HONGKONG
909
Revenue
Expenditure
1916...
1917...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
13,833,387
11,079,915
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
1918... 1919...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
15,058,105
14,090,828
...
...
...
...
18,665,248
16,252,172
...
16,524,975
17,915,925
1920...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
14,689,672
14,489,594
1921...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
17,728,132
15,739,652
1922..
...
...
...
...
...
22,291,064
18,563,002
1923... 1924...
...
...
1925...
...
...
...
...
24,783,762
21,571,904
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
24,209,638
26,726,426
...
...
...
...
23,244,365
28,266,817
1927 (estimated)...
1926 (revised estimate in October)
...
...
...
The following figures show the Colony's credit or debit balance at the end of each year from 1915.
1915 Debit Balance
...
...
...
...
19,486,657 20,407,397
24,857,786
22,194,702
1916 Credit Balance
...
...
1917
""
"}
...
...
1918
""
>>
...
...
1919
...
>>
>>
...
1920
...
1921
""
>>
...
1922
>>
>>
...
...
1923
>>
""
1924
""
""
1925
"
>>
...
1926
...
...
>>
...
...
$ 452,686 2,300,785
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
...
3,268,061 5,681,138 4,290,187 4,490,266
...
...
...
6,478,745
•
12,658,642
15,971,495
...
...
13,107,549
...
...
...
8,113,482
(estimate) 2,742,353
DESCRIPTION
The island of Hongkong is about 11 miles long and from 2 to 5 miles broad; its circum- ference is about 27 miles. It consists of a broken ridge of lofty hills, with few valleys of any extent and scarcely any ground available for cultivation. The only valleys worthy of the name are those of Wong-nai Chung and Little Hongkong, both of which are remark- ably beautiful and well wooded, being in fact the only parts where any considerable arborescent vegetation was formerly to be found. The island is well watered by numerous streams, many of which are perennial. The city of Victoria and suburbs are supplied with water from the Pokfolum, Tytam, and Wong-nai Chung reservoirs. The first-named, constructed in 1866-69, has a storage capacity of sixty-eight million gallons, while the Tytam reservoir, constructed in 1883-88, and extended in 1896, has an area of about 29 acres and a storage capacity of about three hundred and ninety million gallons. From the Tytam reservoir the water is conveyed into town by means of a tunnel a mile and one-third in length and a conduit along the hillside some 400 feet above the sea level and nearly four miles in length, on which a fine road-called the Bowen Road-has been formed, which commands the most charming views of the city and the eastern district, and is a favourite resort of pedestrians. In many parts the conduit is carried over the ravines and rocks by ornamental stone bridges, one of which, above Wanchai, has twenty-three arches. The Wong-nei Chung reservoir, completed in 1899, has a capacity of twenty-seven million gallons. A bye- wash reservoir of about thirty million gallons capacity, situated immediately below the overflow of the Tytam reservoir, was completed in 1903, and a dam at Tytam Tuk to impound 194 million gallons was completed in 1909. A further extension of these waterworks was completed in 1917 at a cost of about $2,400,000, making provision for impounding 1,500 million gallons of water. This was expected to meet the needs of the Colony for another fifteen years but experience in dry seasons has shown that it is barely adequate for present requirements and a project has been started to dam the Shing Mun river and to tap practically the whole of the Eastern and Southern slopes of Tai Mo Shan. It includes 8,500 acres, or 13 square miles, of catchment area, a large proportion of which will be drained by means of catch-waters. The total catch- ment area on the Island is 2,650 acres and in Kowloon 849. It is proposed eventually to build nine storage reservoirs, varying in size from 55 million to 1,700 million gallons and having an aggregate capacity of 4,500 million gallons, of which 2,400 million gallons, or rather more than the whole storage capacity in the Island of Hongkong, will
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