October 28, 1896.1
icipal works and things wenton much
In May last, however, a misunder ing arose between the Leal Senado and the irector of Public Works, who thereupon resigned his appointment as a municipal officer and another officer, a very young man, was appointed in his place. Since then the streets have been allowed to fall into so shame-
ful state of disrepair. They are mostly macadamised and the surface wants dressing occasionally to keep it smooth, but since May I have not seen a single basket of gravel or earth used, and the surface having been washed sway nothing but loose stones remain; so that it is horrible to have to ride over them
in a ricksha, the jolting being enough to make one sick, and if one walks the stones are almost enough to sprain one's foot. A great deal has been done at the Travessa do P-Narciso, it is true, and engineers from all over the world would be interested if they could see the work. A pavement of sand and dement was laid and the street was closed for two months to let the cement dry well and harden, but now, opened only two weeks, it is all broken
after it bas been
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT. in a cell. He was to have been brought up for trial the next day, but he cut matters short by hanging himself. He used his girdle as a rope, attaching it to the window bars!
HONGKONGİ
past week. On Thursday the Sanitary Board Beautiful weather has prevailed during the met and on Friday the annual meeting of the Hongkong Branch of the Navy League was held. Crime has been somewhat prominent in the colony lately. On Saturday a man was sentenced to death for a murder at Causeway Bay and now the police are busy investigating One arrest has already been made. a case of piracy and murder near Green Island.
There were 2,233 visitors to the City Hall Museum last week, of whom 223 were Eu-
ropeans.
Hon. H. E. Wodehouse, Police Magistrate, has been granted extended leave of absence to 15th April next.
It is notified in the Gazette that Her Majesty has approved of the appointment of Mr. Wei
H.E. the Governor leaves for a short trip
Shanghai this week
339
Tedios
Mr. L. Noronha, who lives at Terrace, had a very narrow on the 23rd October. He was four o'clock by a peculiar noise downstairs to ascertain the cause with a loud orash and completely smashe as he got below, the roof of his bedroom bed which he had just left. There were of inmates in the house, but fortunately they were untouched.
On Monday afternoon Mr. J. L. Prosser sold by auction two lots of Crown land at the north of Bowen Road. The first lot contains 52,875 - square feet and the second lot 65,500 square. feet. The annual rental of each is $360 and the upset price was $4,000. The only bidder was Hon. C. P. Chater, who purchased each lot for $20 above the upset price on behalf of the Hongkong Land Investment and Agency Com- pany, Limited.
•
His Excellency the Governor's vegetable garden is to be removed to the west of its present position. Just now the large-heart cabbages and the juicy carrots are growing on a plot of
up and destroyed, the cement having been Ayuk as an unofficial member of the Legislative land close to the Bowen Road tramway station,
laid in such a way as to be useless, not owing to any fault in the material, but to a want of knowledge how to use it. We have some streets here paved with stones; these pavements are strong and last for a long time without repair, but they are not good for driving over and have other inconveniences. In most other towns concrete or macadam is used and large amounts are spent annually on the mainten. ance of the roads, but here the Leal Senado seems to think that when once the streets
are made they will last for ever and require no more looking after. No doubt. H.E. Senor Horta e Costa will observe the ruinous con- dition of the streets, and, remembering how much has formerly been spent on then, will object to seeing it all wasted for want of a little care. His Excellency is an engineer and will therefore understand the matter.
I mentioned in a previous letter that the Lis- bon Government had issued a notification pro- hibiting gambling on the part of public officers in the African colonies. H. E. Senhor Horta
• Costa was at home at the time and requested that the order should be extended to Macao, The Minister replied that Macao had not been included because he was afraid such an order might affect the Government interests, as the gambling monopolista might claim that it altered the conditions upon which they took the Farm. His Excellency thereupon requested the Minister to give him permission to take action in the matter on his arrival if he found that anything could be done, and the request was granted. On his arrival, therefore, he lost no time in the matter, but invited the gambling monopolists to Government House, explained that he wished to prohibit fantan gambling on the part of Government servants, and having ascertained that the monopolists would raise no legal objection, he made the necessary order, which was published in last Saturday's Boletim. The ability with which the Governor has carried this matter through is worthy of all praise. The order is to the effect that public servants are forbidden to play fantan and that anyone infringing the order, no matter what his position, will be immediately suspended from duty The police authorities are charged to be vigilant in detecting infringements of the order. The police will do well to discharge their duty in this matter thoroughly, for watchful eyes will be upon them. The new order has been received with satisfaction by a large section of the public, who will not willingly see it allowed to become a dead letter.
The transport Africa arrived here on the 16th inst. from Timor. She is commanded by Commander A. de Sergio e Souza. Itis reported that the is to take home the time expired crews of the gunboats Bengo and Diu. The gunboat Bengo, Commander Talone da Silva,
arrived on the 20th inst. from Timor.
A Chinese cashier formerly in the employ of the late Chow-Jao, on Monday night fired
with a revolver at the fifth wife of his deceased master, but luckily neither shot took effect. The man ran away, but was arrested and sent to the barracks, where he was placed
|
|
|
|
Council.
