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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
committee of this Institute be and is hereby empowered to lesse the premises now oc- oupied by Messrs. Siemsson and Co. from Mr Chater at the monthly rental of $350, and to make the best arrangements possible for sub letting the present rooms to one or more suitable tenants.” At sa subsequent meeting this resolution was confirmed and the commit. tee werd directed to make the final arrange ments. At the first meeting Mr. J. W. King born (chairman of the committee) gave a few facts connected with the history of the Institu- tion from its birth up to date. He said that the first regular meeting was held on the 1st October, 1800. The committee had the greatest difoulty in obtaining suitable premises. They held no less than six special meetings before it was finally decided that their habitition should be at No. 16 Praya Central and it was in that place that the first general meeting of members took place on the 2nd December of the same year, there being 23 members present at that meeting. The inaugural meeting of the Institute was held on the 8th January, 1891, and took the form of a social party. The Institute during the year made very good progress. The first annual meeting was held on the 30th January, 1892, the committee reporting that the membership had grown steadily from 92 in December, 1890, to 197 in December, 1891. Everything went on very well until April. 1892, when the ques- tions of rooms came up again. Several meet- ings were held and on the 4th July in the same year the first lease of the premises which have just been vacated was signed.
The new rooms looked at their best on Satur- day evening, they having been beautifully decorated by a decoration committee composed of Messrs. Ramsey, Skinner, and Ordish. The social hall was resplendent with coloured lights and the pillars were gracefully entwined with greenery. A glass tank filled with gold fish and illuminated with electricity looked very pretty. It had been fixed up by Mr. Bows, of one of the Empress boats.
The proceedings were fixed to commence at nine o'clock, and a few minutes after the hour struck! His Excellency and Viscount Suirdale made their appearance, being received by Mr. Kinghorn and other members of the committee and escorted to a seat in the social hall,
Mr KINGHORN, who acted as Chairman, then said-Your Excellency and ladies and gentlemen, owing to the unfortunate absence of our President. Mr. Gillies, this evening the honour has fallen upon me, to extend to you & hearty welcome and to thank you for coming here to-night to assist the Institution of En. gineers and Shipbuilders in making another step of progress and advancement. This In- stitution was incorporated in 1891 and since then has, in a quiet unassuming way, been doing some good work of its kind. As some folks have an idea that it is connected in some
way #1 trade unionism perhaps I had better try to explain briefly what its aims and objects are. It must be evident to anyone who cares to think on the subject at all that in the mil- lions of tons of steam shipping that come to this port year by year there is a large number of engineers in those vessels who, having no home ties in this part of the world, require a place of this kind for relaxation from their very onerous duties; and also in which to
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The programme which followed included a quartett by Mrs. Mumford, Mrs. Hand. Mr. Mirow, and Mr. Crispin, songs by Mrs. Hand, Messrs. G. P. Lammert, T. Long- worth, and Mr. Crispin, and a pianoforte selection by Mr. A. G. Ward. The hand of the Royal Welch Fusiliers was in attendance and played several pieces of music. A pleasant evening was brought to a conclusion by the singing of “ Auld Lang Syne."
[July 22, 1899. frequenting this port, but we have never really (Laughter.) (His Excelleny was referring to the had sufficient accommodation, and our little fact that the electric light and the electric ceremony here to-night is the result of our
fan over his table liad for the time being desire to extend the benefits of this Institution refused to act.) It is a great thing that the to a greater number, and we asked your Excel. marine engineers, shipbuilders, and others en lency to assist this evening in taking that step gaged in the professsion in Hongkong should which we hope will lead to yet greater results. have such a charming room as this in which (Hear, hear.) It is acknowledged that the to meet, and where they can read, and discuss shipping is the life blood of this importsut professional questions (Hear bear.) I have Crown Colony, and we humbly submit that the listened with great interest and pleasure to the professions represented in this lustitation are "solo" of Mr. Kinghorn, and I won't deprive as the life blood to the shipping-(hear, bear)—you any longer of the pleasure of listening to for without the engineer our steamers could
the other items on the programme, but will not get along, and when they are in want of re- conclude by declaring this Institution open and pairs we could do without the shipbuilder. (hear, wishing it every success in the future. (Ap- hear.) We maintain that the shipowner or planse.) agent should take this Institution seriously, for he will acknowledge that the expenses in the engine-room department often turn the scales as to whether the vessel will earu money or not. The careful intelligent engineer is sure to be the most economical and it is ouly in an In- stitution of this kind that he can get the oppor. tunity of studying the great improvements that are being made every day in his profession. I am not quite certain if all the members will | agree with the next thing I have to say, and that is, that your Excellency and the Naval and Military authorities in this important SEQUEL TO THE PEAK DOG RAID. Crown Colony should take this Institution seriously. We all know that in time of trouble this Colony will have to depend principally for its protection on the Navy. I say this without prejudice to the other arm of the service, which have plenty of work to do, and our gallant in the event of war with any foreign power will Volunteers will not be last in the breach (hear, hear,)-but I maintain without the ships we are lost. And who are the principal men on the ships? We say the engineers. It is a very curious thing that of all the speeches made by Navy Leaguers they have said very little about the engineers, and it was not until they spoke up themselves and pointed out the weakest spot in the whole organisation that they were given any attention. Now they have more than their share and you cannot open au engineer- ing journal without seeing a speech by some ode on the subject, and the Board of Trade have also taken the matter up and it might he said that the question of the day is the higher educa- tion of our engineers. The amount of ma- chinery ou board of a modern man-of-war i bewildering to the uninitiated, and the amount of care
and attention it requires is not easy to calculate. On this far eastern station in the event of trouble where are these men to
read the latest technical literature, so that they may keep themselves posted in the im- provements that are continually taking place in their profession. The days have gone by when an engineer can go blundering along in the old finger and thumb fashion, and unless he takes an intelligent interest in his profession and seeks by reading and study and converse with men who perhaps have better opportuni- ties than himself, he will soou fall out of the race and be not only a failure in himself but a source of heavy loss to his employer. (Hear, bear). I have said this 'Institution bas nothing to do with trade unionism and takes no cognis ance of any dispute between the employer and the employed, but it might be called a trade union in the sense that it is a combination for the mutual instruction and improvement | of the marine engineers and shipbuilders. We have about 400 names on the roll, and of these about one hundred are transitory mem- bers, and our average membership is about 300 **a very small #proportion of the engineers
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be recruited from?
