الرقم
GAS EXPLOSION ENQUIRY CONTINUED
ו.י
HOW THE FIRE WAS KEPT UNDER
11
CONTROL
Possible Cause Of The Explosion
The enquiry into the circumstances surrounding the tra; “u j gas explosion disaster at West Point on the morning of May 14 was continued at Central Magistracy yesterday when evidence in regard to the work done by the Fire Brigade and the possible cause of the explosion was given,
Mr. E. W. Hamilton sat as Coroner assisted by a special jury comprising Mlessrs. P. Tester (foremän), L. Dunbar and D. Drummond.
Mr. W. A. Mackinlay of Messrs. Deacons watched the pro- ceedings on behalf of the Hongkong and China Gas Co., Ltd.' and Mr. W. A. Brown of Messrs. Hastings and Co. represented certain property owners whose property was damaged.
At the
the Indian' watchnien's hut. Ac- tually there were two, but in dit- ferent compartments. and there was none where the watchmen were at the time of the explosion.
outset Mr. Mackinlay, minutes from the time of his ar- said he might have misled the rival. At 2.10 pm, the fire at Street waS extin- Court by stating the previous day | Chung Shing that there were two gas rings in guished and 27 minutes later, the fire in Clarence Terrace was put out. At 1.45 p.m. the appliances began to return to the various stations and by 2.47 all of them were back with the exception of one which left Clarence Terrace. was Work for the clearing of the debris and the searching for bodies was then organised, but as far as he knew only one
Mr. Hamilton-Yes, the avid ence did not seem to be that the fire started there.
Mr. Mackinlay:-We shall sub- mit that it was caused by the ex- pansion of the metal. The walls of the gasometer are connected by steel girder. and I was probably due to the expansion of that, gird- er that the walls were. pushed
out.
Mr. H., T. Brocks, superinten- dent of the Fire Brigade, said that at eight minutes past eleven on the morning in quesilon two calls were received simultaneously, one from a fire alarm outside the Uni- versity and another by phone from the University.
Witness "proceeded: "Under standing that the fre was at the gas works. I ordered Ave ap- pilances out, three more than us ual, and
minutes, within three Deputy Supt. Charvell, Assistant Station Officers FitzHenry and Smith and myself were
floor.
person, was res- cued. a child, at No. 12, Clarence Terrace. The child was found on the stairs of the second
badly. He not too burned but also saw the body of a dead wo- i man, aged about 16.
Sub-Inspector Fender: She was 48. She looked very young and at first we put down her age as 1B but in fact she was 48 years old.
Continuing. Mr. Brooks said that the water pressure was good and the appliances were sufficient. He received efficient help from the police as well as several volunteer workers.
As far as he knew there was no are in the watchmen's sheds which were in the yard itself. He visit- ed them later and in his opinion there had been an explosion in one
HONG KONG DAILY PRESS, THURSDAY,
A-1 Robert
MYSTERY OF MR.X
MONTGOMERY
CHAPTER XI
STALKED BY DEATH
Revel began climbing up the iron meshed guard about the elevator The blade through the keyhole, well If he could reach the ele.. instead of entering "Revel's heart," vator and get ini......He reached bent ilke, a
cane, and instantly out as far as he dared without" Revel, threw
his body sidewise risking losing his balance and fall- against the blade with his fulling. The elevator floor was above weight. The thin blade snapped his head, with no means of bring- off and fell clattering on the ce- ing it down within his reach. ment pavement just outside, the dour. In "the swiftness of his movement, Revel had dropped both lantern and revolver. He had just recovered them when Palmer, at- tracted. by Revel's actions before the door came running up. He saw the lagged tear in the police- man's tunic that Revel wore.
"Yer wounded. Nick?" he asked. much concerned.
"No Joseph!" said Revel, and thrust his hand under his coat and pulled out the folded license plate which Palmer, had seen him bend double. The numerals 1 end 3 showed on the outer half of the "Thirteen Was 'always my plate. lucky number, Joe." Revel threw away the plate.
"Beats me'ow yer think of such things." said Palmer, admiringly.
Revel now moved back about a pace from the lock into which he Bits of iron red three bullets. flew out. The shots had blasted the keyhole out of the doorway. Revel threw his weight against the door and it swung inward.
