technical expert of the Ministry of Communications. In December of the same year, this position was substantiated for him. Mr. Hsia held it until September 1916 when he was promoted to acting inspector. In less than a month's time, the new position was substantiated by a Presidential Mandate. The successive positions Mr. Hsia held in the Ministry of Communications before August 1914 were: deputy for the prospecting of lines; member of the electrical department, the engineering department, mechanical department; chief of construction section of the drawing office; and associate member of the Railway Terminology Commission. In August 1914 he was appointed assistant chief of the engineering section of the railway department. In December of the same year, he was sent as special delegate of the Ministry of Communications, to attend the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, and was one of the vice-chairman of the Jury of Awards. In the capacity of the delegate of the Ministry Mr. Hsia attended the International Engineering Congress, International Educational Congress, International Irrigation Congress, the Convention of the American Railway Engineering Association, the Convention of the American Mechanical Engineering Association, and the Convention of the Society of Testing Materials. While in America Mr. Hsia also visited the Eastern States to study highway administration, electrical works, municipal administration, and industrial activities. He returned to China in February, 1916. Three months after his return, he was again sent to the United States to study railway engineering. Upon his second return to China in August 1916, he was made the chief of the section of efficiency of works of the railway department. In November, he was appointed a member of the Communication Conference. In January 1917, he was appointed a member of the Commission for the Examination of the Railway Cadets. In April 1917, he was appointed the chief of the Canton-Samshui Railway Administration. In September 1917, he was made one of the members of the Commission for the Study of Communications, two months later, a member of the Commission for Drafting of Railway Laws, and in December, became a member of the Commission of the Study of Railway Technics. In April 1918, Mr. Hsia was transferred to Hankow as the resident chief of the Hankow office of the Peking-Hankow railway. In May he was made a member of the Railway Transportation Commission. In August 1918, he was appointed by the Tuchun of Hupeh as its councillor. In March 1920, he was relieved from the position of inspector of the Ministry of Communications. In April 1920, Mr. Hsia received the appointment of councillorship from the office of the High Industrial Commissioner. In November 1920, Mr. Hsia was appointe:l chief of the Hankow land development department of the Peking-Hankow railway. In February 1921, he received the Third order of Chiaho. In November 1922 he was appointed a special member of the commission for the study of international communications in connection with China's participation in the Washington Conference. In 1923 he became a section chief in the Ministry of Communications.
