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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
having the Government Offices built there, but as you clearly show they would gain more by having the Post Office retained on its present site. The question is consequently being asked why the Hon. Mr. Chater, who is known to be the largest holder of land in that district, should be so anxious to have it there in spite of his own personal interest to the contrary. The question, I fear, is prompted by that spirit of suspicion and ancharitableness with which most of us are more or less endowed. Even if there should still remain a doubt I think that Mr. Chater, considering the long time be has been amongst us and the great adran- tages which his energy and foresight have conferred on the colony and on many of us indi- vidually, should be given the benefit of it. "To my mind the answer to the question is that Mr. Chater is a public spirited citizen and is will ing, and in such a position that he can afford to sacrifice his personal interest for the public good. This was shown by the great amount of his valuable time which he devoted to collecting from the public subscriptions towards the cele bration of Her Majesty's Jubilee. He did that without any thought of reward or recognition, as he himself publicly declared, but Her Majesty's Government, who could in no way be influenced by feelings of personal friendship, rightly hon oured him and the colony by conferring on him al Companionship of the Most Distinguished Order of St. Michel and St. George. Why, then, should it be assumed that he would not be likely to forego a little personal benefit to himself for what be conscientiously believes 10 be for the public benefit? That Mr. Chater can be thoroughly conscientious in such matters he showed by his declaration in the Legislative Council that he never gave to his partner in- formation on public affairs which came to his knowledge through his position as the senior unofficial member of our local Legislature, and that notwithstanding it is known that their transactions involve very large sums, in the turning over of which a few hours or even a few minutes information in advance of the public would be of great benefit to them. Of course it may be said that Mr. Chater's position places him above those petty considera- tions to which most of us, and perhaps evcu he himself under other circumstances, would Buccumb; but here again I say that he is entitled to the benefit of the doubt. Why should we doubt or be jealous because we ourselves are incapable of standing on such a high plane? Caution and suspicion are in- stincts formed and inherited in the course of ages by our struggle for existence, but I think the public will agree with you that it was very wrong in Mr. Belilios or anyone else to impute self interest to Mr. Chater.-Yours faithfully,
Hongkong, 2nd March 1898,
W.
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TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
SIR,-You invite ideas on this subject. I think there are only two, that held by Mr. Chater, his henchman, Mr. Whitehead, and yourself, and that held by the community at large. As to sites, seeing it is now certain that the New Praya will not be extended eastward there would in one case be ou the north the harbour, ou the east that buge folly, the now deserted Hongkong Club, and the Taikoo Hong, only these and nothing more, on the south and west sides the whole of the town, business and re- sidential; in the other we have and will continue to have, however much and in whatever direction the town may extend, as central a position as could possibly be got. The Reclamation will extend west of Ice House street as well as east of it. And the time is coming when all Chinese letters will have to pass through the General Post Office. We have also to consider the Treasury as well as the Post Office. From all I can hear you are going dead against public opinion, and I venture to think that you and Mr. Chater are only beating the wind.—Yours faithfully.
Hougkong, 3rd March, 1898.
W.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS;" DEAE SIE,I have just been examining a map of Hongkong and fail to see how the site on the Reclamation can be considered central. For likely to become so. It is bounded on the north by the sea, communication to the eastward
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is limited to the Hongkong Club, Butterfield & Swire's and the Telegraph Company, as beyond that the Naval Yard acts as an effective and apparently permanent barrier. A stretch of nearly a quarter of a mile following the road in a south-westerly direction separafes it from the busiest portion of the City of Victoria. If a pillar box were asked for at the corner of the Reclamation site I should say by all means, but to build a General Post Office away from the business centre of the town, in the hope that the business will follow it, seems to me to be expecting too much and rather reminds one of the fable of Mahomet and the Mountain. I do not believe there is anywhere a precedent for carrying out such a proposal as the suggested erection of a G. P. O. on the Reclamation site. Sydney is not unlike Hongkong in its geo- graphical position, being a large town with a fine harbour, but although it can boast of a maguificent G.P.O this Post Office is not erected on the harbour frontage for “ look see pidgin," but, on the contrary, is built in the business centre of the town, where it is most wanted. Again, take Loudon. The G.P.O. is not situated on the Thames Embankment but in the heart of the City.
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A good deal of apprehension seems to exist in some quarters that if the Post Office is re- tained where it is, it will, in time, be surrounded by Chinese shops. In answer to this I would point ont that it is proposed to have roads on all four sides of the new building, whichever site is selected, and that globe trotters and party holders alike would prefer to face such Chinese shops as Lock Hing's and A Tack's than such dilapidated looking structures as the block of European houses which stretch from Deacon and Hastings' offices to "Crosby's Store." I do not think that Chinese shops such as those seen at East Point and West Point would be permitted, or pay if they were per- mitted, because the shops in the neighbourhood of the present Post Office would depend largely on Europeans for support. There is nothing offensive to the eye about such Chinese shops as the two I have mentioned by name; in fact they are superior both inside and outside to nearly all the European stores in the colony.
