280.
A servant boy in the employ of Mr. A. Kuhn, Richmond Road, pleaded guilty at the Police Court on 1st Oct, to stealing a gold watch and chain and a $5 gold piece, altogether of the value of $150, the property of his master. On the 22nd September Mr. Kuhn missed his watch and chain on going to bed and later discovered that he had also been robbed of the gold piece, which had been taken from the drawer. From what the cook said on the fol- lowing morning Mr. Kuhn hnd bis boy arrested, but the charge was then denied. While on remand the prisoner attempted to commit suicide by hanging himself in his cell by means of his quene, but he was fortunately discovered in time by an assistant warder, who ent him down. The prisoner was penitent yesterday morning and acknowledged having stolen the watch and chain and the gold piece from a drawer in a table at the side of Mr. Kuhn's bed. For the theft the prisoner was sent to gaol for six months with hard labour and for attempting suicide he was ordered to come up for judgment if called upon.
Under the auspices of the Kowloon Docks Recreation Club an entertainment was held at the Docks on Saturday night, 2nd Oct., when Mr. R. Cooke presided over a large and appreciative an- dience. An excellent programme had been ar- ranged, which opened with a fine rendering of a pianoforte solo, The Caliph of Bagdad," by Mr. A. J. M. Farr, and was followed with songs, violin solos, &c., in delightful variety. Mr. R. J. H. Bentley responded to encores for both of his songs, as did also Mr. J. Bryan for "We did 'ave a time," Mr. Ward for his humorous recita- tion, "The Penny Showman," and Mr. A. C. Van Nierop for "The Holy City." The other items on the programme were all very credit- ably rendered and included songs, &c., by Mrs. Stringer, Dr. Jordan, Messrs. 8. H. Somerton, H. Houben, Boulter, and Simmers. At the conclusion the Chairman proposed votes of thanks to the artists and the committee, re- marking that they were greatly indebted to the former for coming there to entertain them, and to the latter for the amount of trouble they. had gone to in compiling so excellent a pro- gramme.
and it will be conceded, says our comtemporary, that the increases granted are not un- reasonable. The men who will be benefited are the men who are feeling most acutely the high prices at present ruling for almost all the necessaries of life. They are nearly all poor Eurasiaus or Asiatics, many of them with large families to support. The higher officers who draw exchange compensa. tion have not, of course, been considered. Un- like the subordinate officers, they are all, for- tunately, in a position to tide over a season of temporary dearness, and are not entitled to come to the Commission for assistance. We all hope that these hard times will be only temporary, and the Commissioners, in that view, limit the increases to a period of six months. This will involve an extra expenditure of over twelve thousand dollars, in itself a considerable item. The Commissioners also granted substantial in- creases in the matter of transport allowance on account of the prevailing high price of horse feed.
We hear that a circular has been issued to the members of the Civil Service notifying them that in consequence of the unfavourable financial position of the colony no applications for in- crease of salary can be entertained. In the Straits Settlements it is understood that the Government is going to take the increased cost of living into consideration in connection with the salaries provided for in next year's estimates, and the municipalities of Singa- jore and Penang have already taken steps in the same direction. From the Straits Times we learn that the Municipal Commission of Singapore on the 23rd September increased the salaries of their subordinate officials, in consequence of the present enhanced cost of living in the Settlement. Municipal servants drawing salaries of over one hun- dred and twenty dollars ณ year will receive an increase of fifteen per cent.; those drawing above six dollars a month, and not exceeding ten dollars, will get an additional dollar and a-half; and others receiving six dollars a month or less will be paid an extra dollar. The Sub-Committee have evidently goLe into the matter with considerable care,
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
A houseboy in the employ of Mr. J. White, of the Naval Yard, was fined $5 at the Police Court on 29th Sept. for leaving his master's employ without giving due notice.
On 29th Sept. Mr. George Kingston Hall Brutton was approved, admitted, and enrolled as an attorney and proctor in the Supreme Court of Hongkong. The Attorney-General (Hon. W. M. Goodman) nade the application and explained that Mr. Bratton was admitted to practise as a solicitor in the Supreme Court of Judicature in England in 1891. During the last four years Mr. Brutton had practised in Shanghai. The Chief Justice, before whom the application was made, said he had great pleasure in admitting Mr. Bratton to practise in the Court. We understand that Mr. Brut. ton will join the office of Mr. K. W. Mounsey. The Rev. A. Kollecker, iu bis 1896-1897 re- port of the mission schools connected with the Berlin Missionary Society in China, says it is very interesting to observe that the Chinese are more and more awakening to the acknowledg ment of the fact that the western methods of teaching excel those of the Chinese. During the year the Society sustained twenty-one day. schools with about 350 pupils, or seven more schools than in 1896. The Central School in | Canton is flourishing, all the rooms being filled. One passage in the report reads as follows
A recent paper in the Chinese Recorder shews that we are not alone in the difficulty of im- pressing the Chinese with the idea that it is not a disgrace for a literary man to work and shorten his long finger-nails. We try to over. come this foolish prejudice by ordering the pupils themselves to sweep and clean their rooms and garden. This rule once nearly ruined the school some years ago, but works well now. Last year the pupils were most obedient; they studied diligently and made good progress."