"You stay here. Joe. Don't let him come out."
"Ow can i stop him, Nick, 'E won't pay no heed to me."
He'll pay heed to that." Revel tapped the gun in Palmer's hand and disappeared into the blackness of the warehouse's interior.
JUNE 7, 1934.
CANCER · CHINESE SCHOOL IN HONG KONG
CAMPAIGN
(Continued from Page 7)
Result Of Local Effort a state of transition. The aim in
realise that here we Bre in therefore, to provide such a sys- tem as now obtains in England, China is no longer to educate a but that does not mean you can- select Lew who might or might not not improve what now exists er that you cannot add to what ex- ists.:
In connection with the British Empire Cancer Research Cam-qualify for admission to that dis-
tinguished group of rulers--the❘ paign, the total sum collected in
Mandarin class, but it is something. Hong Kong amounts to $5,902.98.
far wider. The old curriculum is made up as follows:-
¡ not adequate, and the old methods Donations .....
$1,513.00.
are not appropriate. Concert,
581,00 3.788.00 $5.882.98
Street Collection
Donation in memory
of "G.HJ."
20.00
$5,802.98
Treasurer of the British Empire Cancer Campaign.
VICTIMS IDENTIFIELD
The Saiwanho Landslide
"He became aware that the as-
Two drafts, one for £409.296. cending figure had located him. and one for £184 has been ob- x raised his arm to fire, but attained, and forwarded to the the same moment. Revel leaped from the top of the guard out to the cables which swung in a long loop from under-neath, the ele vator. The bullet whined closed" to his ears. He slid down the elevator cables to the end of the loop. Grasping the bottom of the loop with both hands, he swung himself backward and forward like a gymnast, in increasing ares until he was able to catch the top entombed by many tens of rock his and earth undermined by the of the guard-railing with feet and legs just as two shots heavy rainfall late on Tuesday were fred down the elevator shaft. | night, have been identified as, Revel bung precariously to the Wong Kiu, 47, married women, and guard, in danger of loosing his her two sons, Ko Shing. 24 and reeble foot-hold and plunging Ko Sun 14. headfirst down the well. By push- ing his body upwards by getting
The victims of the landslide at Saiwanho (Shavkiwan); who were
Cornof barked orders. "Rich- ards, stay in the doorway. Guard it. Wheelwright, search this floor.
He Behind ali the boxes. Start
around, the
walls and move in
a hand-hold on the iron of the step to pick him out and to re- mesh, he finally succeeded in get-veal his presence in the building, ting over the guard. He Was He jumped behind a pile of huge breathing hard with the exertion packing-cases that cluttered up a and the sense of rellet when his
part of the hoor back of him. feet again touched the stairway. He was midway between the third and the second floors, and began running madly downward. reached the first floor and is tening a moment, heard the ele-The rest follow me." vator begin its creakings. X was in it and coming downi
"Palmer! Palmer!" he shouted. He come back at a run a mini-Bring me your sunt" There was te-or two later at the sound of no answer, and he shouted again three or four shots at the spot and listened. He could hear the where he had left Palmer. The elevator coming, steadily down- latter, back to the door, faced a wards, and through it another manhole. In middle of strect, his scund, a roaring from the outside the building. It was like the roar revolver still pointing at it.
What was that shooting?!?" de-of the police motorcade he had manded Revel,
heard from the window of his fiat after Jane had arrives to warn him the police were going to -
N
"HI gave the blighter wot's wot!" sald Palmer. E raised the cover of the man-'ole" and was goin' to plug me.'
rest him as Mr. XI on our of them. There was little scorch
sort of explosion occurred inside the
way. In a few minutes more., ing, and some there were 38 firemen, excluding must have othicers, on the scene with their shed. He did not think that the appliances,"
Witness described in detall the disposition of the engines and sald that at first it was thought that there were no casualties, but
at 11.18 am, the Kennedy Town
ambulance was ordered and No. 2 fire Boat was told to stand by A minute or so later a "home" call was put through. which brought the personnel of the at- tack to eight appliances, six Buro- pean officers, 57 men (including 6 Chinese officers) and four am- bulances,,
Fire Extinguished
Witness said the fire in Yu On
Terrace was extinguished at about
damage to the walls was caused by the expansion of the metal. It was more burned in the inside than on the outside.