If the idea is to make the Reclamation the swell quarter of the colony, by removing thither all the principal public buildings, it seems tu me that the removal of the Post Office to this site will defeat this object, as practically only Chinese use the Post Office and Treasury, where crowds of dirty coolies can be seen loafing about at all hours of the day. The only Europeans to use the Post Office to any extent -ara globe trotters. Now a globe trotter's first act after lauding at the first central wharf (which will be Pedder's) is to seek the best hotel; having arrived there he enquires as to the whereabouts of the Post Office, and what more handy to the Hongkong Hotel than the present one?
I am afraid, Mr. Editor, I am taking up a lot of your space, but you ask in your leader of this morning for ideas of a non-personal nature, and I have attempted to give you a few which must be taken for what they are worth.
Yours truly,
H.
Hongkong, 3rd March, 1898. -
HONGKONG
The weather wobbled very-considerably during the past week. We have had fine weather with dull intervals and dull weather with fine intervals, and the temperature has been cold one minute and hot the next, while the wind has been boisterous at oue period of the day and a dead calm at another. Rinderpest has again broken out in the colony, but so far ouly a small farm has been affected. The Sanitary Board has held two special meetings to discuss the subject and after much talk the members decided to take certain steps to prevent the spread of the disease. On the 28th February the Legislative Council held a meeting, and a long discussion took place on the question of the new Post Office site. The Jubilee Committee have presented their accounts and are now taking active mea- sutes to secure the establishment of the hospital for women and children and the nursing insti- tate at the Peak, the idea at present being to purchase Craigieburn. On the 26th Feb, Mr. W. V. Drummond delivered a lecture at the
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[March 5, 1898.
City Hall on "The Secret of the British Em- pire." During the week several Company meetings have been held.
Owing to Hon. H.E. Wodehouse being in- disposed, Commander Hastings has been sitting as Magistrate during the past week.
The Commodore's pennant was hoisted on board H.M.S. Tamar on 3rd March, when the crew of H.M.S. Victor Emanuel were transferred to her.
Mr. W. M. B. Arthur, first clerk at the Magistracy, went home on leave on 1st March by the Sachsen. We wish Mr. Arthur a pleasant voyage and hope he will enjoyably spend his well earned holiday in England.
The Hon. Treasurer of the Alice Memorial and Nethersole Hospitals begs to acknowledge with thanks the following donation to the funds of the Hospitals :—
C. Holdsworth
$5
The Right Rev. Dr. Carvalho, the new Bi- shop of Macao, who arrived by the French mail, left on 1st March in the Portuguese gunboat Bengo to assume the duties of his diocese. Great preparations had been made in Macao for his reception.
It is stated that instructions have been received by the authorities at Canton from Peking to proceed with the construction of a railway from Canton to Wuchowfu. We hope this project will not hang fire as long as the projected Kowloon and Canton Railway.
On 25th February the matshed barracks at Kowloon occupied by a company of men of the King's Own Regiment caught fire, and before the flames were extinguished a considerable portion of the barracks was destroyed, together with most of the men's clothing and accoutre- ments.
Her Majesty held an investiture at Osborne on the 25th January. Amongst the gentlemen who had the honour of kinghthood conferred upon
them was Mr. Justice Ackroyd. The gentlemen afterwards partook of luncheon at the Palace. They travelled across the Solent from and to Portsmouth in the Royal yacht Alberta.
There was a large attendance at the Theatre Royal on Saturday night 26th Feb. when the Amateur Dramatic Club made their final appearance in "The Duchess of Bayswater & Co." and A Pantomime Rehearsal." Each piece was loudly applauded and during the evening bouquets were presented to the lady performers.
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The result of the argument in Chambers in regard to the question of costs in the share case was that His Lordship the Chief Justice decreed that Mr. Gorham, the defendant, should pay the full costs of the suit up to the date of hear- ing, and two-thirds of the costs from the date of the commencement of the hearing to date of judgment.
We learn that in accordance with the leave granted by the Chief Justice in his judgment delivered on the 12th February, the plaintiffs in the synagogue case have applied to amend their petition so as to make a case for specific performance. It will be remembered that what they asked for before was a declaration of trust, and upon that issue they failed.
Several lots of property at the Peak were offered for sale by auction by Mr. G. P. Lammert at bis sales room on 1st March. Craigieburn was to have been one of the lots, but the sale of this property was postponed by request until the 16th March. The reason for the postponement is that the idea of acquiring the property for the purposes of the Jubilee Hospital for Women and Children and Nursing Institute has been brought forward and is now under consideration. The first lot offered for sale yesterday was No. 6, Stewart Terrace, which was put up at $3,000. The bidding ad vanced by $100 and $50 to $4,450, at which sum the property was knocked down to Mr. Ka Poo. The second lot was No. 7, Stewart Terrace, which was knocked down to the same buyer for $4,150. No. 8, Stewart Terrace bought by Mr. Pinckney for $4,500, and No. 9, Stewart Terrace was bought by Mr. Ka. Poo for $4,250. Rural building lot No. 82, containing 10,080 square feet, with the two houses known as Wageningen and The Retreat, was then offered, the upset price being $15,000, but as no bid was made in advance of this figure, the property was withdrawn.
WBS
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