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HONGKONG
until May, 1902, a serious water famine occurred, reducing the inhabitants to great straits, and forcibly bringing home to the Administration the urgent need for increased water storage, which has since been met. The total estimated cost of these works. slightly exceeded two million dollars, but the actual cost largely exceeded that sum.
In November, 1903, Sir Henry Blake left the Colony on appointment to the governor- ship of Ceylon, and the Hon. Mr. F. H. May, C.M.G. (later Sir Henry May, G.c.M.G.), was appointed Administrator pending the arrival of Sir Matthew Nathan, K.C.M.G., who reached the Colony on the 29th July, 1904. Sir Mathew's régime was distinguished by the commencement of the long-projected railway from Kowloon to Canton.
The British section, from Kowloon to the frontier, a distance of 22 miles, wag opened on October 1st, 1910, by Sir Henry May, who was then Administering the Government in the absence on leave of H.E. Sir Frederick Lugard. The Chinese section, 89 miles in length, was completed at the end of September, 1911, when through railway communication was established. The year 1906 will be remembered in the history of the Colony by two calamitous events. On September 18th, a typhoon struck the Colony with terrific force and with such disastrous results as to give it rank as the worst typhoon that the Colony has ever experienced. The Observatory was able to give but very short notice of its approach. The typhoon lasted only two hours, and it was roughly estimated that in that short space of time 10,000 persons lost their lives in the vicinity of the Colony, while the damage done to shipping and property ashore ran into many millions of dollars. A list, admittedly incomplete, compiled by the Harbour Authorities, showed sunk or damaged 67 large vessels, 652 junks, 51 lighters, and 70 launches. No account is taken in this list of the hundreds of sampans which were sunk or battered to pieces against the sea walls. The Rt. Rev. J. C. Hoare, D.D., the Bishop of Victoria, was among those who lost their lives by this calamity. The second of the disasters referred to above occurred early on Sunday morning, October 14th, when the river steamer Hankow, while lying at her wharf, was completely gutted by a fire which developed with such extraordinary rapidity that over 100 Chinese passengers lost their lives in trying to escape. The majority of them were drowned; but many, who were probably first suffocated or trampled to death in the rush for the gangway, were victims of the flames. The Colony was visited by another typhoon of greater force on the night of July 27-28, 1908, but the Observatory gave timely warning of the approach, and shipping consequently did not suffer so badly as in the 1906 typhoon, but much more extensive damage was done to property ashore. The most serious shipping casualty was the foundering of the Yingking with a loss of some 424 lives. Arising out of these catastrophes there was an agitation for the provision of more adequate protection for small shipping than was afforded by the typhoon shelter at Causeway Bay, and, as a consequence, a new refuge was constructed at Mougkoktsui. This was completed in 1915. In the Spring of 1918 some 600 lives were lost in a fire which occurred during the race meeting at Happy Valley. The matsheds accommodating thousands of Chinese spectators collapsed and flames spread so rapidly that the people were burned to death before the eyes of their friends, who were powerless to render assistance.
Sir Matthew Nathan left the Colony in April, 1907, on promotion to the Governor- ship of Natal. His successor, Brigadier-General Sir Frederick Lugard, K.C.M.G., arrived on July 28th, 1907, the Hon. Mr. (later Sir) F. H. May having again administered the Government in the interval. Falling revenue, while costly public works were in progress, obliged the Government in 1909 to break away from the free-trade traditions of the port to the extent of imposing import duties on intoxicating liquors. These duties were increased during the war and at the same time duties were imposed on tobacco.
Sir Frederick Lugard's chief monument in the Colony may be said to be the University.
Mr. H. N. Mody generously offered to provide buildings at an estimated cost of $280,000, and Sir Frederick Lugard worked indefatigably to secure an endowment fund of a million and a quarter dollars. When this fund was in sight, in 1909, building operations were com- menced on a site in Bonham Road. Sir Frederick Lugard had the felicity of seeing the building opened in March, 1912, just before he left on promotion to become Governor of Nigeria. Mr. Mody received a knighthood in recognition of his benefactions to the Colony, Sir Henry May, K.C.M.G., was appointed to the Governorship of the Colony, and upon his arrival, on July 4th, a Chinese attempted his assassination almost as soon as he had landed, but happily the attempt was frustrated. During his régime there was extensive road development on the Island and in the New Territory, the Tytam-Tuk waterworks were completed, the Helena May Institute in Garden Road was erected, and the funds were collected for the provision of a building for the Y.M.C.A