The fact that one of the Settlements， the American， which becamea part of the International sections Settlement in 1863 ， lay to thenorth of the Soochow Greek， made better communication between thetwo sections necessary. At first the only way of crossing the SoochowCreek was by ferry， and this of course was inconvenient， especiallyin inclement weather. The need of a bridge was apparent， and in thefirst instance it was supplied by a man named wills who organized theSoochow Creek Bridge company. A bridge known as Wills Bridge， nota very sightly structure， was erected in 1856 at a cost of ＄12，000. It hada span of 450 feet， and a drawbridge in the centre that could be openedfor the passage of boats. The company made a great profit from thetolls collected from those using the bridge， and claimed it had receiveda charter from the Taotai giving it a right to this monopoly for twentyfiveyears. The public， however， protested， and denied the authority ofthe Taotai to grant any such charter. When the company attemptedthe erection of a new iron bridge in 1871， two poles gave way and thepart of the bridge that had been completed sank into the river. Someyears later the Council obtained control， first， by erecting a free bridgeby the side of the company"s， and later by buying out the company，and erecting what was known as the Garden Bridge. This first woodenbridge was replaced by the present structure in 1906.
When the first Garden Bridge was built the authorities of theSettlement were of the opinion that the Taotai might be willing to helppay for public improvements of benefit to the whole community—
Chinese and foreign alike—and he was asked to contribute one-halfthe cost. This he very positively declined to do， and the Municipalitylearnt that it must be self-supporting， and could not expect the Chineseauthorities to pay for the expense of protecting the Settlements or tocontribute for their upkeep.
Street Lighting
At first， the streets were lit at night with oil lamps， and werenearly as dark as those within the city walls. In 1864 ， the ShanghaiGas company was formed and obtained permission to lay mains， andthus after 1865 gas was used for street lighting. There was considerableobjection to this improvement on the part of the land renters as itincreased their rates， and did not add much in the way of illumination，the lamps being placed a hundred yards apart.
Hospitals
During the early days of the International Settlement， the revenueof the Municipal Council was not sufficient to allow it to spendmuch on public works or to establish institutions for the benefit ofthe community， and a good deal was left to private enterprise. Wesee this especially in connection with the development of hospitals.
Health conditions were poor， due to stagnant pools， to lack of properdrainage and to the unsanitary habits of the Chinese population. Attimes the death rate was exceedingly high， and there were frequentepidemics of cholera， smallpox and typhoid. The need of betterhospital accommodation became urgent. In 186 2 Shanghai had twohospitals for foreigners， the Shanghai Hospital and Dispensary， andthe Marine Hospital. These proving to be insufficient， shares were soldfor the establishment of a General Hospital. A sum of Tls. 31.000 wassubscribed and trustees were appointed. The new hospital was firstsituated between the West Gate and the Ningpo Guild （popularlyknown as the Ningpo Joss House）。 The patients were cared for by theSisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul， many of whom rendereddevoted service.
As years went by it became necessary for the Municipal Gouncil toassist in the support of this enterprise， and to make an annual donationtowards its maintenance. In this way the large General Hospital， nowstanding on the north side of the Soochow Creek， between Chapooand North Szechuen Roads， came into existence.
Gaols
The need of a gaol was soon realized， for Shanghai from the starthad to cope with a criminal class. Sailors on shore often gave serioustrouble， and the influx of Chinese into the Settlements brought manyof the undesirable class.
The first gaol to be erected was on the grounds of the BritishConsulate， in 1856 。 Being the only foreign prison in existence it hadto serve for all criminals， and we find that “by courtesy Americancriminals were confined there as well as the English，“ the AmericanGovernment having made no provision for a gaol. In 1868 a newBritish gaol was erected on Amoy Road near the junction of theDefence and Soochow Creeks， where it still stands.
