Bournemouth，England， in November， 1925. While in Shanghai he had taken a keeninterest in the educational work of the Municipality.
The death of Mr. Henry Lester， Shanghai"s multi-millionaire，occurred on May 14th， 1926. He came to Shanghai in 1863 or 1864
as an architect and land surveyor. His wealth was almost entirely due tohis investments in land in the early days.
According to the terms of his will， large bequests were made tothe Trustees of the Holy Trinity Cathedral for replacing and rebuildingthe present Cathedral School， Deanery and Church House， and anendowment was left for the School.
The large sum of Tls. 2，000，000 was bequeathed to the ShantungRoad Hospital for rebuilding and endowment， the hospital thereafterto be called “The Lester Chinese Hospital.”
Tls. 200，000 were left to St. Luke"s Hospital.
The following institutions were also benefited by his will： “TheInstitution for the Chinese Blind，“ ”The Children"s Refuge，“ ”TheLittle Sisters of the Poor，“ ”The Shanghai Missions to Ricshamen，“ and“St. Joseph"s Asylum for the Poor.”
An Institute to be known as “The Henry Lester Institute forMedical Education and Research“was to be erected and equipped at acost of Tls. 400，000， and endowed.
A school to be known as “The Lester School” for 300 scholarsor more， both Chinese and foreign， but especially Chinese， was to beerected at a cost of Tls. 500，000， and to be endowed.
Dr. C. J. Davenport， Superintendent of the Shantung RoadHospital， died suddenly on September 4th， 1926. He arrived asa medical missionary in China in 188 9， being stationed first inChungking and then in Wuchang. In 1904 he came to the ShantungRoad Hospital and did valuable work in the development of that usefulinstitution.
During the year 1927 there were two deaths that call for specialnotice. The first was that of Mrs. Mary Houston Allen who died onMay 14th. She was the widow of the well-known missionary educator，Dr. Young J. Allen， already mentioned in these pages， and arrived inShanghai with her husband in 186 0. Thus her life in the Settlementextended over a period of nearly 67 years.
The second was that of Dr. Gilbert Reid， the founder of theInternational Institute， who died on October 7th. He came to Chinaas a missionary in 188 2. He was a man of many activities， and tookas his special work a mission among the higher class Chinese. Outof this grew the International Institute， established in Shanghai in1902. His great aim was to promote cordial relations between Chineseand foreigners and to bring about better mutual understanding.
The buildings of the Institute on Avenue Joffre were erected bycontributions secured in China， England， Europe and America.
Owing to the Great War， and changed political conditionsin China， the activities of the Institute in recent years have beenconsiderably curtailed.
