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All hope of further saving life in the Cochrane Street ruins has long ago been abandoned. Many bodies are believed to be still buried beneath the rubbish, and the smell at times is fearful. The fleshless skull of one victim could be seen yester day morning lying on top of the debris. Apart altogether from the risk, the task of the police men and firemen is anything but a pleasant one. House No. 36, whose side-wall collapsed as already stated, was pulled down about noon. House No. 30 ought also to be pulled down, as it is certainly not safe for men to work right alongside clearing away the debris of the other buidings.
Two bodies were found on Saturday and one yesterday, making a total of 26 dead up till 3 p.m. yesterday.
We were glad to note that those responsible for clearing away the fallen material havo at last awakened to the necessity of haste. On Saturday quite a large gang of coolies, men and women, a relay of Sikhs, and European and Chinese firemen were at work, as well
as several members of the P. W. D.
If we are correctly informed, increased ac- tivity and the presence of dust-carta to cart away the rubbish is largely due to H.E. the Governor, who gave orders to the P. W. D. to engage as many coolies as were required, and if necessary to pay double wagez. He further ordered that all the men labouring in clearing away the ruins were to have all the refreshments they wanted, which were to be procured from the police canteen and paid for by the Government, Needless to say full advantage was taken of this generous concession, and the men were able to work all the better for it.
A box containing $210 was excavated from the debris on Saturday and taken to the Central Station. There is said to be another box containing money and valuables underneath the rubbish, but it has not been unearthed yet.
Tuesday.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND passage, and the heap where the collapse occur- red is diminish ng apprecably. No more bodies had been recovered since morning up to the time when we went to press Tuesday night.
The man was unearthed on the 20th inst. whose miraculous escape from death has caused a great deal of wondering comment, is doing well in the Government Civil Hospital, and recovering strength hourly.
The work of clearing away the ruins of the late disaster is proceeding, but still slowly, a very small gang of Chinese coolies being at work, and doing as usual very little effective work, the Europeans doing the most. The energy, shown by the Government on the 17th inst. seems to have evaporated quickly. While on Saturday there were sufficient to progress quickly with the work, on the 18th and 19th inst. there were barely forty coolies, men and women, at work during the day, and only about twenty. five last night. Refreshments at Government expense for the workers at the ghastly job of unearthing corpses have also been stopped.
Since Sunday night there have been nine dead bodies recovered, bringing the total of dead up to thirty-four.
Another instance of a most miraculou ‹ escape was shown by the unearthing of a man still alive. He was discovered yesterday afternoon about four o'clock, but the rescuers were unable to extricate him at once. Food and drink were passed to him through an aperture, which he received with joy and even langhter. exhorting his rescuers to extricate him quickly. While they were attempting to do 8, some of the debris which was lying upon some timbers which were suspended above the unfortunate man aud had hitherto saved him from being crushed came down and he was again buried out of sight. The rescue party went to work with a will to unearth once more the victim, but it was quite 73) p.m. before they succeeded in freeing him. A few drinks of spirit stimulated him sufficiently to enable him to walk to a chair, apparently unhurt. He was taken to the Government Civil Hospital.
ANOTHER COLLAPSR.
Thursday.
[August 26, 1901.
iu a solid manner. Of course, continued witness, it was to the benefit of the contractor to build walls in the manner this one had been built.
P. C. No. 7, testified to having witnessed the removal of the bricks and a lot of small pieces by first witness. He himself examined the wall, and had seen a line of small pieces all round. Only some of the pieces were in mortar.
Mr. R. K. Leigh, architect, was a witness for the defence. He said ho had twenty-one years' He experience of buildings in Hongkong. was a member of the Institute of Civil Engineers. He was the architect for the building in question, and he visited it twice a week, and also kept an European overseer in Witness had seen the charge of the work, building last on Thursday, and had never seen work done as demonstrated by first witness. The buildings were erected in first-class style, of sound work and material. Had he (witness). seen any work of the nature stated, he would have had it undone long ago.
Defendant in reply stated that it was abso- lutely necessary to use the small pieces of brick found in the wall. He had an European fore- It would appear as though some of the old man, named Hamlin, in charge of his work, structures dignified by the name of buildings who thoroughly understood his business. It was had suddenly grown tired of bearing respon-impossible to build buildings without the use of sibilities which they are incapable of supporting, small pieces of brick. Besides, suggested the and had determined to come down of their own defendant, what did a policeman know about accord. Another collapse took place on the building? 21st inst. The building involved is situated at 21, Lower Lascar Road, and is at present under repair. At the back of the building, U Yam Lane, are, or and looking out on rather were, situated two kitchens, or cookhouses, and a cockloft. On the ground floor is the area, above that was the rockloft, and over that again were the two kitchens, one above the other. Shortly after eleven o'clock people in the neighbourhood were startled by à sud- den rumble, and on running in the direction of the noise, guided by the gesticulations of the frightened workmen on the building, they saw a great heap of debris lying in the | area already mentioned, and above nothing but In answer to a query of His Worship, witness a few tora bricks and rafters where formerly explained that owing to an irregularity in had been the kitchens and cockloft Informa- Canton bricks they did not lie like English tion was immediately sent to the Central Police | bricks and the cavities that always occurred Station, whence a relief party, composed of had to be filled out with small pieces. European and Chinese firemen and policemen Mr. Crisp But there was a long line of and Sikh constables, was despatched to the scene small pieces of brick. under Inspector McNab. Accompanying the party were coolies bearing an ambulance and a dead-box. Captaiu Superintendent May was present. On arriving at the U Yam Laue, which runs up past the "Rose, Shamrock, and Thistle saloon, attention was immediately directed to the clearing away of the ruins, the men, Europeans and Asiatics alike, tearing at the material with picks and shorels, some even with their bare hands.
