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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
THE NEW CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE.
LANDSLIP AT QUARRY BAY..
The heavy rains of the past five or six days are mainly the cause of a landslip which occurred late on the 9th inst, at Sulchingwan. At that Place Mesers. Butterfield & Swire have a great number of coolies employed in excavation work, connected with the proposed new dock there. The hillside where the slip took place was consequently in a disturbed state, and it only required a thorough soaking with rain to loosen completely the great mass of material and precipitate it into the roadway beneath. Huge boulders, each weighing about 250 tons, and a mass of earth estimated to weigh some where about 1,000 tons, slipped down the hillside for a distance of one hundred yards or so, and completely blocked the public road. As a result, the contractor, Chan A King, has had to make a temporary roadway along the beach for pas. sengers and vehicles, and has also engaged a launch for the use of Europeans going round from Quarry Bay to Shaukiwan, and vice versu. It is a fortunate thing that the landslip occurred during the night when work had ceased and the neighbourhood Was deserted. Had it taken place in the daytime, when the vicinity would have been crowded with coolies and the roadway possibly occupied by passengers, it is certain that serious loss of life would have resulted. As it happens, however, no one is believed to have been in- jured, and beyond the blocking of the roadway, no damage has been done. The excavations appear to have been greatly furthered by the slip.
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From enquiries made on the 13th inst, we learn that the road has been almost cleared of -the debris.
SPURIOUS MILK IN THE
COLONY.
[May 20, 1901. 1901. The transfer of Mr. Crook to Gibraltar and the delay in filling up the vacancy caused some delay in starting these works. Thow We have received a copy of the Code of Civil reservoirs are estimated to contain 70,000,000, Procedure (Hongkong), edited by Sir John W.) 100 and 20,000,003 gallons respectively Carrington, Kt., G.M.G., and published by and no doubt in a wet year all will fill and thus Messrs. Noronha & Co. It has been recognised 530,000,000 gallons will be held up in Tytam for some considerable time now by the local Valley alone. Two of them fill at the expense Bench and members of the legal profession that of Tytam, that is, they are in the same water- our system of proc-dure at the Supreme Court shed and above it. It is also intended to raise stood in need of improvements and additions in Pokfulam two feet, which will add 4,000,000 order to adapt it to the needs of modern times, gallons to the supply. and in 1899 Sir John Carrington's offer to undertake a revision was accepted. With the sanction of the Secretary of State it was arrang ed that the revision should proceed on the basis of the old Code. In his preparation of the Draft Code, however, the English Rules of Court were also carefully examined, as well as former Ordinances relating to procedure, and some usɔ was made of the Indian Code of Civil Procedure. By far the largest quantity of new matter, says Sir John Carrington in his prefatory note, was taken from the English Rules of Court, The Draft Code was printed at the Oxford University Press and copies reached the Colony in April, 1900, and were distributed among members of the profession. A committee was then appointed to examine and revise the Draft, and was composed of the Chief Justice himself, the Acting Puisie Judge, Messrs. H. E Pollock, E. H. Sharp, Victor H. Deacon, and J. F. Reece. Other professional suggestions were invited. Two revisions were made, and the Draft was then sent in to the Govern. ment, submitted to the Council in the form of a Bill, and passed into law with no material alterations. In this form it is now issued to the public in a neatly bound volume of 289 pages. For this edition of the Code Sir John Carrington states that he has adopted, with considerable additions, the index of the Draft Code, by permission of H.E. the Governor.
HEAVY SEIZURÉ BY THE BANITARY board.
A large number of cases of sparious coni- densed milk have been seized by the Sanitary Board; and, we believe; another heavy con. fiscation is to follow. For the past two years bad condensed milk has been placed upon the market, and already there have been pro- ceedings both civil and criminal taken in respect of infringement of certain well known conden sd milk trade-marks. This, the latest discovery, has come not at all too soon, for it is well known that the milk is sold to ice-crum vendors at the rate of from 2 to 3 vents a tin, whereas the market prices vary from 20 to 45 cente, according to brands. Whether the present seisure is portion of a consignment imported in the usual way and become putrid by time, or whether it is the production of dishonest local traders; remains yet to be seen. Certain it is that large quantities of it have been sold, and is now being used by residents. Evidence has already been obtained that cases have gone off to itinerant vendors of ice-cream who parade our streets, and numbers of small shopkeepers are exhibiting tins of milk bearing the same label as a well-known brand on the market. In connection with this seizure we learn that there are other commodities equally as spurious upon the market to day, and equally as injurious to the public health. Quantities of tinned butter, fruit, jams, fish, etc., are exposed for sale within the colony, which it would be as well to seise and destroy. We trust that the Sanitary Board, now that they have put their hands to the plough in this direction, will not turn back, and, if, on analysis, the milk now in t their charge should turn out to be so injurious as to endanger the public health, they will at once take vigorous stops to prosecute those whose evil intention it was lo palm it off upon a too-confiding públiö as a wholesome food,
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We understand that the Sanitary Board has now, taken provvedings against the traders who have been offering for sale spurious milk within the Colony
ems that the mad dog at the Russian Tegation in Seoul not only bit M. Payloft, the an-Minister but also Pref. N. Birukoff imperial Russian School, a Cossack and 1, all of whom proceeded to Japan on a xian man bf-war to be treated at the Pasteur Institute in Tokyo.
