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April 25, 1908.
quarters might be rendered dangerous to health by their contiguity to the white-lead store or Works
?
The Aoting M.CH. minated that these were white-lead works, the process employed being a modification of the Dutch process. Danger arose in this process of plumbism from the anhalation of fine white-lead dust by the work- men. To reduce this to a minimum the stacked- up sheets of lead dovered with the white carbo- nator should be moistened before the stack is takon down, and the white carbonate scraped off the shoots while thoroughly moist. After the white-lead is washed it should not be dried before packing so completely as to rendor it dusty. The quarters above the store at the works were used now for storing cases in which lead had been packed. This should be stopped at once. In fact it would be advisable not to allow these quarters to be used for domestic purposes, betreten
CHINÄ OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
on two sides by three storied houses without any yards at all. As the lane was only a ten feet one he was not prepared to recommend exemption.
la reference to the original correspondence in this matter, Mr. Rumjaha and Mr. Lau Chu Pak both expressed the opinion, in the form of a minute, that the Board in summoning the owners for not complying with the Ordinance had noted irregularly.
The PRESIDENT called on the Acting Medical Officer of Health to make a statement in the matter.
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Mr. RUMJAHN was continuing on the lines of argument when
The PRE-IDENT said—Really it does no good, as the Director of Publ o Works has said, dis- cussing properties other than the one we are dealing with.
After further remarks Mr. Ru■JAHN proposed that the summons against the Humphreys Estate Company be withdrawn,
The FRESIDENT—You have already proposed asan amendment that the application be granted. Mr. RUMJAHN—Yes, and also that the sum- mons be withdrawn
The PRESIDENT—One at a time, please, In answer to Mr. FuNG WA Chun, Dr. PEARSE said that no such houses as the so under. discussion had been granted exemption from complying with the provisions of the Ordinance.
DRAINAGH CONTRACTS.-
Dr. PEARSE said it appeared that the original letter requiring these houses to be provided with backyards was sent out on 21st January. Two months elapsed before the owners took any notice of that letter. No exemption was asked for and no work had been done. At the end of The amendment for granting the application these two months it was represented to him by was lost, the mover and secondɔr, being the the Inspector at Hanghom that no notics was only members in favour of it. They voted The P.C.M.O. minuted that the room to be being taken of the letter and he gave instructions against the PRESIDENT's motion, which was used for quarters should not be used for storing to prosecute. That was on 24th March. After in-carried by a majority. cases containing, or which had contained, white-structions for prosecution had been given aletter lead. If this were complied with he thought a was sent in by the owners asking for exemption. certificate of occupation might be granted, It was too late in coming to prevent the summons
· The PRESIDENT moved that a certificate of going on. In fact the first time his att ntion occupation be granted on the conditions was called to the letter was at the Police Court, mentioned in the above paragraph.
where it was represented by the legal adviser Colonel WEBB seconded, and the motion was of the owners as being an extraordinary thing that the Board had summoned the owners on greed to.
the very day they had sent in the letter. Cf Correspondence was laid on the table relative coarse that was not so, as the to the old Tai Hang Village.
was taken out од his instructions to prosecute, given on the 24th. However he consented to an adjournment sine die, but as he said in bis report he did not feel himself in a position to recommend that this exemption should be granted for the reasons-stated therein.
A HEALTHY VILLAGE.
With reference to the scheme of improve- ments proposed by Dr. Clark, His Excellency the Governor had asked for the health returus of the village for the past two years.
The Aoting MO. reported under date 1st ult. that only one osse of infectious disease (small-pox) had occurred in the Tai Hang village during 1901, 1902 and 1903.
His Excellence wrote that this did not seem at all a pressing matter He wished that one could make the other portions of Hongkong as healthy as Tai Hang Village.
The P.C.M.O minated that he understood that the improvement scheme was initiated by th M.O.H. to improve the general sanitary con- dition of the village-not because of any special outbreak of disease,.|||||||
PROVISION OF BACKYARDS. There was submitted a further letter from Messrs. Humphreys & Co. in connection with certain houses in Bulkeley and Market Streets, Hunghom, for which exemption was asked from the provisions of the new Building Bill with reference to backyards.
Messrs. Humphreys submitted as a further ples for exemption that (1) the houses were built in accordance with the building rega Istions in existence at the time of their con- struction and were duly passed by the Board and the P. W.D. (2) to comply with the notices by providing window-space in the rear of the main bu lding it would be necessary to do away with half the existing kitchen-space and thus infringe the Ordinance relating thereto; and (3) exemption had been granted in other cases where a Government lane provided the open space required under the Ordinances.
तान
summons
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There was laid on the table a minute by the Sanitary Surveyor (Mr. J. J. Bryan) reoɔm- mending that certain Chinese contractors be works nader Section 191 of Ordinancs No. 1 of approved of by the Board to carry out drainage
1903.
On the motion of the PRESIDENT, seconded by the VICE-PRESIDENT, the contracts were approved.
