Page
242
THE
'PAUL BEAU" AFFAIR.
Our Canton correspondent writes: This matter is still the one topic of conversation amongst both the officials and the people here and the local newspapers daily comment on the subject. The demand for the surrender of the alleged pirates is being pressed by the Viceroy. It is reported that in one of the French Consul's recent dispatches he argued that, granted the alleged pirates were at one time in his oustady, no official communication was made to him that the prisoners were pirates and he was therefore unable to surrender them to the Chinese Government, as he had no certain knowledge whether the prisoners were politics! offenders or pirates. The Viceroy replied that the officer of the No. 8 Regiment distinctly informed the Consul that the people whom the Chiness Government desired to arrest on board the "Paal Beau" were pirates and the officer even told the Consul that these pirates are confederates of the notorious pirate chief, Luk Lan Ching, who recently wrote many letters with a view to levying black-mail on several foreign firms on the Shameen, and also that these pirates took part in the “Sainam" piracy, The Viceroy reminded the Consul that the Chinese Government had formerly received communications from various Foreign Consuls on the Shameen with regard to pirates and had requested the Chinese Government to cause striot search to ba made and have them arrested. Kong Hung Yau has addressed a letter to the French Consul couched in rather strong language in which be complains that his reputation has been seriously injured by the letter the French Consul recently sent to the Viceroy, and he plainly intimates that the Consul should make reparation for the slander.
MACAO.
[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]
A FORTHCOMING
BALL
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
The Committee of the Military Club have issued invitations for s Ball on October 4th for the purpose of celebrating the victory at Quamato (Africa) last year achieved by forces under the command of our present Governor (Benhor Alves Rooadas). The fight was fought on September 27th last year, but as the 28th was the birthday of our late King Carlos, the Committee decided to postpone the Ball to October 4th.
A PUBLIC SCANDAL.
That the City should night after night be in total darkness in consequence of the failure of the electric lighting is a disgrace to the Municipal administration. Why does not the Leal Senado impose on the Electric Company the penalties provided for in the contract P Or, at least, why does not the Leal Senado insist on the Company keeping the public (kerosene) lanterns in readiness for use when the electric light fails? This, I understand, is another condition of the contract. The Leal Senado is as inactive as if it were no concern of theirs. Every now and then for weeks and months past the inefficiency of the electric installation has been demons- trated, and the seeming indifference of the Leal Senado has excited much surprise among the general public who are curious to know what the explanation of this inaction can be. Will the Chairman of the Corporation make a public, statement on the subject? The members of the Leal Senado must be aware of what the public are prone to think about the matter.
TIMOE.
The Governor of Timor is now Senhor Eduardo Marques. The ex-Governor, Senhor Celestino, is remaining in the island until the 9th October with the object, it is said, of Senhor disposing of his large plantation Marques has taken with him an entirely new set of officials with the object of reforming the administration. It would be a great thing if Timor were pat in a position of financial independence-if, at least, Macao was relieved of contributing to her support.
DISTRESSING FATALITY | AT
KOWLOON.
BUROPAAN ELECTRICIAN KILLED.
Another tragedy has to be recorded this
[October 3, 1908.
SUPREME COURT
Tuesday, September 29th.
mattakaan W
IN SUMMARY JURISDICTION.
on the 1st instant Mr. F. H. week. Cornell, of the firm of Mosers Wilks and Jack, was killed, being crushed between the lift and BEFORE ME. H. H. J Gompertz (ACTING
PUISNE JUDGE). the wall at the new godowns in course of con struction at Kowloon for Messrs Butterfield Deceased was engaged in testing the Swire. hoist, which is not enclosed on all sides, and it is believed that while the lift was ascending he fainted, and falling over the side was orushed between the floor of the lift and the wall in the upward journey. The hoist was stopped as soon as possible, but too late to save the unfortunate man, who was terribly mutilated. Death must have been almost instantaneous.
Deceased, who came from Brisbane, was an experienced electrician, and distinguished in his calling, but he has been unfortunate in his affairs since coming to the East. In Peking and Tientsin he had a large and successful business but lost it through various reasons, when he started in Hongkong he and was equally unfortunate. Some time ago he joined the service of Messrs. Wilks and Jack, by whom his services were greatly appre- pisted, and his untimely end will be mourned by a large number of friends.
Deceased leaves a widow for whom great sympathy is expressed.
TYPHOON WARNINGS.
A VALUABLE SUGGESTION.
LANDLORD AND TINANT. Judgment was given in the action in which Mr. P. W. Goldring, solicitor, claimed the sum of 3500 damages from the Humphreys Estate and Finance Company, Limited, for breach of contract The plaintiff alleged that the defen- dant firm failed to comply with an agreement whereby they undertook to keep the roof and exterior walls of the premises he occupied at Kowlook in a proper state of repair.