Mr. Mackinlay suggested that probably there was a considerable flash trom the outside as be understood some people were toasted by the intense heat and not by the flames.
!
Mr. Mackinlay (to witness): The root of this shed was completely untouched, would you expect that had there been an explosion the roof would have been untouched except the brick pillar?-When an explosion like that happens, in my "pinion, it does not have to lift up the roof when it strikes other
11.20 or 11.25 am. eight or ten things in a lateral direction.
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The Cause.
•
What do you imagine caused the explosion?-I cannot say. My own opinion is that it was caused by the mixture of alt and gas.
"Get him." "Halmost."
"Stand on the man-hole, Joe, and keep your face on this door,"
Without waiting to see that. Pal- mer obeyed, Revel ran back into the warehouse. He shut the door and flattened himself rigidly against it. listening to the creak- ing of pulleys, The elevator, was moving! X was going up to a hig- ter floor. Revel advanced caut- lously into the interior of the building. In the faint light from the street that came through the windows he could distinguish the elevator shaft and an open, woo- den stairway running up through Its own series of wells. The ele vator was still moving and Revel began quickly and quietly to as cend the stairway which followed around the open elevator shaft. The guard about the open well was of steel mesh about the height of a man's shoulders. Above It was an open space, large enough to permit an active man to climb, through,
Joe Palmer, still standing on the
to manhole, failed hear Revel's shout because of the roaring po- lice motorcade, which came to a halt before the warehouse. Sir Herbert Frensham and Superin- tendent Connor dismounted from the first car. Uniformed police- men and detectives poured out of the others. Catching sight of Pal- mer, immobile with terror on the manhole, Connor approached him
"What are you doing here?" "Waitin' fer me fare." Palmer's teeth all but chattered.
"Where is he?"
Palmer pointed mutely at the manhole on which he stood.
"Reynolds," said Connot, sharp- ly, "hole this man. Edwards, pick detalls and surround the ware
house." He joined Sir Herbert who called his attention to the open door." "We'll investigate. Com- misstorier. Richards, Edgerty, Wheelwright, Fortham, Carroll, Dareson, Phillips, Gadebury—fol- low me."
The eight picked men followed the Superintendent and Frensham towards the warehouse as Edwards gave command for a detail of po- lice to surround the building..
Sorry, sir. This is my fob.. "Mine, too, Connor. I'm going with you."
"No," air. If you don't stay out I'll risk insubordination and have you detalped,
7
· “I'm going in anyway.”
Connor, hesitated, perplexed, put
"The Past And The Future
In the past it was only neces- sary to lean what had been done before, with a view to doing it again. The memory was exercised and the reasoning neglected. The contents of the education. pro- gramme has changed, because the economic and social needs are
quite different, and it is further necessary that those coming for- ward must face the future, with mind more alert less acquiescent in the conditions of the past.
Formerly education was bestow ed upon the poor as a form of philanthropy. Ini England this was generally done through "the agency of the Church, then it was. denounced as measures of pro- tection by Maccaulay, for property was not safe, he said when the poor and ignorant were about. guild a school and empty a zROL" became a proverb.
!
Education and Prosperity. Last of all it was recognised that modern industry could not be car- ried on unless the working class was educated up to higher levels. You cannot have high standards of living diffused among the peo- ple unless there is a high standard of education. At the same time we must recognise that you can- not provide rich educational facilities unless you have the necessary margin of wealth. Yet the two react upen one another.
England for example with its population of 45,000,000 has a na- tional revenue of not less than £900,000,000 in rates and taxes, It was but a matter of a few that is to say each person on the minutes now. Revel thought, untu average pays in the form of taxes he was found and arrested. He £20 each year or 280 dollars. In quickly made his decision, stepped Hongkong with a revenue of 32 boldly out from behind the pack-million dollars from nearly a mil- Ing cases and foined the group of policemen following Connor to wards the stairway,
llon people each person pays on an average 32 dollars per annum at present. It is not possible.
QUEEN'S OPENING
MATINEE
There is room for great philan- thropic effort here. There is no fner way of perpetuating one's name than in founding and en- dowing a School, however amall.
