Page
212
whom was armed with a revolver and another with a sword, entered No. 35. Nullah Lane and stole clothing valued at $13.00. 5.-At 8.30 a.m. on the 10th of September four wen, one armed with a revolver and one with a sword, entered No. 102, Queen's Road West, tied up the occupants and stole clothing to the value of $13.00
6.At 10 am on the 11th of September three men entered a matshed at Deep Water Bay. tied up the occupants, and stole property to the value of $5 00.
7. On the 5th of October at 7 p.m. seven men, armed with revolvers, entered No. 12, Jer- vois Street, tied up the occupants and stole clothing, jewellery, and money to the value of $740.00. This was the night of the severe typhoon. 8.-At noon on the 24th of October three men entered No. 5, Tang-loi Lane, daring the absence of the master of the shop, throw pepper in the eyes of the only person on the premises-a tailor-and stole $425.00
On the 12th of November at 7.30 p.m. six men, armed with revolvers, entered No. 10, Winglok Street, tied up the occupants and stole $1,800.00.
The robbery at No. 156, Winglok Street, occurred on the 22nd of November, but as all the prisoners were first indicted for murder the case is recorded as one of murder in the statistics.
I regret to say that an English maid was the object of the first of these robberies. On the 18th of January last at 3 pm, while walking on the Boubam Road she was seized by a man, who tried to possess himself of her bangles, and not succeeding in this attempt snatched her umbrella and ran away.
The remaining eight cases bear no feature of special importance. With one exception, that of a European sailor who was robbed of a pocket book containing papers and $2.50 in money while under the influence of liquor, the robberies were committed in the Chinese quarter of the town on Chinese and the amounts stolen varied from $1.00 to $11.00.
i.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
There are the same number of cases of at- tempted suicide, viz., 13 in both years.
The principal offences included under the heading of "Folonies not already gived were-
Five cases of forgery.
A
"
Four cases of cutting and wounding Two cases of demanding money by menaces. Three cases of attempted arson. One case of incendiarism. One case of
rape.
One case of drugging.
6.The most unsatisfactory feature in the year's returns is the increase in the number of cases of robbery with violenco, and especially the very serious nature of the gang robberies at 12. Jervois Street; 10, Winglok Street; and at 56, Winglok Street.
{March 20, 1895.
have since recommended that licensing of ser- vants be made compulsory by law. I am aware that the law which formerly existed on this sub- ject became a dead letter. But the only reason for that was the apathy of residents in this co- lony.
It was top much trouble to spend ten minutes in registering a servant before engaging him, and so a boy who has robbed his former master or a chair coolie who has misconducted himself and been dismissed find employment probably next door, where they possibly repeat the same offences.
I regard the licensing of private chair coolies at aby rate as a most desirable and even neces sary measure in the interests of law and order, The Hongkong private chair coolie is one of the most impudent and naruly members of this community, and the sole reason is that neither his master nor the police have direct control
over him.
If he were licensed, as a public chair coolie or jiuricksha coolie is, a very great improvement would be speedily observed in his behaviour.
With regard to the increase in number of these cases it is right to mention that during the five months from the 1st of May to 30th September when from 5 to 10 per cent. of the force was engaged on plague work there occurred thirteen cases as against six during the same period in 1893, However, the three most serious cases occurred after the men had all returned to re- gular duty. The winter months are, of course, disturbances between Tung Koon and Sz Yap 8-I have already reported fully on the olan the most dangerous; and it is worthy of note coolies which disgraced this colony in March last, that it is reported from Canton that gang rob-resulting in one man being shot dead and several beries of a similar nature have been very rife others wounded by revolver shots and knives. there this winter.
:
I should also point out the extraordinary ease with which these robberies can be effected.
In the Jervois 3treet and the two Winglok Street cases, for instance, the inmates of the shops outnumbered the robbers by more than two to one, and yet in each case they never offered the slightest resistance or endeavoured to communi- cate the alarm to persons in the street or their neighbours.
The robbers, of course, rely on this passivity and are enabled, unless some accident happens, as at 56, Winglok Street, to carry out one of these raids under the very noses of the Police,
One of their number was at last induced to lend bis services, but it is not too much to say that he was virtually compelled to acquiesce. After two hours' search he asked to go home, and it was necessary to practically detain him in a Police Station all nigl. lest he should not be forthcoming for the morning search.
But it is not only in the presence of robbers that the shopman's courage fails him In the second Winglok Street case the inmates of the On the 14th of October a seaman was arrested shop, although they admitted being able to at Yanmati for robbing bis father of $2,700, Heideatify the robbers, absolutely refused to ao formed one of the crew of his father's fishing company the Police in the search for the men. jank and be poisoned the evening meal of rice with datura alba, and while his father, sister, and brother were lying stupified with the drug he stole the large sum of money mentioned. He was con. victed and sentenced to six years' imprisonment, I have drawn attention in a separate report to this case aud to two of bers of attempted poisoning, and have suggested the desirability of placing re- strictions upon the sale of poisons in this colony. The remaining case occurred on board the steamer Tantalus: one Chinese fireman robbing another of $25 00. The fireman was arrested, but the case, which arose out of a quarrel, was dismissed.