THE DEATH RATE,
It was reported that the death-rate for the week ouded 28th ult, was 25:7 per 1,000 of the population per aunum as compared with 36.1 in the previous week and 26.4 in the corresponding week of last year.
PLAGUE BYE-LAWS. ·
The standing orders having been suspended, the PRESIDENT, moved that outlying districts · where plague had occurred bè defin d so as to enable the necessary steps to be taken for deal- ing with the disease.
The VICE-PRESIDENT 8900nded, and the motion was adopted.
This was all the public business.
The PRESIDENT said it would be noted that the notice referred to by Mr. Rumjahn was a letter sent to Messrs. Humphreys by the Board. There was no obligation on the Board to issue this letter, therefore it was quite regalar for the Board to take proceedings under the new Bill. Neurly two months elapsed bo- tween the sending of the original letter and the taking out of the summone. With reference to open spaces, there could be no doubt that backyards were open spaces; but all open spaces were not backyards. If that were 8, Queen's Road, being an open space, would be a backyard. SEVERE FAMINE IN KWANGSI. The Acting Medical Officer of Health could not recommend these houses for exemption and he thought the Board would do well to follow his advice. He therefore moved that the appli- cation be refused, and that Messrs. Humphreys be informed that the work must be put in hand at once.
The VICE-PRESIDENT seconded. He might mention that there had been a great outcry about the great amount of overcrowding that went on and about people building over all their available land anl so pro lucing an insanitary state of affairs. The Board had now obtained powers that enabled them to somewhat- modify that state of affairs, and it would be a very mistaken policy, in his opinion, if they did not enforce those powers wherever there was any ground for supposing that they would lead to improvement. In this particular gase the amount of open space in the rear of the buildings, and if they passed over this case they must be prepared to deal similarly with almost an unlimited number of similar
cases.'.
The Acting MOH. minuted that he w.s not prepared to reconsider his former recom-keemed to be very small in relation to the depth mendation in this matter. From a sanitary point of view he had nothing to do with the ease or difficulty with which required open space could be provided, nor with the expense the owners were put to. With regard to the statement that by complying with one section of the Ordinance-namely, that requiring yards to be provided another section would be infringed namely, that requiring each kitchen to be 50 square feet-he might say that
was possible to open out half the present kitchen and reconstruct the house so as to enlarge what would then be left of the original kitchen to an area of 5) square feet without encroaching on the yard provided under, Section 175 The reason why he was not prepared to treat these h uses in the same way as many others which he had recommended for exemption in Hunghom was that in the case of those other houses yards already existed, while the houses referred in the petition had no yards at all The other houses were of two stories while these were of three stories. The doyerument lane between the two rows of concerned was therefore bounded
Mr. RUMJAHN proceeded to quote from Or- dinance 18 of 1901, section 55, sub-section A, to prove that backyards w. re open spaces, and that open spaces. had already been provided to the houses.
Capt. LYONS-That Ordinance has been repealed, hasn't it?
Mr. RUMJAHN-YOS. Capt. LYONS-Then what is the good of reading from an absolete Ordinance? It is a waste of time, I think.
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Mr. RUMJAHN proceeded to show where other houses similarly placed had been exempted from complying with the Ordinance. A particular case was that of I.L. 1591, situated at the corner of Wing Lok Street and Des Voeux Road.
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The VICE-PRESIDENT-The case we are dealing with is this particular case in Hunghom, and I don't think we should consider other cases in other parts of the Colony.
GOVERNOR CALLS A PUBLIC MEETING. At the conclusion of the formal business
on the 20th inst. of the Legislative: Council, his Excellency the Governor, Sir Henry A. Blake, G.S.M.G, drew attention to the state of famine existing in the Province of Kwangsi.
HIS EXCELLENCY said-Gentlemen, there is a matter which has come before me lately which I should to like mention to you. On the 17th a letter was received by me, sent by the Bishop of Victoria, asking my assistance in the matter of what was apparently a grievous state of famine existing in the Province of Kwangsi. I made some further enquiries
and I found a great difference of opinion as to question whether there, is this great distress in the Province, but the next day I found, on consulting the Consulate at Wuchow that what was said was correct-that the famine was very pitiable. ~1 spoke yesterday to most of you and to the Bishop on the subject, and he has sent me letters from his missionaries which go to show the same thing; and to-lay-I asked the head of one of our largest business houses to communicate with some hongs or Chinese merchants from that Province and he wrote to me to say that there was a state of famine and that people were dying of starvation, and selling their wives and their children. An American missionary, Mr. Hess from Kwaiping, whom I saw to- day said the same thing. He says there is a pitiable state of affairs in Kwangsi. I have determined to invite the people of Hong- kong to subscribe for the relief of the famine and I think the best thing to do is to lay the matter before you now and to ca you gentlemen and any others who will themselves in the matter to attend a m
twel here on Thursday next at half- o'clock, which I think is the most convenie hour for business men. I have Hess to be present and I shall lay the meeting on that occasion all the tion that has been given to me
on the