Government property, settling the details of prices and watching and checking the supplies became an additional labour. Messrs. Layton and Ballard by no means stopped even at this point: their advice in all matters and their practical assistance in any work could be confidently counted upon, and they spent many busy days and nights at the Hong Kong Section. After the closing of the Exhibition in 1925, they were with the approval of Sir N. J. Stabb, left in charge of all the remaining interests of Hong Kong. The weight of the work of the Exhibition at both ends, Hong Kong and London, was thus in fact carried by Messrs. Lowe, Bingham and Matthews.
14. A very harmonious team was completed by the inclusion of Messrs. J. D. Hewett & Co., 101 Leadenhall Street, who dealt with all transport and storage questions in England: an unusually difficult problem in 1924, but somewhat simplified (principal- ly as the result of their experience and advice and partly on account of the altered system,) in 1925. Messrs. Duffett and Jones also went far out of their way to ensure smooth working, and it was a real pleasure to be associated with such colleagues and to feel always confident that efficient action would be taken without delay,
15. No reference to Hong Kong at Wembley would be complete without a reference to Mr. George Duncan. The Hong Kong and Whampoa Docks did much for the Section, but nothing comparable to the loan of Mr. Duncan's services
He was every- where all the time, and little came amiss to him: from designing and carrying out building alterations to supplying the material from nowhere (something of a special art): from constructing "Hong Kong by Day" with Wembley mud, a few bits of firewood, and a Flyosan Squirt, to finding men and getting efficient work from them when the whole of the rest of the Exhibition area was throttled by strikes and union rules from making the Section considered unhealthy by the unlicensed hawker fighting gangs-a real pest of Wembley for some time-to showing the Commissionaires how best to regulate traffic: Mr. Duncan was never found wanting. There was little that went on in the Section or in the Quarters unknown to him and his advice on such a foundation was of course invaluable. He has done much other work for the benefit of the Hong Kong Community in his time: and it gave real pleasure to the Colony to learn when Wembley was over that he had been appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire.
16. It remains to make mention of the Certificates to Exhibitors issued by the Exhibition Authorities.
A Diploma and a Special Certificate of Honour were issued to Lady Ho Tung for the Silk Worm Exhibit-admittedly as interesting and as well staged an exhibition of its kind as could be found in the whole Exhibition. The whole of Lady Ho Tung's time for a long period before departure from Hong Kong was taken up with the difficult task of organising this Exhibit: workers had to be employed and trained, machinery arranged, cocoous provided and schemes devised for sending eggs and cocoons safely to England through all the different climates concerned. In England Lady Ho Tung personally supervised every detail, and spent many days and nights with her women seeing that nothing had been overlooked, and superintending the welfare of her family of some 20 workers was by no means her lightest task. Conduct and discipline were exemplary: and perfect organisation of an attractive idea did the rest. The great success of the "Hong Kong Silkworms" was due entirely to Lady Ho Tung's initiative and continuous supervision: and this exhibit had in its turn a very important bearing on the success of the whole Hong Kong Section.
A diploma was also issued to Mr. Cheung Tsoi of the Oxford St. Chinese Restaurant, who managed the whole of the Exhibition Restaurant during 1925. It is hard to say what we should have done without his ready co-operation, and his energy and ability in the face of many unexpected difficulties.
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The Exhibition Certificates of Honour (with medal) was secured for all separate Exhibitors in 1924, 39 in all. These certificates and medals were retained pending the closing of the Exhibitors account: but have now been issued with the exception of three where moneys still due have had to be classed as bad debts.