July 14, 1906.}
It must have come with some surprise to many residents to learn that a thousand coolies are to be imported from the north of China for railway work in the new Territory. One would have thought that that form of labour could have been obtained in plenty nearer hand, but yet it has to be admitted that men accustomed to the work should give more satisfactory results than those who are not experienced. More. over the men from the north are bigger and stronger then those in the south, and are better adapted for the work. Doubtless the police in the new Territory will have an anxious time at first owing to the presence of such a large body of men, who are always prone to faction fights but after a few lessons they ought to learn the ways of peace which must be followed in a British settlement.
BANYAN
HONGKONG SANITARY BOARD.
A meeting of the Sanitary Board was held on July 10th at the Board Room. The Hon. Dr. F. Clark (president) presided, and there were also present-Dr. Pearse, M.O.H., Hon. Mr. A. W. Brewin, Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, Dr. Macfarlane, Hon. Mr. E. A. Hewett, Mr. F. J. Badeley, Mr. A. Shelton Hooper, Mr. H. Humphreys, Mr. Fung Wa chun, Mr. Lau Chu-pak, and Mr. G. A. Wood- cock (secretary).
CEMETERY BYELAWS.
Mr. SHELTON HOOPER, pursuant to notice asked the following questions :----
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CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Mr. SHELTON HO PER-The idea is good,! but the area suggested seems very large.
Mr. H. HUMPHREYS-If the ground is far enough away from the city and the Chinese are willing to pay fancy prices, what does it matter about the size?
On the motion of the PRESIDENT, seconded by Hon. Mr. CHATHAM, a committee, consisting of the Registrar-General, the President, Mr. Fung Wa-chuo, and Mr. Lau Chu-pak, was appointed to submit sites to the approval of the Board, to be forwarded to the Government,
MARKET AT QUARRY BAY
The following reply from the Government
was read :-
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The PRESIDENT minuted - Mr. Humphreys, do you wish this matter taken up at once or would you prefer to wait until you receive the reports from Europe that you spoke of?
Mr. HUMPHREYS-The matter, as far as I ám concerned, can wait until I have gone into the question further, or at all events until it is decided whether the Commission are going to take up the subject of limewashing.
Mr. HEWETT wrote that this matter would be dealt with by the Commission in due course, and it was advisable to let the matter stand until the Commission had made its report.
Mr. LAU CHU-PAK minuted that the matter
had better be considered by the Commission.
The minute was laid on the table.
CONCRETING GROUND SURFACES.
Correspondence was submitted relative to the concreting of ground surfaces at No. 113, Bonham Strand East.
Hongkong, 23rd June, 1966. Sir, Referring to your letter No 65 of the 19th April last, I am directed to state for the information of the Sanitary Board that His Excellency the Governor has been pleased to Mr. Lau CHU-PAK wrote on behalf of the direct that a sum of $15,000 shall be pro-agent for the owner of these premises requesting visionally inserted in the Public Works Extra- the Board to withdraw a previous notice re- ordinary Estimates for the year 107 for the garding concreting as the owner had been put constraction of a market containing 68 stalls at Quarry Bay.
to too much unnecessary frouble and expense. I have the honour to be, sir,
your obedient servant,
The Secretary,
Sanitary Board.
T. SERCOME SMITH, Colonial Secretary.
CROWN SOLICITOR'S AMBIGUOUS OPINION.
The minute by the Medical Officer of Health
The PRESIDENT minuted-The Board agreed at last meeting that this question might be referred back to the surveyor, Mr. Carter, to say whether two inches of cement on top of the present files (or some similar modification of section 3) would meet the case. I have interviewed Mr. Fung Tit-pak, and Mr. Chan Chi-hing, and I found that one of the foremen interpreters for drainage works, a Chiaaman work for a drainage contractor, and after consulting with the Crown Solicitor, I have dismissed this man.
1. Is a plan of each Chinese Cemetery show. /requesting that senior inspectors be authorised | drawing $20 a month, has been touting for
ing the position of each grave space therein kept at or near to the cemetery, and at the offices of the Sanitary Board as required by Bye- law No.11
2. If aot, why not?
3. Whose duty is it to see that such plans are so kept?
4. Is a register kept in the English and Chinese 'languages at or near each Chinese cemetery giving all particulars r quired in Bye- law No. 13 relating to cemeteries ?
5. If not, why not?
6. Whose duty is it to see that such a register is so kept ?
The PRESIDENT replied as follows: 1-A tracing showing the areas and boundaries of each Chinese cemetery is kept in the surveyor's office; no copy of such tracing is kept at the cemetery, as there is no office accom- modation available; it has never been found practicable in the case of Chinese cemeteries to keep plans of sufficient size to show the situation of every grave space.
2.-No answer.
to outer premises and inspect food, together with the Crown Solicitor's opinion thereon, again came before the Board.
The PRESIDENT said the resolution moved at last meeting was simply re-circulated to show that the Gen Solicitor was of the opinion that that resolution was ultra vires.
Mr. IEWETT-The Crown Solicitor says that general instructions iust be issued to inspectors.
