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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
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No wonder Mark Twain said the English were mentioned in the Bible. The particular text, as we all know, reads: Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth." Perhaps the latest instance of this meekness is to be found in a recent editorial in the Penang Gazette! Writing on the subject of the railway being extended to Penang Hill the writer says "Doubtless they (the Singapore contemporaries) will lend the weight of their influence to a scheme which would make the Hill more accessible and enable it to become what nature intended it to be: a sanitorium for the European inhabitants not only of this settlement but of the whole Peninsula." It might be considered futile to question a statement made by a gentleman that he acts as her spokesmen, but if I were who has such a close acquaintance with nature
inclined to be critical I should express the belief that nature might possibly have thought more of the original inhabitants than the European settler. Still, one never knows.
at Lisbon. Instead of allowing the Colonial | passage to the European pardise in heaven. The authorities to spend their surplus revenue passage was burial in the Colonial Cemetery. on the dredging of the harbour and other Sounds sarcastic, doesn't it? public improvements which would have enabled the Colony to maintain something of its old prestige as a centre of trade and commerce, Lisbon has squeezed it to the uttermost. The Colony now exists largely by reason of the facilities it gives for gambling. Eighty-five per cent of the Colonial Revenue is now derived from the opium and gambling monopolies. Reccut events threaten the Government with the loss of its opium revenue, which has amounted to $334,000 per annum, and as a result of the depressed condition of trade the gambl- | ing monopolies are not yielding balf what they formerly contributed to the Colonial coffers. Some of the lotteries have recently been obliged to stop, and the inference is that the Macao Government may have to look for an increasing proportion of its revenue in future from new taxation. The outory made by the Chinese at Macao less than a couple of years ago, when something of the kind was suggested, will be remem- bered, and any suggestion of that nature now would give an additional filip to the new enterprise at Heungchow.
RANDOM REFLECTIONS.
If a merry heart doeth good like a medicine Hongkongites ought to feel particularly well these days. They have laughed as they never laughed before at the comedy provided by the Ward Comedy Company, and nobody can leave the theatre at present feeling gloomy unhappy. Mr. Ward deserves well of us, and so does the charming Miss Palotta.
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Coupled with the boom of merriment which is now with us, We are enjoying beautiful weather, which ought to make us feel glad to be alive. April has not shown its terrors in muggy days and clammy nights. and for this we are thankful.
Still we are conscious that summer is not far off. Already some folks are talking of bathing parties and with the lighter clothing being donned we may paraphrase the well-known lines:
Summer suits are showing On the land and sea.
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I quite understand the writer's point of view. It is similar to that held by people here who believe that the Peak was intended by nature as a reservation for Europeans, mostly English.
[April 26, 1909.
HONGKONG.
The Gazette announces the return to the Colony of Mr. A. W. Brewin and his resump tion of the duties of registrar-general.
A fine of $500 was imposed on Chinaman employed on the 8.8. Amig at the Magistracy on Apl. 19 for having been found with a quantity of opium in his possession.
At the Magistracy on April 22nd Mr. Kemp sentenced a Chinese to six months' imprison- ment for having broken into a store and stolen goods to the value of $600. He was not given the stocks as he had assisted the police in the recovery of the property.
We observe that notices printed in four English-are now posted throughout the Colony languages-Chinese, two Indian languages and requesting the public not to spit oa the sidewalks. Please do not spit" is the heading which arrests the attention on the notice in English.
A special meeting of the Sanitary Board was held on Apl. 20 for the purpose of consider. ing the question of declaring No. 12 shed of the Dairy Farm Company's premises at Sassoon's Villas, Pokfulam Road, to be infected with rinderdest. The necessary motion was carried.
Last week there were seven cases of plague notified in the Colony, none of which occurred in the city of Victoria. Six of the cases were fatal One case was notified from Kowloon City yesterday. This brings up the total num- ber of cases for the year to 34. Twenty-eight of them have been fatal.
If I don't say anything nice myself about the Scot. I am glad to pass on the compliments paid him by others, and so I take the following from the Singapore Press Free. (It will please the Caledonian better than anything I could writes) "The tendency of the Scot to rise to high office Subscriptions are solicited from past and pre- at home and abroad has received yet one more sent pupils of Contral School and its successor, illustration in this Colony! Not only have we a Queen's College, towards a fund to provide a memo- Scottish Governor and a Scottish Acting-rial to Dr. Bateson Wright, who has just retired Governor and Colonial Secretary, but we are to from the head-mastership. Mr. Lau Chu Pak have amongst us presently a new Scottish Bishop and Mr. Ho Kom Tong are undertaking the of Singapore. This big ecclesiastical gun is preliminary work in connection with the appeal. a skilled rifle shot, although he has never been a Canon. He will be welcomed here by the members of the Singapore Volunteer Rifle Association and it will be a new stimulus to the annual Interport match if we can present as our top scorer, the Bishop of Singapore, 34, 35, 34,- 103. No more congenial sphere could be found for the Right Reverend gentlemen's social activities than in acting as Honorary Secretary to the Ladies Rifle Club Let us express our conviction that Bishop Ferguson Davie, with that fine manly training he has had on the rifle range amongst the good fellows of the Punjab, will. in and out of his sacred office, score a bull every time."