The editor says in his prefatory note that he trusts the edition may prove useful to the Supreme Court, to the legal profession, and to the public in general. Speaking for the hope will be fulfilled. The Code is offered to last-named, we feel certain that the editor's them in admirably small compass in clear and (with allowance for the intricacies of law to the layman) simple shape.
THE PUBLIC WORKS REPORT FOR 1900.
The extension of building on the higher levels of the city rendered it necessary to con to the south of Be'ilios Terrace. This new struct a new service reservoir, to replace that
reservoir was completed at the end of the year, at a cost of $5,440.03, ond now supplies all the besides affording greater pressure for Belilios new houses on the Pokfulam Conduit Road, Terrace and the Robinson Road houses. It is led by the Arbuthnot Road motor, and a new main of larger dimensions has been laid con- necting them. Another new service reservoir, to be filled from the Bowen Rosd filter beds Military Hospital and was commenced before and reservoir, is required above the site of the the end of the year. A hydraulic motor is being fixed at Bowen Road, to pump up water to this reservoir, as well as to a third new reservoir to be built on the summit of Mount Gough.
From the long and exhaustive report of the Director of Public Works for 1900, as published in the Gazette, we take the following extracts :- WORK UNDER THE BUILDING ORDINANCE.
Private buildings have been going up very rapidly both in Hongkong and in British Kow- loon, there was probably never such activity in the building trade before, and this in spite of greatly enhanced prices of all materials and of wages. Many new and handsome houses de signed for European occupation have been completed on MacDonnell Road and elsewhere, but as the wealthier Chinese now purchase and occupy such houses, and are willing to pay enormous prices for them, the scarcity of houses for Europeans increases and rents still go up.
Large blocks of land have been sold with the express condition that only European houses should be erected thereon, and a very great number of such buildings were completed and came into use in 1900, while others in the Happy Valley are nearing completion. But there is no law by which such buildings can be reserved for European occupation, so the relief in rents is not felt.
in the population at the Peak, the supply in the Owing to the large and permanent increase summer months was maintained with much difficulty, and not without more than one break- down. The engine house at Bonham Road was enlarged during the year, and a new and much larger boiler fitted up. Steps have been taken and the necessary materials obtained from England to duplicate the rising main from Bonham Road to Victoria Peak, but the Peak supply will be in a somewhat precarious and unsatisfactory state, until the Mount Gongh reservoir is completed, and filled from Bowen Road motor.
THE WATER SUPPLY OF THE COLONY, The necessity for further storage in Hong. kong again became apparent by the necessity which arose on the 1st May of putting the city on an intermittent supply, which, how ever, owing to the timely commencement of the rains, only had to be continued for 13 days. Wongneicheong reservoir, holding 33,000,000 gallons, was completed in 1809, and the full benefit of it was obtained for the last dry season. The rainfall of 1899 had only reached 72.71 inches, or 16.29 inches lelow the average, and 1900 was again short, only reaching 73.71 inches. It has been decided to proceed. nth the construction of thres more reservoirs in the Tyłam Valley, and one will be commenced
In Kowloon, during the summer, there was
and not without reason, owing to irregularity much complaint regarding the water supply and occasional total stoppage in some localities. This was not due to want of water, but to
various other causes, the chief being the quanti- ties of sand which were irried down from the valleys by the rain storm of June to the pump. ing engines causing great wear and damage to the machinery. The pumps were also in need of a complete overhaul, a work which has been- undertaken with satisfactory results.
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It is however, now certain that in a few years Kowloon will have a plentiful supply of good water without any pumping from a réservoir to the north of the hills bounding the harbour, 54 miles from Tsim Sha Tsui below the new road leading to Taipo. Hore an excellent site has been found for a large reservoir, intercept- ing several perennial streams, and having a draining ares of 517 acres. A masonry dam is being designed which will eventually be 100 feet high, or equal to the main dam at Tytam. It will impound 310,000,000 gallons of water with a top level of 455 feet above ordnance datum, thus allowing ample head after filtration and to command the highest part of British Kowloon as well as Kowloon City, Sam Bhuipo and other places in New Kowloon still depend- ent on wells. The completion of this work will be
great boon to Kowloon in many ways, and mozna will no doubt enhance the value of property greatly. At the same time the valleys now re- served for the present water supply will be available for sale, and good building-sites both for Europeans and Chinese will be opened up by the construction of croes ronda between Hunghom and Yanmati, and similar roads tra- versing the peninsula from east to west. is not unreasonable to suppose that before many. years British Kowloon will rival Victoria în population and trade. With this in view broad- and straight roads are being, and should cons tinue to be laid out, and open spaces for parks and recreation groun
PUBLIC Now Law
ing were, by irable" the England by Bell, Consulting Unice. The plans
ORDINANY.
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