December 2, 1905.7
table showing the average wage of artisans and labourers every year.
In the last edition of the Japanese "Resumé Statistique it is shown that wages increased from 60 to 100 per cent from 1895 to 1901. And during the last ten years the increase has been in about the same propor. tion, I should think, in Hongkong. There can never be any stability about prices in Hongkong until we get a fixed exchange.
There is food for reflection in the aunouvos- ment made by the Chairman of the Dairy Farm Co, last week that if the community do not support the frozen food branch of th Company's business, better than they have done heretofore, Hongkong will lose what the directors of the company rightly enough regard as A very important branch of the company's business. The company is certainly
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
HONGKONG SANITARY
BOARD.
A meeting of the Sanitary Board was held on Hon. Dr. F. Clark (president) presided, and the 8th November at the Board Room. The there were also presont: Dr. W. W. Pearse, M.O.H., Lt. Col. Josling, Mr. H. W. Slade, Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, Mr. Fung Wa Chuo, Dr. Macfarlane, Hon, Mr. A. W. Brewin,
Mr. Lau Chu Pak aud Mr. G, A. Woodcock (secretary),
CEMENT P. LIME CONCRETE.
The Rev. J. J. Noval, of the Spanish Pro- curation, requested the Board's permission to re-concrete the ground surface of the Proouration
with cement concrete four inches thick instead. of with lime concrete six inches thick.
385
The surface was covered with a layer of Canton tiles, and there was no concrete underneath.
Mr. Rumjahn minated-There are so many qualities of earth available here for the making up of a lime concrete that it is not an easy matter for experts to pronounce a concrete as
years. good or bad after having been laid for some It would be more satisfactory to all concerned if two inches of cement concrete were substituted in the Ordinance for six loches of lime.
L
The Hon. Registrar General minuted-This is just the class of correspondence that should be considered publicly.
Mr. Lan Chu Pak in a minute stated-I agree that these papers should be considered publicly. Since expert opinion disagrees as to the quality of the concrete nsed, I suggest that some limit of time, say 25 years, should be laid down, so that owners once having had the ground surfaces of their houses concreted, would not be called upon to re-concrete until that limit of time had expired. The present system is likely
entitled to take credit for checking the rise in the price of butchers' meat in the colony last year, and the community would probably soon find cause to rue it if the foreign food supply business were discontinued. If it were possible Lions for amendments of the Public Health to open to many abuses. Some arrangements
to sell Australian meat in Hongkong at the same rates as local butchers' meat, I imagine there would be no reason to complain of lack of support, but the Chairman doubtless correct when he intimated that
Was
pany,
perhaps, did not realise that "there is really not the difference between the company's rates and those ruling for Chinese meat as would at first sight appear." The trouble is that this is not generally recognised. The Chairman said that besides getting 25 per cent more nutriment by purchasing Australian meat, customers could be sure of obtaining full weight at the com- pany's depôt. They do not always get it in the market.
Mr. Rumjahn minnted-In one of the sittings of the committee last year for making sugges- Ordinance, it was suggested to substitute as au alternative half the thickness of cement con- crete in place of lime concrete. I forget now why this alternative was left out in the It is preferable thickness of cement concrete to the prescribed and more satisfactory to have even half the
thickness of lime concrete.
committee's recommendations,
Mr. Fung Wa Chuu agreed that four inches of cement concrete was preferable, and the Hon. Registrar General suggested that in view of the surveyor's report the pr. posal should be approved.
Mr. A. Carter surveyor. reported that thr great disadvantage of the use of lime concrete for covering ground surfaces.in Hongkong was The writer of the letter which appeared in
the poor quality of lime obtained in the Colony, the Daily Press one day last week lamenting it being almost impossible to get a suitable that there is no Society of Amateur Photograhydraulic lime for the work; therefore the Work carried out was unsatisfactory. In the phers in Hongkong, when, as Long, Hing &
case of c ment it was very different; a first rate Co.'s competition shows, there is no lack of interest in photography in the colony, is
cement could readily be obtained locally, evidently a comparatively new comer. Attempts and in the majority of cases better work was done. The difference of opinion came in when have been made to form a socisty of the kind in
the quality of the work was only medium. and the colony. Only two years ago what at the
on the balance between pass or condemo. He start looked promising attempt was made, but it came to nothing. There is, however, one little
was strongly of the opinion that if cement society of the kind in the colony, but it is concrete were used with reasonable supervision, confined to men in the service of Messrs. first rate work would be obtained and very little Butterfield and Swire. Some of the best work difference of opinion take place. If Section in the exhibition was done by members of this III, could be amended to allow four inches of little society. By-the-way, I wonder whether good cement concrete to be passed it would be
a very great improvement. the judges noticed that the picture which they awarded the first prize has the defect which results from the camera being moved during the exposure ? And, vide the third prize, is it true that in Hongkong Harbour the sun sets
in the East ?
