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HISTORY
could only take place on the slopes of the Peak-as for example Stanley Street, Wellington Street and Caine Road, once a very fashionable area-or by reclamation from the sea. By 1880 the city, particularly its Chinese quarters in Tai Ping Shan, Sai Ying Pun and Wan Chai, had become seriously overcrowded and in- sanitary. It was this which led to the development of the Peak as a residential area, particularly after 1888 when the Peak Tramway was built.
As a result of complaints from the military about the sanitary condition of Hong Kong, Osbert Chadwick, a sanitary engineer, was sent out by the home government. A Sanitary Board was set up in 1883 to which nominated unofficials were added in 1886 and two elected representatives of the ratepayers in 1887. It could bring about little improvement because of Chinese opposition to western ideas of sanitation and to any interference with their way of life. There was also opposition to the cost of sanitary improve- ments on the part of the community, already burdened by a costly programme of public works and by defence expenditure at a time when the dollar was falling in value. The result of this neglect was an outbreak of the plague in 1894. Two Japanese doctors who came to investigate, Professor Vitasato and Dr Aoyama, claimed to be the first to isolate the plague bacillus and to demonstrate that it was carried by rats. Even then there was considerable opposition to house-cleansing and measures against rat-infestation, and annual visitations of the plague continued until about 1927. The Sanitary Board continued until 1935, when its functions were broadened and taken over by an Urban Council.
The earliest reclamation was the filling of a small creek in 1851, to make what is now Bonham Strand. Bowrington (1859) and Kennedy Town (1877) were built partly on reclaimed land. The most important reclamation was that in the central district, begun in 1890 and completed in 1904, which added Chater Road, Connaught Road and Des Voeux Road to the city. Large reclama- tions were made in the Wan Chai area in the years 1921-9.
Increasing urbanization led also to the problem of water, and the start of a century-long race between water supply and popula- tion demand. Prior to 1941 successive water schemes were inaugu- rated at Pok Fu Lam (1864), Tai Tam (1889), Wong Nai Chung