There are a few R.N.R.'s
among our members, but there ought to be ten times the number. Navy League please note, and if the authorities would only take this Institution seriously I think it would have grand results. (Hear, hear.) This Institute is of course self-supporting The members have all the creature comforts they require and there is no want of talent for our smoking concerts when in a lighter vein. We have lately started a Football Club in con- nection with the Institution and we mean to have a try for the shield next season, (Hear, hear.) The only thing we want is a fair share of the ground, and we have no doubt that by making application in the proper quarter wo shall not be left out in the training. I shall now conclude my remarks by calling on your Excellency to declare the rooms opened, and we hope that before your time comes to leave Hongkong we shall have the pleasure of calling on you to lay the foundation stone of our very own Institution. (Applause.)
His Excellency, who was greeted with ap. plause, said—Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentle men, it has given me great pleasure to respond to your invitation to come here this evening and assist at this interesting ceremony of the opening of a new Institution. I have listened to the chairman's opening address with very great interest, as I am sure all present have, and I look forward in the future to hearing most in- teresting papers, if you will allow me, read in this room. (Hear, hear.) I take it that engi. neers and shipbuilders of all kinds are eligible as members of the Institute, and among them electrical engineers, who may be able to give us an interesting paper as to why this electric light went out, and as to why we at this table should be the only people deprived of a punkah.
MAJOR LONG SUMMONED FOR DISORDERLY CONDUCT,
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At the Magistracy on Saturday, before Mr.
lawfully behave in a disorderly manner at the Gompertz, Acting Police Magistrate, Major Long was charged that on the 7th of July he did un- Peak Tramway termius whereby a breach of the peace might have been occasioned, contrary to Ordinance 14 of 1845, section 13.
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Captain Superintendent May said—In this case, your Worship, I applied for a summons on facts which have come to my knowledge since the bearing of the case which took place a few days ugo. If I had been in possession of this evidence at that time I would have called it. The facts ara briefly these-.
Major Long-May I interrupt for a moment. I wish to raise a question of law, whether there is any right for me to appear here at all. I think I am within my rights for the moment before the case proceeds in taking the question of the legality of the charge against me.
The Magistrate I do not know if you know what you are charged with.
Major Long-I have got a copy of the sum- inous. I am going on the well-established principle of law that a man once convicted or acquitted of a criminal offence cannot be tried again. Although this partionlar offence is a different one it is practically the same,and if the objection is not allowed it really amounts to this, that you can try a man as often as you like, because it is only necessary to slightly alter the charge. I maintain that where a man is brought forward on an offence you drop all the the minor charges and try him on the principal offence of assaulting the Police and the minor one of disorderly conduct should drop aside- the one principal charge covering the lot.
The Magistrate-That is quite right, but you dence is new, and the charge now before me is not are charged on a different set of facts. The eri; granted on the same set of facts.
Major Long-It is the business of the Police to come forward with their case complete, in stead of which they rush into the Court unpre pared. The offence was committed on the 7th, and on the 8th the Police applied for a sum- mons. For some curious reason-
-perhaps the Police can exple in it-I was not served with a summous until the day before the case was brought forward They now come forward with a little pettifogging charge that is un worthy of any man to bring forward against a gentleman. It shows malice and spite.
His Worship-1 think you had better let the Captain Superintendent open his case.
Major Long-Do you rule they can bring as many charges as they like against me ?
His Worship-Not on the same facts. Major Long-The principal has been disposed of and the minor charges ought to have been dropped also. If you charge a man with burglary and he is dismissed, you do not charge him with breaking a window. Will your Wor- ship take notice of my objection that I protest against the charge that it is bad in law?