In the 60's the topography oi the area embracing the foreign Concessions was not what it is today. The region between Taku Road and the Haiwanssu. right up to the City, was a vast graveyard, in which successive generations of the wealthier Chinese had been laid to rest. The poorer classes were buried the other side of the river. Beyond the graveyard was land laid under cultivation with millet, etc. Of that expansive burial ground but one small section remains in its original state, and the existence of this little patch is probably unknown to the majority of the residents in the foreign area. It lies off Taku Road, near the British Market, between Bruce Road and Mackenzie's premises, a little bit of quiet and - to intrude a mercenary thought - valuable land surrounded by big business and little business in the shape of Chinese stores. The old gateway, with its two small stone guardians, remains.

The ex-German Concession was simply a huge vegetable garden. To the generation then represented here it was the Cabbage Patch. Even the British Concession was little developed, while the French Concession consisted of the Consulate - on its present site - and about one other building! The British Consulate was situated in the city suburbs, just outside the East Gate. The Consul who came up to relieve Mr. Mungan, it may be noted, found time lying so heavily on his hands that he went out with the Chinese troops, then being drilled under a few foreign officers, in an enterprise against the so-called Ningfei rebels and came back wounded!
Where the Hongkong Bank now stands was the store of Captain Lane, a genial old seadog, and at Watson's Corner stood a small Chinese house with compound in which resided the Superintendent of Police, faithful guardian of a lonely frontier. The present Consulate site accommodated the offices of Dent & Co., whose neighbour, on an otherwise vacant lot, was an old joss house. Opposite Dent & Co. was the residence of M. Startseff. Russell & Co's offices were on the Chartered Bank site. The "princely House" of Ewo came next, whose modesty was just as becoming if less ornate than the office of higher expectations which now graces Victoria Road. Trautman & Co., M. Startseff's (afterwards Hatch, Car,,er's), Mr. Platt, a Manchester representative, J. T. Meadows, Phillips, Moore & Co., Mr. Taylor and the Globe Hotel also occupied premises southward, in the order named.
The Man from Manchester was not one of the pleasantest or the most sociable of persons. He used to lock his gate every night at 8 o'clock, and had a big Mongolian dog which he let loose in the compound. Thereby hangs a tale. Among the residents here at the time was a man with a wooden leg, commonly dubbed "Peglegged" Grant. He came out with a few cases of brandy and a billiard table, and acquired a certain sort of merit and moderate wealth with cards and billiards. He originally hailed from Inverness, and travelled to Tientsin on the steamer on which Mr. Stewart was employed. He was not unduly expansive about his history, but his brother who came out later, was less reticent, and it seemed that the one legged Grant had spent some time in Australia, not necessarily by choice. One eventful night Grant found the Manchester man's gate open, and thought so unique an event justified a friendly call. So he ventured. The dog ventured also. Grant hoisted his wooden leg and interrupted the dog's spring. He happened to carry with him a "Penang lawyer," which then, as now, connoted a formidable stick. The dog it was that died. The M. M. was furious, and threatened legal proceedings. But the Consul dissuaded him. When the building was pulled down later on it was found that the walls were 3 ½ft. thick! The M. M. must have been wary of ghosts.
"Peg legged" Grant afterwards went up to Kiachta. the terrminus of the overland telegraphs, and ran couriers on horseback with telegrams received there and addressed to destinations further south. He also ran a store, and entered into matrimony. His wife was the daughter of a Russian General of considerable means and in due time he (the father inlaw) obligingly passed away. The brother was sent for to assist the opulent but mutilated adventurer, and promptly developed a thirst remarkable even for those prodigious times. "Peg legged" Grant may have got tired of the troubles his brother's passion no doubt provoked, so he shut the delinquent up in a room with a keg of rum. In a couple of weeks the brother had breathed, and sipped, his last.
"Peg legged" Grant soon ran through the money left by his father-in-law, through gambling, presumably. Shortly afterwards he was put under restraint on a charge of forging Russian banknotes, which it was alleged he had had manufactured in Birmingham, and was sentenced by the Russians to 14 years' imprisonment. Nothing was ever heard of him again in these parts.