BANYAN
NORWEGIAN LOYALTY.
On the 25th inst., the day on which King Haakon of Norway and his Queen entered their new kingdom, a telegram, of which the following is a translation, was sent to their Majesties:-
41
Flags are flying from hundred masts, thousand Norwegians far from their home- "steads hail in their thoughts their King "and Queen. Hail our beloved country. To this telegram the following reply was received here to-day :-
46
"The Queen and I request you kindly to 'bring our thanks to the Norwegians in "Hongkong who wished as such a hearty "welcome in their dear, far-off fatherland.
HAAKON."
According to telegrams received by a local Norwegian, more than a hundred Norwegian ships in the East from Singapore to Viadi- vostook were clad in gay bunting on the 25th.
English newspapers continue to exhibit wonderful credulity in connection with the supposed "possibilities of jiu-jitsu." They are now gravely repeating, with naive comments, an American newspaper's impudent story of a small woman throwing a big, heavy man over her head. The ruffian, who had assaulted the Japanese maiden, is said to have "described a parabola" over her head. We should describe it as hyperbole.
The Secretary minuted that he was afraid the Government would not ameud the section at present. It might, however, be voted for the next lot of amendments.
The President minuted that he thought the Board should approve of the proposal.
The PRESIDENT-The building in question is an existing, not a new one, and the wording of Section III. is that to the effect that that section does not apply to any existing building provided the ground surface is paved to the satisfaction of the Board. I think under the circumstances we may take it that if four inches of cement concrete is put down the ground surface will be maintained to the satisfaction of the Board. There is no question that cement concrete is better than concrete, which is very little used at Home. I propose the Board inform the applicant that we agree to his proposal.
should be made for the Board's subordinate officers to pass the work done quicker, so as to enable the occupiers to remove back to their houses earlier. Under the present system they are compelled to live in the street or under times a fortnight. I have been approached several the verandah for at least one week, and some-
times on this question, and the owners consider it a great hardship that their tenants should have to wait a long for the examination and passing of the work done, especially during the
cold and wet seasons. It would be better for one officer to inspect the old concrete, and another officer to pass the new concrete.
The Consulting Sanitary Surveyor reported that he saw no reason why the notices wbich had been served should be enforced. In cutting up concrete with a pick axe, due r gard should be taken of the amount of force that had to be exerted, and not merely the pulveris d condition of the concrete, In each case he saw a small new piece of concrete out, and was satisfied with the powers of its resistance.
In his report the Sanitary Surveyor made a number of suggestions as to improvements which might be effected in the houses in question.
The PRESIDENT thought it would meet the wishes of the Board if Mr. Lau Chu Pak's suggestion that the old cement should be examined by one officer, and the new concrete passed by another were put into effect. He did not think they could go into the question of the undercurrents of knowledge which he suggested because in all Asiatic countries it was impossible to keep matters of this sort secret. He did not think there was any reason for the Board to suspect any of its officers of taking an active part in favour of one contractor more than another. With regard to the general question he thought this was a favourable opportunity for them to recommend the Government to amend Section II. so as to require the laying down of four inches of cement concrete in favour of six inobes of lime concre'e, which that section laid down. He thought the change might be made when the Government next amended the ordinances. They knew the many objections to constant tinkering with the Public Health Ordinances, but as a few amend. limements were accumulating he thought they might add this as one worthy of consideration. In the meantime he thought the Board might agree to accept four inches of cement concrete in place of six inches of lime concrete pending the amending of the ordinance. Cement durable and easier to get than good lime. It was an open question whether concrete made with lime did not deteriorate in the course of eight or nine years; the experience of the Board's officers rather inclined to favour the opinion that it did. The Board would understand that their officer, in asking for the re-concreting of these premises, was doing so simply with a view to mitigating the influence of plague in the Colony. They were all convinced that the presence of human plague intimately depended on rats, and if they could keep these out of the houses it would go a long way towards mitigating the disease. They should take steps to have these ground surfaces concreted if required, whether they had been done five or six years ago, or not at all. Property owners should not be harassed and worried, but they
Hou. Mr. BREWIN seconded, and the motion
was carried.
A CONCRETE QUESTION.
In reply to notices served upon them to re-concrete certain' houses in Elgin, Staunton and Aberdeen Streets, Messrs. Palmer and Turner wrote stating that they thought the notices must have been served in error. The houses in question were concreted by order of the Board the Autumn of 1896, and in September of that year they received the Board's certificate of approval of the work. This
Was done under the supervision of their firm, and they had inspected and found it within the last few days, the concrete in every respect as good as when it was laid.
Inspector Woolley reported having opened the ground surfaces of these houses for inspec- tion. In each house he found the concrete very bad, particularly so în No. 29 Aberdeen Street.
Was
more
"