His Lordship, having reviewed the facts of the oss said that no structural defect was alleged and it appeared that the damage was caused by water which had accumulated in arge quantities on the roof owing to the gutter pipes becoming blocked. The defence was that a long line of cases commencing in 1870 had established the principle that a landlord's covenant to repair was to be construed as a covenant to repair after notice and that no damages could be recovered unless the tenant had given the landlord notice of the defect. That dotrine the plaintiff fully admitted, but pointed out that the ratio decidendi of all those cases was that the premises being demised to the tenant and in his possession the landlord was not at liberty to visit them to ascertain their condition and that he was therefore Father Algue, of the Manila Observatory, dependent on the tenant for information se to has informed Dr. Wilder, the American Consul their state. It was urged that whereas in this ́ General at Hongkong, that while there is no case the tenant was merely the occupant of a absolutely certain means of guarding the British flat, the landlord, retaining possession of the roof, Colony of Hongkong against surprises in the was bound himself to make such inspection sa nature of small, bat violent typhoons, matters might be necessary to enable him to fulfil his could be vastly improved by closing the gap covenant. His Lordship thought it clear on the between Aparri, on the Island of Luzon, and facts that the plaintiff had not under his agree- Formosa, by erecting in the Balingtonment of tenancy possession of the roof or right Channel a station having telegraphic_com- munication either with Kanila or Hong kong, or, preferably, with both. The most suitable point for such station is Santo Domingo, Batanes Islands. Bata well- nigh insurmountable difficulty lies in the cost. Father Algue mentions a suggestion that a wireless station would cost fastly less than a cable and would probably prove much more efficient. "Such an apparatus, capable of send- ing messages to a distance of 500 miles, if installed at Santo Domingo, could communicate directly with the wireless station of the British Fleet at Hongkong and the station of the U.8. Army at Manila. The co-operation of the military and naval authorities could without difḍulty. be secured
An addi- tional safeguard, which together with the former would almost completely eliminate the danger of surprises would consist equipping all the steamers which ply regularly in these waters, with wireless apparatus. Even if capable of sending messages only to distancep ap to 250 miles, the case would be rare in which timely warning of some prowling typhoon could not be given by at least one of them, either to Hongkong directly, or via Santo Domingo, or Manila.”
FATAL FIRE AT HUNGHOM.
in
A fire attended with fatal results occurred at & house in Balkley Street, Hunghom, early on September 30th. The building which ignited was a three storey ona, the ground floor being a shop and the upper storeys Chinese residences. The fire broke out in the shop, and must have spread with great rapidity, for although the Hunghom detachment of the brigade were early on the scene, they were too late to save the burning building, although their efforts were successful in preventing the fire from spreading to the adjoining houses. The Hongkong brigade were speedily trans ferred, but on their arrival found that the local fire fighters had got the outbreak ander way, On the police being informed that three persons were missing, a search was made among the debris and their bodies are reported to have been found. The buildings are said to have been insured for about $3,400.
of access thereto and that he had no means The circum- of ascertaining its condition. stance seemed to make it clear that the principle that notice must be given by the tenan was : fundamentally based upon the circumstances of the tenancy. If notice by the tenant was necessary if and when the landlord has parted with the possession and control of the premises, it seemed to follow that notice was unnecessary where defects arose in portions of the tenement retained by the landlord in his own hands.
The tenant in this osse had no means of knowing the state of the HL roof and gutters; the landlord had. Lordship found therefore that in this case no That being so, what was notice was necessary. the liability of the landlord under his covenant? His Lordship said he was bound to give decision as to whether there had been negligence and he arrived at his decision as follows:- There was no evidence given for the defence that any inspection of the roof was made. He thought it was clearly the landlord's duty to inspect and not to wait for complaints from the tenant. The landlord possibly did not realise this and he probably considered that ha did his duty if he repaired with reasonable expedition any defect reported by the tenant. His Lordship thought the de- fendant company was in this dilemma:---- either the pipes had become choked by gradual secretion of matter extending over a long period of time or the obstruction was the effect of a storm of almost unparalleled violenos which caused very great damage to house pro- perty, particularly to roofs. In the first con tingency inspection at regular intervals would have shown the necessity for a periodical clean- ing of the drain pipes. In the second he thought the storm caused a state of things which inspection would have revealed and which was bound to result in damage unless attended to is season. In either event he thought the landlord had not discharged his duty to the | tenent. He therefore gave judgment for plaintiff with costs and referred the questions of the amount of damage to the Registrar.
|
Mr. Hodgson saked for a stay of execution, pending appeal.
After some discussion Mr. Hodgson was given leafe to make his application in Chambers » es
到