Witness declared ho never saw them. Mr. Hamlin, overseer, pratically corroborated last witness's statement, saying there was no undue proportion of smail bricks used in the building in question.
After a passage between Mr. Crisp and Mr. Leigh, in regard to their respective lengths of experience of buildings, His Worship decided that no undue proportion of small pieces had been used and dismissed the summons.
FATAL COLLISION IN THE HARBOUR.
The cause of the collapse is as yet an open question, but it is doubtless the same as in pre- vious cases old material incapable of bearing the weight placed upon it. The floor of the topmost kitchen presumably gave way and· As reported by as on the 19th inst., a collision carried with it the kitchen and cockloft undertook place late on the 17th inst. between the steam neath.
launch Lee Sang and a cutter from the hospital- ship Meance The cutter, it was stated at the time, was carrying no lights, and the Lee Sang ran into her at full speed, out ing her in two. There were ten people on board the cutter, all Chinese, and only two were rescued by the launch when the other boat sank.
I ater. Further enquiries show that one life was lost in the collapse at Lower Lascar Road-that of a coolie, aged about 40. The body was unearthed shortly after twelve o'clock, and taken to the mortuary.
It now appears that balconies and an ad-
Later details show that the accident is more ditional storey were being added to the building. and that the accident was probably caused by serious than at first sight appeared, eight tho the fact that the mortar, etc., used in connection Chinamen-thr.e ward-room boys on with the work had been stored in the topmost Mequee and five of the hands on the cutter kitchen until its increasing weight proved too-having been drowned. Up till on the 19th heavy for the joists, and they gave way, with the result already stated. The houses are used by Chine e as dwellings.
Three houses in the same street have been
certified by the Inspector of Buildings to bo in a dangerous condition, and the owner has been ordered to shore them up.
AN ABORTIVE PROSECUTION.
P. T. Crisp. Inspector of Buildings, charged Tee Chong, Wing Wo & Co., Contractors, Stanley Street, with filling in party-walls in a building in course of erection at Kowloon Inland Lot No. 421, with small pieces of brick This last rescas only emphasizes our state-instead of whole ones. The case was tried ment of last Saturday as to the need of a prompt before Mr. Kemp, Acting Magistrate, on Friday clearing away of the fallen materials. If a morning.
Wednesday.
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inst. only two bodies had been recovered one that of the coxswain of the cutter and the other that of one of the ward-room boys. One was picked up near the Commissariat Pier and the other off the Kowloon Polico Pier. They were taken to the mortuary.
According to the two survivors from the cutter, the statement by the crew of the Lee Sang that the cutter was carrying no lights is inaccurato. There was a light on board the cutter, but for reasons yet unexplained it was not shown, having been carried on deck and not exposed until a collision became inevitable, when it was waved violently to and fro, The launch struck the cutter amidships, causing her to sink in a few moments.
The Meunee is the military hospital ship
men could live beneath the ruins since last Mr. Crisp stated that he inspected the build-attached to this station, and the cutter was the Wednesday night, prompt and energetic working, and before removing the bricks, he callod | Army Service Corps routine boat, which left in clearing the debris might have saved many European Constable No. 7 to witness. When he Commissariat Pier at twenty minutes past ten more lives.
had removed the outer bricks, he found a whole on Saturday night to take off details of the Up to date, the total recovered, dead, wounded, row of small pieces laid between. The bricks Royal Army Medical Corps and ward-room As already ani unhurt, amounts to 62.
were produced in court, and Mr. Crisp boys employed on the Meanes illustrated to His Worship how they stated, there were ten people on board when had been placed and in this way saved the cutter started for Commissariat Pier-six brick every second course all the wall of the Army Service Corps boys and four of around. The pieces had been thrown in loosely, | the Meance's ward-room boys. It was purely
in mortar. but partly imbedded
Witness by chance that no European was on board": claimed that walls should be build only of whole nine times out of ten one accompanies the bricks, and quoted in support of his statement routine bosts on their journeys to and from the Building Ordinance, which says that a wall the hospital-ship. 'should be built of incombustible material and
The remoring of the rains at the scene of the Cochrane Street house-collapse is proceeding space. Thirteen dead were exhumed on Monday night and one on the 20th inst., a total of fourteen, making a grand total of dead un- earthed since the accident of forty-three.
All the debris has now been removed from the ecntre of the street, thus permitting of its free
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Two more bodies were recov÷red on Wednesday.
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