3.-There is an increase as compared with the returns for 1893 in the following ffences :---
1893.1894.
Robbery with violence from the person ..... Drunkenness
Nuisance
No light or pass:.......
Desertion, refusal and neglect of duty Bogues and vagabonds suspicious characters Breach of Publio Vehicle Ordinance
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After the arrest of the five men concerned in the robbery at 56, Winglok Street, it was of course desired to ascertain, if possible, whether they were the same gang that had robbed No. 10 in the same street.
The inmates of the latter shop were asked to go up to the gaol and look at the men and they emphatically refused to do so.
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The fight had its origin in a collision between processionists of the two factions during the monster celebration both on land and water of the Feast of Lanterns last year.
between the two clans, and it only required The incident stirred up the dormant enmity another collision between some cargo coolies West Point to fan the ill-feeling into flame.
For four days all work on steamers in the har bour ceased, as the coolies of either party were afraid to go to work lest they should be exposed to the attack of the other. In the meantime the members of the various clubs frequented by either party-professional fighting men and ballies-constituted themselves the cham- pious of either side and carried on for four days a gureilla warfare, not upon each other, but upon any isolated members of the clans they might happen to meet.
In this way a coolie who with another was carry- ing a load in Hillier Street was shot by a man who walked quietly up to him with a revolver, dis- charged it against his abdomen, and walked as quietly away, not one in the crowded street having the courage to interfere with him or even to raise the alarm, although a strong Police patrol had only just passed by. Nay, more, not a single one of the many witnesses who must have seen the murder committed-for it was done at 12 o'clock in the day when the street and shops were full of people--would give any in- formation at all to assist in trading the man.
The companion of the murdered man made no report to the Police, and an entire day was spent in finding him.
There are two remedies to prevent the recur- Nine other applies were cnt down with swords rence of such outrages as these robberies con- and knives while pursuing their ordinary avoca- 19 29 stitute. 192 302
tions, and two men were wounded by revolver 510 538
One, of course, is to keep the Police Force upshots fired from the tops of house in Queens 57 191 to its full strength as far as possible throughout Road West into the houses opposite. 6993 the year, and the other is to perfect the Chinese 103 153 detective branob of the Force, drawing at the 145 153
same time all the assistanc› possible from the 147 170 District Watchmen's Force, which should be
39
67 | brought into closer touch with the Police, 34 50 112
Cutting trees or earth...
Obtaining goods and money by false pre-
tences
Damage to property.
Trespass
76
Breach of Dangerous Goods and Arms Or.
dinances
101 112 On the other hand there is a decrease in the following offences:-
Burglary or larceny from dwelling
7.-I referred in my report of last year to the number of larcenies by servants. I regret to say that there was no diminution in this particular form of offence during 1894.
Nineteen watches were reported as stolen, and 1893. 1894. of these only four were recovered by the Police, 66 41 although no trouble was spared to trace the pro- perty, the great bulk of which is, I think, taken into the interior of China and either melted down 1,0571,007 or sold to local magnates.
43 2,156 2,103 78 67
819 218
Even when the Police succeed in tracing one 72 48 of these thieves to his native village it does not 327 278 follow as a consequence that the Chinese au- 386 251 1,021 779
thorities will assist much in recovering the 155 103 property. 858 301 804 742
Assault with intent to rob
rob..
Larosnies....
Felonies not already given
Assaulti..
Gambling
Kidnapping................................
Unlawful possession..........
Mendicanta
Unlicensed hawking...
Street ories
Breach of Harbour and Coast Ordinance
Breach of Spirit and Opium Ordinances
Breach of Registration Ordinance
15
Breach of Police, Gaol, and Deportees Or-
dinances
Breach of Pawnbrokers, Markets, Weights
and Measures Ordinances
Spurious coin.....
Intimidation, extortion, bribery and con-
spiracy
15
10
Cruelty to animals and furious driving.............. Contempt of Court and false charge ́
88
25
Take, for example, the case of the $225.00 and gold watch stolen from Mr. H. M. Mehta by 6 his chair coolie. Although the watch had actually been seen by an emissary of the Police in a certain village, the Chinese officials failed to recover it, although after five months' corres. pondence they did produce half of the number
42
711 597 117
of dollars.
I suggested registration of servants last year 18 as a safeguard against these larcenies, and I
This was put a stop to by posting armed Police on the house tops. Thirteen men were arrested for carrying revolvers in the street and four for being armed with knives, while numerous arrests were made for fighting and disturbing the peace.
It was found possible to break up the clubs which had furnished the professional fighting men who carried on the disturbances, and in four days order was restored and the coolies returned to their work.
You are aware that the officer administering the Government (Sir George O'Brien) reported to the Secretary of State his opinion that the Police had acted with credit in this emergency and I take this opportunity of stating that each branch of the force well deserved His Excellency's commendation.
The circumstances were such as to call into prominence the usefulness of the Chinese con- tingent, men displaying energy, intelligence, and courage.
I have also to acknowledge the valuable assist- ance rendered by the Registrar General and the District Watchmen.
9.-I have referred above to the drain of men from the Police Force caused by the plague, men as were wanted to carry on the work of the There was no alternative but to lend as many Permanent Committee of the Sanitary Board (of which I myself was a member), for there was