TRANSPORT
In yesterday's notes by "Towndweller" (5-7-33) there is a reference to a former resident driving up to his gates in a Victoria and pair. In view of the absence of horse-drawn carriages from our streets, and the rising tide of motor traffic, some research into the history of carriages in the Colony is appropriate. Pair-horse vehicles were quite popular from the early days of Hong Kong, and one can understand that they conveyed an impression of their owner's importance, socially and commercially, just as four-piece rickshas did until recently. We find that the first carriage to appear in the streets of the Colony made its advent in October, 1841, the year that Hongkong was taken over by Britain. It was imported from Manila, and was described at the time as a "sign of the coming comforts of civilisation"! Four years later, 1845, the first carriage road outside city limits was constructed, and thus the well-to-do could go for drives amid the sylvan beauty of the rapidly developing suburbs.
The advent of motor-cars is probably remembered by most of the older residents of the Colony. As late as twenty years ago they were a rarity here, and only ten years ago their numbers were comparatively small. It might be recalled that the first motor-car was imported to the Colony by Dr. J. W. Noble, who used it mainly for driving out to Pokfulum, where the Dairy Farm property was undergoing development. With the increase of motor traffic the horse-drawn vehicles went rapidly out of favour, and the only horseflesh seen off a racecourse to-day is the occasional riding pony met with in the outskirts of the town or used by the military when on parade.
With reference to the paragraph appearing in the same issue concerning horse-drawn carriages, I well remember theirs which was utilised by the "Princely House" (Jardine Matheson & Co.) making frequent appearances over thirty years ago.
Concerning the first motor-car imported into the Colony, I have an idea that there was a motor-car in the Colony prior to that brought thither by Dr. J.W. Noble, and that the owner was a Chinese gentleman whose name, I believe, was Chan Lai-ming.