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CHAPTER VII—THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE STORAGE OF
DANGEROUS GOODS AND CINEMATOGRAPH FILMS
IN AN UNLICENSED GODOWN.
48. If application had been made by the owners or by the godown-proprietors for a licence to store cinematograph film scrap in Godown No. 5, it would certainly have been refused. It is possible that a licence would have been refused for storage of at least some of the dangerous goods mentioned in paragraph 46, owing to the godown being situated below domestic premises. No objection would have been raised to the storage of Caustic Soda, as at the time of the fire it was not regarded as a dangerous substance falling within Category 5. We considered that the fixing of the responsi- bility for this improper storage came within our terms of reference. Our first step therefore was to establish the functions of the various persons concerned in the management and routine working of the Wing On Godowns, but our task was not made easier by the fact that 13 out of the 21 godown employees lost their lives in the fire. We decided, in order not to prolong the inquiry, to limit our investigation to the reasons for the presence of the film and the cellulose lacquer in godown No. 5.
Duties of the Wing On Staff:
49. The person directly responsible to the Chief Manager of the Wing On Com- pany for the conduct and running of the godowns was Mr. Lam Wan Kui, otherwise known as Mr. Wilkie Lam. Most of Mr. Lam's work was in the head offices of the Wing On Company in Des Voeux Road, but nearly every morning he visited the office in Godown No. 2 between the hours of 10 o'clock and noon, sometimes visiting the godowns themselves. The office staff consisted of Mr. Wong Siu Keung (deceased), Accountant, and Mr. Kwok Kar Nin, Cashier, together with a shroff and two book- keepers who were responsible for the keeping of stockbooks. The godown staff worked under the head godown-keeper, Wong Tong, who appears to have reserved to himself the direct supervision of Godown No. 2, whilst maintaining a general supervision of Godowns Nos. 1 and 5. The godown-keeper of No. 1 was Leung Yung San, and of No. 5, Lam Sang. All three godown-keepers lost their lives in the fire. Finally there were a number of tallymen permanently connected with each godown. Movement of goods was largely effected by casual labour, employed on a more or less permanent basis.
Storage of the Film Scrap:
50. In September, 1947, a consignment of approximately 30 tons of cinemato- graph film scrap arrived in the Colony; it had originally been consigned to Shanghai, but in view of the import regulations prevailing in that port, had been redirected to the Hong Kong Branch of its consignees, the Oriental Development Corporation. The Secretary of the branch was unable personally to secure storage space for what he knew to be dangerous cargo, and turned it over to the China Travel Service. Mr. Benjamin Lee of the latter organization in his evidence stated that, having failed to arrange storage in the Kowloon Godowns for reasons which he could not remember, he arranged storage in the Wing On Godowns, probably after a telephone conversa- tion with a member of the godown office staff. He was aware of the exact contents of the drums, because the bill of lading had described the cargo as 144 drums of “nitro- cellulose film scrap". The cargo was delivered to the Wing On Godown No. 1 on 22nd September, 1947, and a godown warrant for its storage was handed to the tallyman of the China Travel Service. The godown warrant which was eventually passed to the owner was written out wholly in Chinese characters, and the cargo was described as
# (Kau pin sui). The warrant was signed by Wong Siu Keung (deceased). The drums of film scrap were entered in the placement-book of Godown No. 1, probably by Yeung Yung San (deceased), as (Kau kau pin sui). A similar cargo of film scrap, that used by the Assistant Government Chemist in his investigation, had been stored in the China Union Corporation godown, and a godown warrant in English had been issued. The contents of the drums were described on this warrant as
(Kau chiu sheung yuen pin), also in English, as “nitro-cellulose film scrap". entry in the placement-book disclosed that on 24th November, 1947 the film scrap was removed to Godown No. 5, for reasons unknown, but we consider that as Godown No. 1 was not rated as a "hazardous godown" for insurance purposes, the intention had
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