Three men were charged before Mr. Wode- house on 30th Sept. with highway robbery with violence at Kowloon. The complainant's story was that he left Kowloon City on the 23rd August for Yaumati with $40 in his possession. Just as he had crossed the border one of the prisoners asked him if he had any opium about him. He replied he had not, and he was there- upon searched and his money taken from him by the man who questioned him. The other two men were near him. They refused to give back the money, and complainant was then stabbed three times in the side. He became unconscious and when he recovered his senses be found himself at Kowloon City, minus of course his money. On the following morning Sergeant Coutts picked up a knife near to the scene of the assault and after enquiries had been made the complainant was found at Kowloon City and he identified the knife as the one with which he was stabbed. The prisoners were arrested two or three days ago and they were identified by the complainant. The case was remanded,
new
On Saturday afternoon, 2nd October, in response to an invitation issued by Messrs. Madar and Farmer, several ladies and gentle- men participated in . trial trip of the double-anded ferry launch, Guiding Star, which was launched on the 30th August from the Kowloon docks. The launch, journeyed to Junk Bay and back, the trip occupying altogether about two hours. Mr. D. Macdonald was in charge of the engineering arrangements, which were in every way highly satisfactory, the engines working with perfect smoothness, a speed of eleven knots being maintained. The launch is certain to attain great popularity and we should not be surprised if it is in great demand during the picnic season. The vibration from the engines is infinitesimal. Another great advantage is that there is plenty of room on the upper deck for a large number of passengers, The stern- like ends are a novelty in this harbour and when looking ahead one is reminded of the boy whose trousers got reversed, causing him to wonder whether he was going home or going to school; but familiarity will soon wear off the puzzled feeling, should it exist. There are two deck houses and the seats on the deck are of the garden type and reversible. The trip was a most pleasant one and rendered all the more enjoyable by the great hospitality Messrs. Madar and Farmer extended to their numerous guests The Guiding Star was placed on the regular ferry service on the 3rd October.
[October 7, 1897.
The charge of embezzlement preferred against a Chinese clerk employed by the Dairy Farm Company, Limited, again came before Hon. H. E. Wodehouse on 30th Sept. Mr. Walker, the manager, showed by a multiplicity of arith metical explanations that from the 27th August to 21st September 2.7024 tbs of milk had been lost to the company, the whole being worth $104.2. In reply to this the defendant sought to show that in the course of a day's churning several pounds of milk were lost in leakage and waste and also by separated milk being added to cream in order to better facilitate the making of butter or cheese. He also said that there was no check put upon the coolies who took back the unused milk to Pokfulam, there being no lock or seal placed upon the tins, and therefore the milk could be sold on the way. In reply to this Mr. Walker Faid there was a certain amount of leakage and a little waste, but not enough to account for the great defici- ency. Whenever milk was put with cream during churning the milk left from the churning would still have to be accounted for, as there would be more butter and also more buttermilk. In regard to the defence that it was possible for coolies to sell milk sent back to Pokfulam, Mr. Walker called a coolie who was in charge of the van and he said the milk was never touched from the time it left the Company's office until it reached Pokfulam. The case was then adjourned to give the de- fendant an opportunity of calling witnesses,' Bail as before was allowed. On 2nd October the magistrate committed the accused for trial, Mr. Ewens, who appeared for the defence, re- questing that this course be adopted.
It is believed that the man who sent the threatening letter to the Captain Superinten dent of Police on the 13th August has at last been caught. He made his appearance before the Magistrate on 29th Sept. The letter demanded $10,000 from Mr. May and appointed a certain rendezrons for the money to be handed over in a lump sum. Needless to say Mr. May did not hand over the $10,000, nor did he “fear and tremble," which was the alternative mentioned in the letter. The arrest came about in this
way.
Detective Sergeant Scott, acting on certain information received on 28th September went to a house at. 18, Chinese Street, where he found the prisoner, who is a contractor of Hungham. The officer asked if any objection would be raised to his searching the premises, and the accnsed asked what was the object. Scott replied that he believed the prisoner had some forged notes in his possession, and thereupon a drawer was opened and Scott found a forged bank note purporting to be one for 850 of the Chartered Bank of India, Aus- tralia, and China. The prisoner was thereupon arrested. He attempted to throw away a waist- coat, but the sergeant prevented him and on searching it found a chop which exactly cor- responded with the chop on the threatening letter sent to Mr. May. The man was then taken to the Police Station and charged with haring sent the letter and also with being in possession of the forged note well knowing it to be forged. He told the Magistrate that the note must have been put in the drawer by his partner. They had contracted to build an iron wharf off Messrs. Donglas Lapraik's office. They quarrelled over the business and the part- ner wished to get the prisoner into trouble. Both cases were adjourned till.
MISCELLANEOUS.
The manager of the Kabin gold mines came down to Bangkok the other day with, it is re- ported, three kilos, or over six and a half pounds, of pure gold from there. A ten stamp battery is now in operation at the mines.
The China Gazette has been informed that the steamer Ellen Rickmers and the steamer Elizabeth Rickmers have been withdrawn from the China line, owing to both steamers having been chartered by the North German Lloyd Com- pany to be employed on the Baltimore and Galveston route in place of the boats of the Crefield class bitherto running to those ports. commanded to resign his post and go up to Pe. king to await some other appointment. It is reported that this is with the object of appoint- ing him to Canton in place of Viceroy Tan Chung-lin, the latter being nearly 85 years of age and anxious to retire,