This is, however, a digression. Kiachta is a long way from the Tientsin Concessions. On the Western side of Victoria Road beginning from the Northern end, was — where the Yokohama Bank now stands — a vacant lot but a store was ultimately built there and was twice burned down. On the new Wayfoong site were the offices of two or three small Russian tea merchants, who sent the tea on camels through Mongolia to Siberia. At the corner of Consular and Victoria Roads was the residence of the Commissioner of Customs, and at the other end of the property, on Taku Road, was the Customs' Junior Mess. On the north side of Consular Road was the office of the elder Sassoon & Co. It was on or near this site that the body of Mr. Abrahams, former Manager of the Company here, was found when new foundations were being dug. This man had a cook, a Bagdad native named Benjamin, and the latter and the compradore discovered on the premises after the manager's death a box with a double bottom. The space between was filled with layers of gold bars. The compradore suggested to the cook that they should split the proceeds and say nothing about the discovery Benjamin, however, had a very remarkable conscience. He argued that the gold probably belonged to the Company, so he advised the Shanghai office of the find. A representative of the firm came up here and took delivery of the lot. Benjamin was promoted from cook to manager. The compradore was dismissed.
Returning to Victoria Road, the premises of Ed. Waller and of “Captain” Henderson adjoined the big Customs property, part of which had not been built upon. Henderson, whose place was where Wilson & Co's, offices now are, had been Captain of one of the opium ships at Woosung in the earlier days. A brother who had made money in Japan died and left it to him, so he started up here as a merchant, building himself a fine dwelling-house. He was the pioneer of the camels' wool trade. He was also the first to bring anthracite coal down to Tientsin from the mines west of Peking. Camels furnished the means of transport, and the cost was Tls. 15 per ton. (The tael was then between 5s.6d. and 6s). Welsh coal, brought out in sailing vessels, was being sold in Shanghai at the same price. Kwanglung Road, by the way, preserves Henderson's memory, for Kwanghlung was his hong name. Opposite Henderson's, where the Belgian Bank now stands, was a former graveyard, used at this time by the youngcr residents as a recreation ground where they played football and other games.
The Germans bought the adjoining site for the Consulate, and the Deutsche Asiatische Bank was in later years erected on this land. The first house built on this side of Victoria Road was that put up by Dr. Ainslie. He was the first doctor to reside in Tientsin. He died there, and a doctor sent down temporarily by the British Legation also died suddenly in this house. It acquired a sinister reputation, and among the Chinese the report was current that it was haunted. The next doctor to arrive, Dr. Fraser, who was left behind by the Admiral at the plea of the residents, did not live in it very long, for he found it was too big for him - he was a bachelor - and left it for a smaller house. It was empty thereafter a long time, and the legend that it was “haunted” spread.
Some ardent spirits among the personnel of an American gunboat that was anchored off the Bund for some time succeeded in laying the spook, however. They boasted that they would make a raid on the house and sleep there one night. The "ghost" was a Chinese malefactor long and earnestly sought by the Authorities who had found it a most convenient hiding place, and had been in the habit of emitting an unearthly yell whenever anybody attempted to indulge their curiosity by a closer inspection of the place. That was the end of the legend.

The Taku Tug and Lighter Company's present site was formerly retained by the British Government, who proposed to build the Consulate upon it. The present site was afterwards obtained, however, and the original lot was for long vacant. On the Bund side a German ultimately put up a small hotel, called the Astor House, the forerunner of the present structure. The first Astor House Hotel was a building on a site south of Bromley Road. The building was of sun dried brick. and contained a few bedrooms, a hall, and billiard table. It was run by a man named Schmidt, who was previously in the Shanghai Astor House. The local hotel was taken over by a German named Gusset, and was rebuilt in the present yard of the Taku Tug and Lighter Co. The premises were enlarged by a Mr. Ritter, who afterwards organised a Company to build the present Astor House. The British Government appeared to be reluctant to sell their lot, and Mr. Stewart repeatedly tried to get it. Finally, as Chairman of the Taku Tug and Lighter Company, he instructed the Secretary of that concern to apply for it, and to urge the Company's need of the ground. They obtained it for about Tls. 1,000 per mou, at the end of the 80s.
The first Tientsin Club stood in modest aloofness west of Taku Road in what is now Mackenzie's compound. It consisted of three rooms - reading, smoking, and billiard rooms - and a wide verandah, at the end of which was the bar, and then a bowling alley. It was quite ample for the needs of the small foreign community, numbering between 50 and 60, including missionaries.
There were, of course, no rickshaws in the place in the old days, and the roads were unmetalled. They were in such a sorry state after a heavy downpour that high sea boots were almost a necessity to anybody on foot. Chairs with four bearers were generally used on the occasions when visits were paid to the city. The Bund, of Foochow poles with stone coping, was built by a man named Richard, who was a Canadian. It terminated at a point just below the offices of the China Merchants' as they stand to day. There was, of course, no bridge over the Haiho below the city, but there was a ferry running not far from the present one