CHINA MAIL, PAGE 26
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1841
HONG KONG CENTENARY NUMBER
Development Of The
HONG KONG in population to-
day ranks among the first 50 eities of the world. Few can eon- Prive the fact that only 100 years ago, nut a single European build- ing was in existence on the island, that it was sheer barren rock.
The first efforts
were
of the bunker im.de at East Pomf the bou: • of Jardine, Matheson and Company, formity, at it were, the melens of the exilers, which by the end of the year. Placed the then want Colony
Vsited
A Mr Portone, whe Hong Kong in 1945, describes is aprinarance at the date as that of
{{' calling t
M city "Around and in the rear al Messrs. Jardine tuure, there are all sor's
1.
XIMIN'S ROAD
"Between it and the Queen's Rond is the Colonial Church, a building without a prototype, bul worthy to be sketched and pre- served among the annals of the Colony. The Post Office is on the South and the Governor's private residence
on the
the west of parade Around. Further westward
ad higher
IS Government House.
Westward SUN rund 011 thes Inach OTC three commercial houses, muong the best in the Colony; above them on the south of Queen's Road is the harbour master's house. Here terminates th, central district of Victoria,
The Western district is an em bryo city, having streets, terraces
The Central District In the 1860's.
of Chinese buildings, and of Euro- pean houses, perhaps some thirly. Next to it, proceeding West, is the Wong Nei Chung Valley having three or four European houses and a little village of peor Chinese houses, forty or fifty in all. The house of the Morrison Education Society, the hospital of the Medical Missionary Scristy, the Seamen's Hospital (site of the Naval Hos- pital), and the residence of the Chief Justice of the Colony with a new guard house, appear pro- minent on the west side of the Valley.
"Next and almost on a level with the sea there is a cluster of substantial commercial houses with some buildings occupied as Commissariat Stores, barracks and so on. The ground between the sea and the hills is so narrow along this part of the town. The old Protestant und Roman Catho-
le burial grounds, with
,a few small buildings on the beach up the remaining part of the con- templated eastern district of Vle- toria,
Death-Degenerating
The ruins of a market with an old military hospital and a ma- gazine come first in the central division of the town. Next on high ground are the badly contrived, half-built and half-demolished death-generating buildings, once known as the artillery barracks. In front of them three buildings are being erceled which will be an ornament to the settle- ment
Passing the stream- let (now the nullah which enters the sen. near the V.R.C.) the ground eligible for buildings, in- stead: of being only a few rody: in breadth, stretches off up a gentle. aclivity full half a mile in breadth. Close by the mouth of the stream- let are some barracks with Naval stores on the beach.
"South of them, three buildings are being erected for officers and soldiers (Murray Barracks site) and beyond them, southwards, are lines of matsheds in which are the Indian troops and camp followers --and miserable quarters they are, The parade ground comes nex: as you go westward.
and so on, Here you may read Wyndham Street, D'Aguilar Street Afteen others. Within and some
this district are the buildings of the magistracy, the gaols, four chapels, a mosque and of all other buildings perhaps three hundred. It includes the central and upper bazuar, also tiso naw guard houses occupying commanding sites.
Great Variety
"In the materials, form and qualities of the bulidings there is great variety; you may see granite, brick and mud houses. All the buildings early erected for Gov- ernment were in every way poor, the house of the chief magistrate being the only exception. All the barracks were particularly bad; most of them, even the hospitals, were unfit to keep cattle in. (This was written in 1849; it must have been bad).
"Private houses were general- ly better, and some of them good. At present the style of buildings is superior to anything we have seen in China. Among the best specimens now in progress may name the Club house, the officers' quarters, the Military Hospital, the Exchange and Union Church. Good verandahs and good roofs are the principal desiderata.
we
Within twenty years, Mr. For- tune's desirata had more than been fulfilled. The Colony was begin- ning then, in 1807, to shape itself, more permanently. No longer were Government buildings poor
In construction nor disgraceful in appearance.
Governor's HouseTM
The Governor's liouse way "beautifully situated on a gentle rise leading up to the level of Caine, Road and is, although not conspicuous, by no means un- worthy of its distinction."
they
Just underneath (where now are) were situated the Gov- ernment offices, unpretentious but commodious, and well adapt- ed to the purposes for which they were designed,
"Lower again and some 200 yards to the eastward stands the
Cathedral
a nent church capable of accommodating some 800 people und possessed of a good organ,
"The public buildings of Vic- toria call for no special mention, being modern and in most cases more extensive and comfortable than architecturally beautiful. Conspicuous from the harbour be- sides the Cathedral are the Ro- man Catholic Cathedral, the Cen- tral Prison and the Clock Tower above Pedder's Wharf
Of other buildings the magnificent house lately built by Dent and Co. (on the site of the Gloucester Hotel) attracts the eye, while a stately row of buildings occupied by banking and mercantile firms carries the eye past the Naval Yards to the eastward where Jardine Matheson and Company's new offices and the Mint termin- ate the view.
Aristocratic Front
"To the west of the Clock Tow- er. the dials of which are illu- minated at night, the eye ranges along a number of well-built pre- mises, past the Peninsular and Oriental Steamship Company's office, distinguished by its flag- staff, to Messrs. Russell and Con- pany's wharf, beyond which lies the Hong Kong, Canton and Mucho Steam Company's pier.
"After passing this the water- front of the town presents a mean- er appearance than its aristocratic neighbour to the eastward. being composed almost entirely of Chinese houses. Immediately up- posite the Clock Tower and facing Queen's Road is the Post Office, a large building well adapted to the purpose for which it was de- signed.
"Next to this comes the Su- preme Court where the judges of that and the Summary Jurisdic- tion courts hold their sittings, vari- uus Government officers occupy-
Colony
ing the ground floor. Facing this, on the other side of the road, is the English Club, (now the site of the King's Theatre) a well- built edifice and affording good accommodation.
"China Mail"
Was
The offices of the "China Mail" behind the English Club, were in Wyndham Street, and the "Daily Press Bear Geneally. Wellington Barracks were not yet constructed, but a
building on the site known as Wellington Battery and the Ordnance Depot was in 1887 90 12 141 site.
That part usually frequented by the Clock
· Europeans was from Tower to the Mint (at East Point). the western half being left to the Chinese. The only break in the Prayn which was not the Praya of to-day, but stretched from Ped. der Street in Jardine's Look-Out, was that part occupied by the naval authorities and a contem- porary writer "much regretted that arrangements cannot be made to enclose on either side a path- way to allow the public through the yard and avoid the long and inconvenient detour."
Hong Kong to-day presents a far different picture, that of a mo dern, thriving metropolis which is still developing and developing rapidly both in size and in beauty.
The foreign business section is more or less confined within Ped- der Street on the west and Mur- ray Road on the east and from the Praya to the south side of Queen's Road. In this area are to be founci all the leading foreign and Chin- ese banks and all the leading for- eign commercial houses.
In latter years, the bigger Chin- ese firms interested in doing busi- ness with foreign countries have shown a tendency to move within the same confines, and the Bank
(Continued on Page: 28)
Holland House, one of the newer city office blocks,
1941