HONG KONG,
6
REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT
Convicts.
An expenditure, amounting to 157. 38. 3d. (Requisitions No. 42 of 1849, and 10 of 1850), was incurred in the purchase of stone-hammers, rope, and winch, for the use of the prisoners confined to hard labour within the gaol; these are mostly Europeans, and the total number. employed during the year amounted to about 3,100, not working the whole day or regularly either; 300 tons of stone have been broken, the quantity I have used on the road does not amount to more than 180 tons, but I hope to dispose of all that may be broken in the present year, and thus be enabled to form a hard compact surface for most of the streets throughout the city.
The repairs to convict tools, wheelbarrows, shovels, pickaxes, &c., has amounted to the sum of 201. Os. 11d. I have been enabled with the labour of the convicts to keep in very fair repair almost the whole of the streets in the city, including the Queen's Road and the Wongneichung Valley Road alluded to before; upon the former in the ordinary surface repairs, and including a very extensive damage done to the embankment near Mr. Edger's house I have expended the labour of 3,047 men, valued at 634. 9s. 7d., and upon the rest of the roads and streets in the city the number of 5,485 men, equivalent to an expenditure of 1141, 5s. 5d., forming the total amount of 8,532, equal to 177/. 15s., for a length of 84 miles, or nearly 3d. per yard
per annum.
Sundry services to drains were completed by 57 men, equivalent to 1. 3s. Id.
In the transport of materials, viz., that of hard wood, stone, and tiles, from the Bungalow in the Wongneichung Valley to the store at the Government offices, and also for the repairs and alterations to the Central Police Station, as well as for the construction of the bridges in the valley, I have employed 3,343 men, valued at 697, 12s. 11d.
Two of the streets in the city, viz., Elgin-street and Wyndham-street, were improved, the former at the turn leading to Hollywood-road, and the latter at the junction with Albert-road, by the labour of 1,078 men. I also formed two streets near Hollywood-road, to give access to some lots of land offered for sale: this service employed 432 men. Another service, under the head of Construction, was performed in clearing and levelling the ground between the Queen's-road and the sea, extending from the Main Guard-house to a drain crossing the area, employing thereon 758 meu, valued at 157. 15s. 10d.
This ground forms part of the plaza; the remainder of the area, from thence to Messrs. Lindsay's premises, is partly formed of the natural uncut ground, and partly by deposit of earth from the parade-ground and area of the Government offices and church. It is very irregular, and averages a height of 4 feet or more, containing about 10,000 cubic yards; and as the labour of its removal would involve a large expenditure of convict labour, probably the total number of convicts at my disposal for six months, the completion of the service has been delayed until a future period. The total number employed on these three services amounts to 2,435 men, equal to 50%. 14s. 7d.
The miscellaneous service performed by convict labour comprises clearing the ground, inland lot, No. 1, for police boat-shed, clearing sands at Pedder's Wharf, transplanting trees, work at Flag-staves, clearing weeds, &c., from Government ground, and scavengers for the city, amounting in the whole to 886 meu, valued at 187, 9s. 274.
Thus the total number of men employed during the year out of the gaol amounts to 15,253, giving an equivalent value of work, amounting to 3177. 15s, 5d.; for the year 1849 the number employed was 17,846; for 1848, 18,151.
The prisoners who are condemned to hard labour within the walls of the prison have, as stated before, broken 300 tons of stone for the roads; it is certainly hard, and I now cause it to be broken very fine, and, estimating their labour at 5d. per diem, would give an amount of 647. 118. 8d., or about 4s. per ton, which is a very high price indeed, this work is an employ- ment, and the stone is useful, but certainly no punishment. The tread-mill, when it arrives, will effect, I have no doubt, all that may be desired for that purpose.
In addition to this service a party of ten sailors were employed for three months in clearing and levelling the ground round the Debtors' Gaol. The value of their labour I estimate at 6d. per day, and amounts to 211. 5s. Thus the total value of all convict labour that I can bring to account amounts to the sum of 4037. 12s. Id.
On comparing the actual expenditure on account of the gaol with the value of work per- formed by the convicts, I must observe that at least two-thirds of the total number of persons confined in the gaol do not earn anything at all, and are consequently a burden
upon
the Government.
Road round the Island.
His Excellency having visited this road at the beginning of last year, instructed me to com- plete those portions of it between Aberdeen and Stanley which had been postponed or left unfinished. These works comprised four stone arches in the Staunton Valley, the foundatious and abutments of which were finished, and the construction of two drains near Deepwater Bay. The first service was executed for the balance remaining due upon the original contract for the work, and cost 501. 6s. 3d.; the other services I did not pay for until the termination of the year, and the expenditure will, therefore, be accounted for in my next Report.