It is notified in the Gazette that the Queen's warrant appointing the Hon. C. P. Chater and Hon. J. J. Bell-Irving to be unofficial members of the Executive Council has been received.
Mr. Whiting, Chief Constructor at the Hongkong Naval Yard, has been appointed to Malta. Mr. Whiting's successor is Mr. G. Black, who at present holds the appointment at
Bermuda.
At the Police Court on Monday a man was I did not steal the goods; L was only carrying charged with stealing various goods.--Prisoner:
them for the thief. The Magistrate-That's near enough-three months.
The Registrar-General's returns of births and deaths for the first, second, and third quarters of the present year are published in the Gazette. For the last quarter the birth rate for the British and Foreign community was 30.35 and the death rate 25.61, while for the Chinese the birth rate was 3.23 and the death rate 18.29.
but the builders, who have no soul for veget- ables, require the land for the erection of house property and so the aforesaid cabbages and carrots and other luscious delicacies have to find a new home a little to the westward and near the nullah. We hope his Excellency's table will not suffer by the change. There is a great demand for building sites along the
Bowen Road and we understand that all the available ground will shortly be put up for auction.
On Friday afternoon about one hundred girls of the English Division of the Belilios Public School were entertained by the Hon. E. R. and Mrs. Belilios at their Peak residence. A sump- tuous luncheon, followed by numerous means of amusement and refreshment provided in the gardens, kept the children in a round of ecstacy and delight till darkness set in. At the close of the festivities one of the girls expressed to Mrs. Belilios the thanks of the School in a few timorous words of feeling, supported by lusty It is notified in the Gazette that H. E. the Go-ringing cheers for the generous host and veruor has been pleased to appoint, provisionally, and subject to Her Majesty's pleasure, Hon. J. J. Bell-Irving to be an unofficial member of the Legislative Council in succession to Mr. J. J. Keswick resigned. Mr. Bell-Irving has hitherto been sitting in the Council as Mr. Keswick's locum tenens.
hostess, who crowned the happiness of the party by presenting each of their visitors with a little parting gift in the form of a valuable souvenir. The thanks of parents, teachers, and children are due, not only to Mr. and Mrs. Belilios, who gave the children so many hours of unalloyed enjoyment, butalso to the Directors of the Tram- At the Police Court on Saturday Police way Company for the gratuitous conveyance, of Constable Wright (86) was complimented by the large party, as well as to the Superintend the Magistrate on his prompt action in rescuinging Engineer, Mr. Wylie, who took great pains from drowning two sailors belonging to the in ensuring the safety and comfort of the Pique. On Friday night the men, who were children during the trip up and down, drunk, fell into the water near the new Hong- kong Club. A Chinaman hurried to Pedder's Wharf and informed Wright of the occurrence. The officer at once took a sampan and succeeded after great difficulty in rescuing the men. They were locked up and on Saturday each was fined $1 for being drunk and disorderly,
©
There was an amusing incident at the Cri- minal Sessions on Monday. Two sampan women who had given evidence in the first murder case were called into court for the purpose of being identified. The interpreter asked one of them her name and she said "Chiu Kau," which means "the same as before." Owing, probably, to faulty pronunciation on the part of the woman the interpreter concluded that the answer was the name of the woman and he gave it as such. The woman seemed to see a joke in this and she grinned and then gave a proper reply.
A football match was played on Monday be- tween the Hongkong Football Club and F. The kick-off took place at Company, R.B. time. Davies captained the Club. In the first a quarter to five with full teams present on half the play was at each goal alternately and both custodians had to handle to clear. After half-time the play grew faster and a smart run by the Club's left wing ended in Anderson scoring, and, later, the Riflemen did the same. One all. The game then resolved itself into a duel between the backs, in which Davies made some good attempts at scoring, but without result. A fast and thoroughly pleasant game ended in a draw—one all.
On the 21st October, amidst a scene of solemn - impressiveness, the remains of Major G. K. Moore were interred at the Happy Valley with fall military honours. The procession which was a very long one, started from Wellington Barracks at four o'clock and was headed by a detachment of the Hongkong Regiment. Then followed the Royal Engineers, the Royal Artillery, the firing party, the gun carriage which bore the coffin and which was drawn by men of the Rifle Brigade, a detachment of the Rifle Brigade, men from the warships in the harbour, and last followed the officers of the Garrison, at the rear of whom were His Excel- leney Major-General Black a and Captain › Sterling, A.D.C., who represented His Excel- lency the Governor. Many official and private residents also joined the procession, among them being His Honour Dr. Carrington (Chief Justice), members of the Perseverance Lodge, of which the deceased was a Past Treasurer, and Masons of other lodges. cemetery, the band of the Rifle Brigader play --- The procession walked at a slow march to the ing Beethoven's funeral march On reaching the cemetery gates the firing party formed a double line and then brought up the rear the procession. The service in the very affecting and the scene at the grave- where a large concourse of people was most solemn. After the coffin, which covered with many magnificent wrea been lowered into the grave the firi fired the usual military salute.
uroh