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2.
The second day's celebration of the Jubilee was confined to the decorations and illuminations. As on the first day, there was a Chinese procession, in the elaborate form of those days.
There also took place a ceremony in connexion with the unveiling of the statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy (see 7-11-33). This was performed by H.E. the Governor in the Public Gardens, and the statue stands there to-day, the only one here ever to be erected in such surroundings.
On the evening of the second day of the celebrations, a Jubilee Ball also took place in the City Hall.
With certain exceptions everything passed off successfully. During the firing of the Royal Salute, given on the first day, a lamentable accident occurred on board H.M.S. Mutine, two seamen being killed as the result of an explosion.
Two Royal Artillery men were also killed on the P. and O lighter Stornaway while discharging rockets. A spark from a falling rocket exploded the stock on board the lighter.
These disasters, sad and deplorable as they were, sank into insignificance compared with the terrible loss of life caused by the burning of the steamship ... carrying Chinese passengers to Canton after the Jubilee celebrations. From four to five hundred passengers were burned to death or drowned in this disaster, which occurred near Chuenpee Point on the Canton River.
In the comment on the local celebrations marking the Jubilee of Queen Victoria (see 28-13-33) mention was made of the decision to erect a statue of the Queen on the Praya. This was carried into effect in 1898, the unveiling ceremony taking place on May 28 that year, the date set officially for celebration of the Queen's birthday (May 24) and was a most imposing ceremony.
It is interesting to note several points about this old photograph, such as the absence of the iron railings which at present surround the statue: these were erected later when it was found that members of the public were using the steps as a lounging place. It will also be noticed that the Hongkong Club building is covered with scaffolding; this marks the fact that it was nearing completion, occupation of the new premises taking place in 1897 (see 23-10-33). The site on which the Supreme Court now stands was also vacant then, the Court being built in 1911-12 (see 23-8-33).
From the Hongkong Telegraph of May 28, 1896, I take the following comments on the unveiling. The paper starts off by recalling that nine years previously, at the time of the Jubilee of 1887, the residents of the Colony had decided to erect a statue of Queen Victoria as a permanent mark of their appreciation of her long reign and to show in tangible form their loyalty to the sovereign. Orders for the work had gone forward almost at once, but owing largely to the tardy completion of the reclamation, the erection of the statue had been delayed for some years. Describing the ceremony of unveiling as grand and imposing, the report states: