THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 28т¤ OCTOBER, 1893. 1105
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION. No. 379.
(in continuation.)
The following letter from the Director of the Observatory, and further letter from the Director of Public Works, having reference to the recent damage to the Gap Rock Lighthouse, are published.
By Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 27th October, 1893.
H.K.O. No. 100.
G. T. M. O'BRIEN,
Colonial Secretary.
HONGKONG OBSERVATORY,
20th October, 1893.
SIR,-In answer to your letter No. 1,482 of yesterday. I have the honour to inform you that there was no strong gale on the 1st, but that it was blowing with typhoon force at the Gap Rock from the morning of the 2nd till the early morning hours on the 3rd. It was blowing with very strong typhoon force shortly after noon on the 2nd, and that lasted till midnight.
2. The typhoon was one of exceptional severity at the Gap Rock, and the disaster was greatly intensified by the unusually great length of time the blow lasted.
3. The Gap Rock is lying very near the track of the worst typhoons that have been felt in the Colony, in an exposed position, and the conformation of the sea bottom as well as the shape of the Rock cause the sea to be much worse there than in other places.
4. The damage done to the lighthouse was, no doubt, mainly due to the sea. I can hardly think that the wind alone could have much damaged such a substantial structure.
5. The lighthouses erected by the Imperial Customs of China are not placed in such exposed situations as the Gap Rock.
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
W. DOBERCK,
Director.
The Honourable G. T. M. O'BRIEN, C.M.G.,
&C.,
Colonial Serretary, &C.
&c.
No. 1,114.
PUBLIC WORKS OFFICE, HONGKONG, 25th October, 1893.
SIR, I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter No. 1,476 of the 18th instant, requesting a further report in writing concerning the damage done to the Gap Rock Lighthouse and apparatus during the gale of the 1st and 2nd instant, and in which you state there are points which bear on the immediate cause of the lantern glazing giving way that can be ascertained and should be definitely recorded, e.g. :-
(1) If a solid wave broke against the lantern and smashed it, would not the Tower have been immediately filled with water or at least have taken in an enormous quantity of water? (2) Is there any evidence of the effect that a solid wave breaking against the lantern must
have had on the lower buildings?
(3) If the breaking of the outer glazing were caused by débris dashed against it, some traces
of débris would probably have afterwards been found inside the Tower?
(4) The resisting power or breaking point of the lantern glazing. Were the lantern frames intact and uninjured when first examined after the catastrophe? Or did they require repairs? Were portions of glass found still sticking in them? Was the resisting power of the panes that were broken tested before they were fixed? If so, with what
result?
2. If a solid wave, by which I assume is meant an unbroken ocean wave, passed over the eastern portion of the Rock and broke against the lantern smashing the four panels of glazing having a combined area of 33 square feet, I am certainly of opinion that a very large quantity of water would have undoubtedly entered the Tower. The actual quantity that did enter the Tower is difficult to ascertain as it was, no doubt, considerably broken up in running down the stairs and round the dioptric apparatus into the Service Room below from which a portion of it almost immediately escaped under the door. From the information I can get the maximum depth of water in the Service Room was probably about one foot which would be 650 gallons.