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And so Dr. Wilder, the genial, the humorous, Foreign firms in Yokohama are exercised has taken his departure from our shores on a over a proposed curtailment of the tiffin interval. holiday from which he may not return. America It appears the employees enjoy two hours for never had her interests in better hands here than their midday meal, and now somebody comes in the person of the worthy doctor who added to along with the suggestion that one hour is the virtues of his countrymen that of modesty, sufficient. It looks on the face of it absurd to He left the colony very quietly but before he allow two hours for tiffin, but a writer in a went he was entertained by the Chinese com- Yokohama paper disapproves of the pro-
if the munity and also received the good wishes of the posal because it is doubtful American community who showed their appre-ployees would be allowed to leave business ciation by presenting him with a massive tea and
hour earlier, and because one coffee service, standing on a silver tray. The hour interval strictly enforced is not suffi words of the Jacobite song express our feelings: cient for those who have to journey to and from
'Better lo'ed ye canna be Will no' come back again?
ye
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What did Mr. Hooper mean when he said at the Sanitary Board that the Colony would be pleased to provide cemeteries for all denomina- tions? Did he mean that the colony would be pleased to offer facilities for dying, or did he mean that we would be pleased to bury certain folks? Cemeteries and pleasure are not always associated, and I must confess that I prefer to keep as far away from burying places as I pos- sibly can, even though they may look beautiful. Perhaps he was joking, but I hardly suspect him of treating such a grave subject lightly.
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The Chinese members of the Sanitary Board are not without a sense of humour. Mr. Lau Chu
Pak doubtless evoked a smile when he referred to the British-born Chinese, the British natura- lised, the Christian converted, and the Eurasian Chinese 8.5 having been admitted to the European paradise on earth, and he thought it scarcely fair to debar them from using the
"a
em-
one-
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the Bluff. It is a distinct aid to health to walk up
and down the hill and take one's nourishment in comfortable time. To rush the journey and swallow one's food in a hurry has just the contrary effect."
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I am not quite sure where the Bluff is, or whether it is a bluff, but I like the argument. It couldn't of course be applied to Hongkong, for no one would dream of walking up the Peak. Which reminds me, of a remark made to me that the Rev. C. H. Hickling had 2 word
say yesterday, regarding the doings of the young men who come to the East. They are ashamed" he said," to take soft drinks, and must saturate themselves with champagne." I am afraid the reverend gentlemen doesn't know the cost of champagne.
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RODERICK RANDOM.'
Manila papers
are complaining that the hemp industry is badly crippled, the present price of 11 pesos per 137lbs being 30 pesos less than threeyears ago.
Mr. G. Friesland, manager of Melchers & Co., left Hongkong on Apl. 22 for Australia by the Prinz Sigismund. Prior to his departure he was entertained to a farewell dinner by the mem- bers of the Club Germania. Mr. Friesland was accompanied by his father, a professor of philology who has been spending a holiday in
the East.
A house boy in the service of the Hon. Mr. Pollock at his residence 18 Plantation Road, Peak, was on Apl.23 at the Magistracy fined $202 for illegal possession of large quantities of opium. The excise authorities learned that the defendant was selling opium, and on visiting the house they searched the pantry and found a large quantity of opium.
Another instance of the daring of the Chinese thief has come to light. The Public Works Department have recently erected an iron rail- ing at the eastern end of Kennedy Road and during the past fortnight the greater portion of the lower rails have been taken away. The matter was reported to the police last week and since then another batch of railings has been removed.
The prizes in the Nelson Essay Competition at the Kowloon School have been awarded as follows:-1st, E. Taylor; 2nd, T. Boutinon; 3rd; F. Schmetz. The competition was held as a result of the lecture on Nelson given by Lieut. Davies, R.N. who presented the first prize) at the school a fortnight ago. The second prize was presented by Lieut. Duke R.N., and the third by Mrs. Main
A very enjoyable dance was held in the; R.E. theatre Wellington Barracks on Friday night to wind up the season. On this occasion the guests of the Club at former dances were the hosts. The theatre was tastefully decorated, the floor in good condition and the musicians in splendid form. The evening was nice and cool and with everything so favourable to dancing the success of the evening was assured from the commence- ment. The committee were indefatigable in their efforts to ensure the comfort of their guests and everything went with a merry swing throughout. During the interval refreshments were provided and due justice done to the catering. Dancing was kept up till 2 am, and judging by the happy expressions of all present (everybody had an excellent time. Mr. J.
Oxberry was M.C.
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