The road, although it had no repairs for two rainy seasons, was in most places in very fair order, except on the sea-coast, near Aberdeen, and through Quarries near Aldrich Bay and Sowkewan, where extensive damages occurred, and where I have annually reported the diffi- culty of preserving it, both on account of its exposed position, and through the carelessness of the quarrymen in blocking up the drains and causing such an extensive deposit of silt to accu- mulate in the river-courses and land adjoining. For the general preservation of the road, that
STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS.
7
is, in clearing the side channels, and arranging for the natural and proper discharge of rain- water, as well as to repair some particular localities, to render the passage of horses and pedestrians secure, his Excellency was pleased to authorize an expenditure of 667. 12s, 5d., of which I expended 637. 19s. 2d., and arranged a contract for that purpose, obliging the party to execute the necessary work, as well as to keep the whole in repair until the 31st December 1850; and on visiting the line in the month of January of the present year, I was much gratified to find the whole road in very capital order, with the exception of those sea-coast parts, alluded to before, and some of the wooden bridges; several of these, however, I caused to be reduced in width, and was thus enabled to perform a satisfactory repair without any additional outlay, the sound portions of the abstracted timber being available for other bridges in the neighbourhood.
I have to report the commencement of the new road to avoid the Gap-hill, commencing at the Albany Godowns, and terminating at the bridge in the Wongneichung Valley. This service will, I hope, be completed in March, and be of great advantage to the public, as giving a healthful promenade and agreeable driving-road for the hot season.
The trees planted along the sides of some of the roads in the city have in general thriven tolerably well; about one-tenth of them, however, have been much injured by goats and drunken sailors, and other wanton injuries have been done to them by other parties; but there are several varieties of the banyan, mango, bamboo, acacia, and other native trees extremely hardy, which grow very quickly, give considerable shade, and I should be very happy to see them extensively planted all over those parts of the city where the advantage of them would be felt.
The small plantation of fir-trees at the rear of the Albany Barracks, planted by myself in the year 1845, and which were then only one foot high, are now upwards of seven feet, and look very strong and healthy.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) CHARLES ST. GEORGE CLEVERLY,
The Hon. Major W. Caine,
Colonial Secretary.
(True Copy)
(No. 10.)
SIR,
W. CAINE, Colonial Secretary.
Surveyor-General.
HONG KONG
Enclosure 3 in No.
Enel. 3 in No.
Surveyor-General's Office, Victoria, 12th February 1851.
I HAVE the honour to forward, for the information of his Excellency the Governor, my, Annual Report upon the state and progress of the department for the year 1850.
For the whole of the above period the entire duties connected with the supervision of labour, both for work under contracts and that performed by the convicts, has devolved upon myself with the assistance of the Chinese overseer and Coolies. In consequence of the reduction in the department of the civil engineer and road overseer during the previous year, I adopted measures for arranging that the supervision of all works performed by the department should be under- taken by the Chinese overseer, to whom I gave the requisite instructions and a short detail of the contracts; and he, together with his Coolies, when necessary, were always stationed on the work, to see that the services were properly performed, and my directions to the workmen or contractor fully complied with. Thus the road round the island was regularly visited, its state of repair constantly reported, as well as the progress made with the few works of construction ordered on the Aberdeen and Stanley Road; also, when repairing and improving the road to North Point, the same service was performed. In addition to this, I directed the overseer and his men to take a general charge of the roads and streets, drains, &c., in the city, to execute contingent repairs in such places where it was not necessary to send the gang of convicts. this arrangement, with the assistance of convict labour, I was enabled to keep the whole city By in repair, without disbursing any money whatever, which I have never been able to effect in previous years.
The overseer was ordered to attend the office every day for instructions, and at the same time give
a written report of the previous day's work; thus during the year 30 days' labour were occupied in grassing slopes, 15 days in surveying, 288 days clearing drains and side- channels, 488 days repairing and weeding roads and streets, and 102 days in attending to the trees on the roads; this, together with attendance upon me in the mornings and evenings, when their services were demanded to lay out ground for sale, define boundaries of lots, or other mis- cellaneous work, comprised the whole of their duties, which have been very satisfactorily per- formed; and I have to report most favourably of their general good conduct, and particularly so of their overseer, Assow, who is a most valuable assistant to me, and (for a Chinaman) most deserving and exemplary man.
a
The expenditure on account of roads not in the city amounted to 385. 2s. Id., on account of bridges 1561. 18. 11d., drains 411. 7s. 3d., marine works 16.
Buildings.
The construction and repair of buildings I took entirely under my individual supervision (the overseer only reporting the number of men at work thereon); these comprised the completion of the church tower, the fittings and furniture, &c., to the Court-house, sundry contingent
171