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THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 17TH OCTOBER, 1874.
outlets, plugged for a time every channel of escape, and the sewage becoming dammed and stagnant, after twenty-four hours became putrid. The clog was rendered still more effective by the mass of sand which the waves washed on to the ruins so that many of the sewers became tightly packed or imbedded in it. The natural result was a most pestilential smell, rendered still more deleterious by the deadly fœtor of decomposing human bodies which continued to be washed ashore for several days. Happily, however, in spite of the hot weather which followed, the Public Health has not suffered, and after forty-eight hours, when the panic had in a measure subsided, and workmen could gradually be got together, gangs were employed to clear away the débris and to restore things to their normal condition.
In the country, many isolated houses have been knocked down, and the paddy fields and meadows under cultivation, which skirt the foreshores of the island, have for the most part been inundated by the sea.
The rice crops have been destroyed and much misery has been entailed upon the poorest of
the community.
I have the honour to append herewith an interesting report from the Superintendent of the Government Gardens, upon the damage done to the gardens and plantations of the Colony. When we call to mind the constant and laborious care which has been taken to induce upon this bare and ungenerous soil an artificial vegetation, and the successful and gratifying results which had so far attended these efforts, we cannot but be disheartened at the disastrous finale which has closed the efforts of so many years.
A large proportion of the handsome and well-grown Banians and India rubber trees which lined the streets of the City and the roads leading out of it, have been blown down, and so many have been injured that we may not enjoy their grateful shade for years to come.
The Government Telegraph lines throughout the island were destroyed, the wind in many instances snapping the telegraph poles close to the ground. The shore ends of the submarine cables were also broken and communication severed.
In regard to Government buildings, I have the honour to report that nearly all have suffered to some extent, and that estimates of the cost of their repairs are being prepared and will be duly submitted.
Government House, together with the Law Courts, the Lock Hospital, and the Government Offices have escaped with greater immunity than any other buildings. In the latter, a chimney stack was blown down and fell through the roof; with the exception of this, and a few doors and windows blown in, there has been no damage of any consequence to report.
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Government Civil Hospital.- This ricketty old structure has been left in so ruined a state as to be no longer habitable. During the earlier stages of the gale, the doors and windows fronting the North were blown in one after another, and the wind having found a vent into the upper storey soon upheaved the roof carrying away portions of it to a distance of 200 yards. The brick verandahs on the South side were forced out of the perpendicular until they toppled over, and a part of the ceilings of the wards fell in. For more than an hour the terrified patients ran considerable risk of being killed, and Dr. CLAPHAM, the Resident Surgeon, informs me that owing to the intense darkness and the deafening roar of the wind, it was with the utmost difficulty that he succeeded in getting them together and sheltering them in one room of the lower storey, which had fortunately been but lately repaired, so that it was able to hold out till daylight.
Victoria Gaol has portions unroofed, some of the windows of the north-eastern frontage blown in
and glass broken. A survey was held under my direction after the typhoon, but no part of the Gaol
was found so unsafe as to render possible the escape of prisoners. The principal damages to this building have been since made good.
Stone Cutters' Island Gaol.-This huge and imposing pile, founded by SIR HERCULES ROBINSON and designed to accommodate a convict establishment of 600 persons is now a heap of ruins. Many of the main walls are so cracked and so much out of plumb that they will have to be knocked down to prevent future accidents. The greater portions of the roof fell in, carrying away and crushing under it, the long galleries which divided the lines of cells. The basement portion of the eastern wing which was used as a Powder Magazine was buried in débris and the fall of the building entailed no inconsiderable risk of an explosion. The powder was, however, subsequently removed from under the ruins, and safely stored in the Hulk which is anchored off the island. The upper floors of Stone Cutters' Island Gaol were fortunately not tenanted.
Central Police Barracks and Police Stations. Of all the Police buildings, the Police Officers' quarters have fared worst. These were unroofed and had some of the doors and windows in the North front blown in. The house was otherwise very severely shaken, some of the chimneys being blown down through the roof. The Central Police Barracks have also been partially unroofed, and much of the woodwork is destroyed. In the outlying villages, the Police Stations of Shau-ki-Wán and Stanley have suffered most, both have been very severely shaken, and I fear the latter will have to be almost entirely rebuilt. The Police Station at Yow-ma-tee was for a time four feet under water, and when the sea receded, it left a steam launch and other craft stranded on its basement floor.
The General Post Office, though it does not show many external signs of injury, has been greatly strained, owing to the weakness of the roof timbers. These have been in many places hollowed out by white ants, which for a short time back have infested the roof. I fear that a new roof to a portion of the house will be necessary..