The PRESIDENT-He says a specific letter in writing must be given by the secretary to each inspector included in the resolation!
Mr. HEWETT It is a general authority, is it not?
The PRESIDENT-Yes.
Mr. HEWETT—I'd like to have that looked up. I'm certain my resolation was that it should be confined to specific cases) The Crown Solicitor speaks of general authority. I would not vote for general authority.
The Secretary-I understand it to mean that general authority is given to the secretary to issue these notices of authority which will be given to each individual inspector.
Mr. BADELEY-How does the general
3.-The surveyor is supplied with tracings of the cemeteries by the Public Works Depart-authority run ment, and is responsible for their safe custody.
4. The sexton keeps at the cemetery a record in Chinese of the situation of the gravés and two complete registers, one in English and one in Chinese, giving all particulars specified, are kept in the secretary's office.
5. No answer.
G.—The secretary.
/ Mr. HOOPER-I may take it that the bye-laws are not carried out because they are impracticable?
The PRESIDENT—That is so.
A CHINESE CEMETERY.
The reply from the Government relative to reserving a cemetery for Chinese was submitted
Colonial Secretary's Office,
23rd June, 1906. Sir,-With reference to your letter No. 104 of the 20th instant, transmitting a recommenda- tion of the Sanitary Board that a cemetery. be set apart for the use of Chin ese who may wish to build tombs of a more permanent nature and larger than are allowed in a public cemetery, the area of such cemetery to be 150 acres and a high premium to be charged for each grave lot, I am to ask the Board to be good enough to suggest various suitable sites and the rate of premium for each grave and the size of each lot.
At the same time I am to indicate that the area of 150 acres mentioned in your letter is about one-eighth of the area of the city of Victoria and greater than the combined areas of Yaumati and Mong Kok-tsui. I have the honour to be sir, your obedient servant,
T. SERCOMBE SMITH, Colonial Secretary.",
The PRESIDENT- "When so instructed by the M.O.H. in writing."
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Mr. BADELEY-That's all right.
Mr. HOOPER That opens up the question! again of being instructed by the M.O.H The M.O.H. must be satisfied that there is sufficient doubt about the goodness of food for him to direct an inspector to go to a house. I under- stand that was not sufficient. What the M.O.H. wanted was to relegate his power. Now some inspector will have to go to him and hell say, Here's a general authority for you to go to such a house to-day."
i
Mr. HEWETT-That's the way I read the the Crown Solicitor's opinion
The PRESIDENT suggested that a draft letter by the secretary be submitted to the Crown Solicitor before being delivered to inspectors.
Mr. HEWETT-And the Crown Solicitor informed that it shall not be a general authority
This was agreed to.
LIMEWASHING PROCEDURE.
The Secretary submitted the following minute: It was resolved at the meeting of the Board on the 26th June that the question of limewashing be considered by the Board with a view to either modifying or doing away with the existing regulations. As this matter is to be considered by the whole Board the board may wish to have a special meeting, or, in view of the fact that the papers dealing with the limewashing procedure have been forwarded to the Public Health and Building Ordinance Commission, to wait until the Commission have dealt with the matter.
The surveyor reported opening the ground surface of the house in question in two places, and finding the time concrete of very bad quality. He recommended that the owner be called upon to reconcrete the whole of the ground surface of the main room, but recom- mended that no further action be taken with regard to the yard, as the surface had already been repaired.
Mr. HOOPER minuted-This is eminently case for the Commission. It is a great pity that the President dismissed the foreman before the Commission had examined him. This had better be discussed at the Board meeting.
Hod. Mr. HEWITT-These papers are to be. sent to the Commission.
Mr. LAU CHU-PAK-This sort of practice which is so annoying and expensive to house- owners should be stopped in future. All the irregularities reported by the officers should be specified in one notice, so that owners can have them all attended to at the same time, and on no account should inspectors be allowed to take with them contractors or foremen on their visits, and to tell people which contractor to engage. In this case the inspector should be called upon to explain why he recommended Chan Hing-kee to do the work, and when he left why he allowed the foreman to stop behind to bargain
for the work.
Members decided that this matter should be dealt with confidentially.
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MOSQUITO INFESTED. Mr. P. W. Goldring wrote a lengthy letter to the Board relative to the necessity of filling in a pool on Crown Land adjacent to K. I. Ľ. 103. The following are extracts:-I have now been a tenant of " Parkside since November 1st, and have no hesitation in saying that although I have lived in various parts of the Colony since 1901, I have never experienced anything approaching the numbers and virulence of the mosquitoes which abound. There are many causes which might account for this, but with due submission I consider these to arise largely from the very extensive excavations and cuttings which have been made in order to lay out the new roads in Kowloon, but mainly from the fact that there is a large pool of water which was formerly a fish pond, which simply teems with larvae of various sorts. This pond apparently is on Crown land, and for the health of the many neighbouring houses, quite apart from my own personal feelings and the feelings of my fellow-messmates, I would ask that the Sanitary Board should investigate the
matter.
:
Mr.. HUMPHREYS minuted-Surely this must be a matter for the P.W.D. and not the Sanitary Board,