HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT, 1954
until the outbreak of bubonic plague, when Dr. Kitasato, working in Hong Kong, succeeded in isolating the plague bacillus and it was found that the disease was transmitted by vermin.
by vermin. It was then that the importance of educating the public in hygiene was first realized and seriously pursued.
Under the Convention of Peking, signed in 1898, the area known as the New Territories, including Mirs Bay and Deep Bay, was leased to Great Britain for a period of ninety-nine years. The Government of Hong Kong soon embarked upon a big programme of works there. The Canton-Kowloon Railway was built, public health administration was established and anti-malarial measures were undertaken with determination. Sir Henry Blake identified himself with every aspect of the community's activities, which his successor, Sir Matthew Nathan, extended to Kowloon, where the road he laid down, called "Nathan's Folly" by local wags, com- memorates his confidence in the development of Kowloon and the expanse of country contiguous with it.
Chinese merchants at this time began taking a more prominent part in the commercial and industrial activi- ties of the Colony. They established shipping lines, were identified with wharves and warehouses, erected depart- ment stores, set up a number of small dockyards and factories, built theatres and invested heavily in real estate. They formed banks and insurance companies on Western lines and established great import and export houses.
Hong Kong in common with the international settlement of Shanghai has thus provided the oppor- tunity for many people of Chinese and other races to
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