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Q-As regards the question of roads, have you ever had any experience of road- making yourself in any way ?
A-No, it is not part of my profession.
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Q-Have you any suggestion to offer with regard to the roads in Hongkong?
A-I have iny own ideas.
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Q-What are your ideas?
A-One thing is that the barrel of the road is too great. The greater you get it, when heavy rains come on, the quicker they run off, and make channels. My idea is the flatter the road the less liable it is to be cut up by heavy rains.
You noticed that
the last heavy rains caused channels all over the place.
By Mr. Shewan.-Is it not the rickshas?
A-No, not these cross channels.
Q-Is it your opinion that the roads suffer from ricksha traffic?
A-No.
By Mr. Master.-The Public Works Department attribute the bad state of the road to the ricksha, which keeps knocking the stones out?
A-My opinion is the rickshas have nothing to do with it. These trolleys, with small wheels, get jammed in a rut and the coolies twist them round to get them over the rough part.
The stones are made loose and they make a hole, and once a start is made it gradually goes on till it becomes a big hole.
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By the Chairman.-Do these trolleys carry too heavy a weight? A-No. The roads are not sufficiently bound together to carry a weight. They put on too much metal at one time; they put on six or eight inches.
you see them coming up in a regular wave in front of the roller. If they put on two or three inches and finished with a finer stone on top, my idea is they would get a better road. The stones they put on are as big as the lower ones. My idea is they should be smaller, and they never really get solid. The top dressing itself should be disintegrated granite or granite chips. My own idea is that the Government should get a stone crusher.
The Chairman.-They have a stone crusher.
Witness.-They seem to me to put on too big a top dressing; the stones don't seem to hold together at all, but I am not an expert.
Q-Is there any other matter connected with the Public Works Department that you might mention to us and which might be of use to us in our enquiries?
A-I don't think so.
Q-You were one of the representatives of the architects in Hongkong who sent a letter to the Government recently in regard to the inspection of buildings. Are your views embodied in that letter?
A-Yes.
By Mr. Shewan.-Did it ever occur to you that the work had been slurred over purposely by the overseers? Have you ever seen bad work done?
A-Do you mean road-making?
Q-I mean roads, buildings, or any other work purposely done badly? A-I don't know. I don't go on often to Government work.
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