98-
5. The following table shows the number of convicted prisoners committed to prison without the option of a fine and in default of payment of fine:-
Imprisonment without the option of fine.
2,997
Imprisonment in default of payment of fine.
Served the
imprisonment.
1,846
Paid full fine.
855
Total.
Paid part
fine.
873
6,571
6. Seventeen deaths occurred during the year and one birth. (in Female
Prison).
7. There were no executions during the year.
8. Fifty juveniles were admitted during the year, 34 of whom were sentenced to be detained 48 hours and to be whipped, the remainder were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment.
9. There were 798 punishments for breach of prison discipline during the year, as compared with 1,530 for the preceding year. There were three cases in which corporal punishment was awarded, two of which were (with the birch rod) sentenced by the Assistant Superintendent alone, and one with the cat-o'-nine-tails by the same officer in conjunction with a Justice of the Peace. (See Appendices I to IV.)
10. The percentage of prisoners admitted to prison with previous convictions recorded against them to the total number of admission, was 12.26, as compared with 15.92 for the year 1903.
11. The following table shows the daily average number of prisoners under- going imprisonment during the past ten years with the percentage to the estimated population of the Colony of Hongkong:-
Year.
Estimated popula- tion of Hongkong.
Daily average
number of
Percentage.
prisoners.
1895
248,498
472
•189
1896
239,419
514
•214
1897
248,710
462
•185
1898
254,400
511
-200
1899
259,312
432
•166
1900
262,678
486
*185
1901
300,660
499
*165
1902
311,824
576
•184
1903
325,631
653
•200
1904
361,206
726
⚫201
12. Owing to the overcrowded state of the Victoria Gaol it was again neces- sary, on account of the inadequate cell accommodation, to locate as many as three hundred prisoners in the corridors. The store rooms over the Hospital had also to be used as association wards during the greater part of the year.
13. For 241 days during the year the daily population of the Victoria Gaol varied between 600 and 834 prisoners, and on 96 days of that period the numbers were over 700.
14. The daily average of prisoners in the Branch Prison was 74 during the year under review.