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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 20TH JULY, 1889. :
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.-No. 323. The following Minutes are published for general information.
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By Command,
FREDERICK STEWART,
Colonial Secretary.
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 20th July, 1889.
No. 15.
Minutes of the Proceedings of the SANITARY BOARD, at a Meeting held on Wednesday, the 19th of June, 1889:-
PRESENT:
The Surveyor General, (The Honourable SAMUEL BROWN), President.
The Acting Captain Superintendent of Police, (Major-General ALEXANDER HERMAN ADAM GORDON), Vice-President. The Acting Registrar General, (The Honourable NORMAN GILBERT MITCHELL-INNES).
The Honourable WONG SHING.
JOHN JOSEPH FRANCIS, Esquire, Q.C.
NATHANIEL JOSEPH EDE, Esquire.
ABSENT:
The Colonial Surgeon, (Dr. PHILIP Bernard CHENERY AYRES).
JOHN DAVID HUMPHREYS, Esquire.
Dr. JAMES CANTLIE.
Dr. Ho KAI.
The Board met pursuant to adjournment.
The Minutes of a meeting held on the 5th June, 1889, were read and confirmed.
The
The President informed the Board that the statement made by the Secretary, in perfect good faith, at the last meeting. regarding the communication from the Government as to the change in the Presidency of the Board was not correct. letter in question was at the time actually in the hands of the Secretary, although he had not seen it.
A letter from the Honourable Colonial Secretary informing the Board that His Excellency the Governor has no objection to further time being taken by it to consider the question of the best method to be adopted for the final disposal of the city refuse.
Mortality Statistics.-The returns for the weeks ended the 1st, 8th and 15th June were laid on the table by the Secretary.
The President addressed the Board on the position of the Official Members of the Board as to voting on any matter under the consideration of the Board, and he laid it down that there were no instructions to Official Members as to how they were to vote on any subject, and that they were free to vote in any manner they deemed right.
Bye-laws under Sub-section & of Section 13 of Ordinance 24 of 1837.-Mr. FRANCIS submitted that it is useless to proceed with these bye-laws because there is, since the repeal of Ordinances 10 of 1872 and 7 of 1885, no laws in force dealing with the disposal of night-soil or city refuse, and therefore no possibility of framing bye-laws. Bye-laws are to carry into effect laws already existing; and he moved, that the power of the Board to make bye-laws on this subject be submitted to the Attorney General, through the Government, for his opinion.
Mr. EDE seconded Mr. FRANCIS' motion.
Question-put and passed.
Letting of Contracts.-The Vice-President moved,--
That the whole subject of surface scavenging, the removal and disposal of night-soil and of other refuse, and the Contracts relating thereto, be referred to a Committee consisting of Mr. Ede, The Acting Registrar General, The Honourable Wong Shing, and Mr. Francis to report to the Board at its next Meeting.
The President seconded.
Question-put and passed.
Final Disposal of City Refuse. In the absence of Dr. CANTLIE, Mr. FRANCIS moved, that Mr. MCCALLUM be asked to report fully, at an early date, to the Board on the following points regarding his proposal for the final disposal of the City Refuse :-
1. Is the proposed site in any way a harbour of refuge?
2. Is the proposed method of disposal likely to give rise to the washing up of organic débris on the foreshore in
the neighbourhood ?
3. Is the scheme, if carried out, likely to interfere with any anchorage for shipping?
4. For about what period will the place suffice for the reception of the refuse?
5. What other towns are known to have adopted a similar method of disposal of their refuse to that proposed, and
what has been the result?
At the request of Mr. EDE he added the following three additional questions :—
6. Will not this mass of refuse generate unhealthy gases which must escape somehow even with a superin-
cumbent layer of earth?
7. Having regard to the quantity likely to be evolved, what is the minimum distance at which such gases when
mixed with air are innocuous ?
8. What would be the estimated cost of erecting the necessary barriers to prevent any of the refuse from being
carried away by the tides or washed away by the hill streams and storm waters?
Mr. EDE seconded.
The Vice-President addressed the Board and moved as an amendment,—
That a Committee be appointed consisting of the Hon. S. Brown, Dr. Ayres, Dr. Cuntlie, and Mr. Humphreys
to enquire into and report upon the sanitary and engineering considerations regarding the final disposal of the city refuse.
The Hon. WONG SHING seconded the Vice-President's amendment,