65
No. 4
94
HONGKONG.
REPORT OF THE CAPTAIN SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE FOR 1893.
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, on the 7th March, 1894.
No. 34.
POLICE OFFICE, HONGKONG, 23rd January, 1894.
SIR,I have the honour to submit, for the information of His Excellency the Governor, the Criminal Statistics and Report on the Police Force for the year 1893.
2. The Statistics shew a decrease of 5.57% on the total of all cases reported to the Police, as compared with the Return for last year. In the sub-division of these cases into Serious Crimes (so called) and Minor offences a decrease is found as compared with 1892 of 8.64% in the former category and 4.20% in the latter.
3. Three cases of murder came under the notice of the Police. The first occurred in Victoria, the victim being a little girl of 12 years of age with whose mother her murderer had quarrelled. The culprit was convicted and hanged.
The second case occurred at Ma Tau Wai in Kowloon. The victim was the wife of a man named CHIM PUI, and the latter, on her return one night from the gambling dens at Sham Shui Po, accused her of unfaithfulness and cut her throat. The murderer made his escape into Chinese Territory, and although every endeavour was made to induce the Chinese Authorities to bring him to justice, he is, as far as I am aware, still at large.
Trustworthy information was obtained by the exertions of the Police as to the fugitive's hiding place. This was supplied to the Chinese Authorities on the mainland, and the latter, I have the best grounds for believing, actually found and arrested him, but released him after the infliction of a flogging. As a matter of fact the wife having been notoriously unfaithful, the sympathies of her countrymen were with her murderer.
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But in a case in which the sympathies of the Chinese Officials cannot have been affected that of the fugitive ALVES who was in hiding for three weeks in Chinese Territory not 20 miles from Hong- kong-I regret to say that I did not meet with that assistance to which the constant exertions of the Hongkong Police on behalf of the Chinese Authorities gives this Department a claim.
The third case of murder occurred in the harbour. Two men hired a boat, on board of which were a man, his wife and child, with the object of smuggling. A dispute arose between the parties and the boatman was thrown into the harbour, his wife and child being treated in the same manner and drowned.
? The boatman was picked up by a passing launch which also recovered one of his assailants, who was tried for murder, found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment with hard labour. The Police have not succeeded in arresting the other man.
4. Among the 19 cases of Robbery with violence there were six so-called gang robberies and five Highway Robberies. In five of these eleven cases the Police failed to make any arrests.
The first gang robbery was in January last when seven men made a daring attempt to rob the occupant of a house in High Street. They were arrested by Inspector MANN and a party of Police, and convicted at the February Criminal Sessions. Three of them were sentenced to twelve months' hard labour and the other four to three months' hard labour.
On the night of the 13th of February six armed men entered a house in I On Lane and after gagging and tying up the occupants (four females) stole jewellery valued at $145. Four of the men were afterwards arrested by Inspector STANTON. At the March Criminal Sessions three of them were convicted and sentenced to seven years' hard labour. The fourth was discharged.
On the 21st of the same month six armed men entered a house in D'Aguilar Street, gagged and tied up the occupants-two females-and stole jewellery and clothing to the value of $200. The Police did not succeed in making any arrest.