Some guilds have schools, the Tung Wah Hospital also is res ponsible for some, the Confucian Society also does good work and so do the Churches. The private school run for profit will always have a diancult time in this Co lany for there is no stability a
every
the population, it changes so fre- quently. Moreover 1 am afraid that the private schoolmaster must always be worried by the Anancial position. I should advise such school to get a good Com- mittee of Chinese gentlemen to- gether who will relieve the head of some of his worries and at the same time furnish a guarantee to prove that the school is not in irresponsible hands.
'P
A Few Handicaps. I know that many of you are working under 'grave.difficulties in unsuitable premises with numbers declining owing to the depression, and shrinkage of revenue. I do not know if rents are falling in a proportion and the general cost of living too, "but whatever hard- ships you are enduring 3 trust you will never fail to realise the high importance of the work you are doing, and the need for stimula- ting and inspiring the pupils. com- mitted to your care.
The transforming power of education is greatly symbolised by the water lily which is the sacred flower of Wen Cheung the God of Learning.
In its beauty and virgin, white purity it springs from the dark muddy waters in the same manner as the individual rises from the slime and is released from the
mitations of his animal nature, by the agency of education in its manifold aspects spiritual, meat- al, moral and physical-and so' ascends near to divine stature. ··
SUNDAY
Directly from its Sensational Hits in TOKYO and SHANGHAI
MARCUS SHOW
in the OPULENT EXTRAVAGANZA
in THIRTY SCENES MAID OF SILVER LAND OF JADE SPIRIT OF THE VINTAGE RED AND WHITE FANTASY" --- TREES "CARNIVAL OF RHYTHM QUEEN OF VANITY HALL OF MIRRORS WORLD O' GIRLS
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at the sound of a revolver shot LEON MILLER BEN MCATEE
Gas from the gasometer?-Yes,
After listening a moment, Revel The explosion was caused by the continued his upward climb. Sud gas coming into the shed some denly a burst of flame came from
At the door of the warehouse, how and mixed with the air there below him, the report of a revol-
ver, and his right arm flew up so Connor drew his revolver and or- "Can you say whether the houses spasmodic with the pain of a bul-dered his men to do the same, prè. in Chung Shing Street or Clarence let in the fleshy part, that his re-
pared for any emergency. He w Terrace caught fire first?ÑO.
volver was jerked from his hand. Sir Herbert with his group, and You notice any difference in the Two following shots were punct strode back to him. - damage to the respective houses, uated with the sound of his own the ones in Chung Shing Street revolver falling down the elevator and those in Clarence Terrace?-shaft and striking the iron ca- The ones in Clarence Terrace were bles. After the first shot, Revel worse.
had withdrawn behind one of the Mr. Brown: Have you any idea steel pillars of the building, ten- how the gas got into this shed?-sely alert, but undecided what to I have no idea where it came from. do. He was now unarmed and I should imagine must be the 'would be at the merty of X. If gasometer.
the latter caught sight of him;
Realizing that he must act, and The Rev. Bro. Margus Testa of
quickly, Revel crouched down so the St. Louls Industrial School that he was hidden by the iron said that on the morning i ques- mesh of the guard, which he hug- tion he was in the school at Third ged closely, and resumed his up-
Half-way across the floor, Revel Street. About 11 am. he felt à ward climb until he reached the tumed as the man in the elevator. tremor and on looking out he saw door to the roof.
took another shot at him. He flames coming from the gasometer.
could barely make out the top. It was locked. He was trapped! The gasometer than fell down, and
He looked downward through cables still descending. Then the Immediately after he saw the
the iron mesh and could barely whine of the lower was shut of houses in Clarence Terrace and make out a shadowy figure caut and he could hear the door of the Chung Shing Street on dre. At lously, ascending the stairway. Re- elevator opening in the basement. this time there were no fames in at descended a few steps and As the outer door of the the gasometer. The time between paused to decide upon a course warehouse banged against the the thumor and the fall of the of action. The shadowy form of wall under Connor'e onslaught, Rasometer was less than a minute. his stalker of ataiking death Revel whirled about and made cut After Bro. Matter of the same made his way past the elevator the dim slhouettes of the enter- school had given corroborative door on the third floor towards ing policemen, their bull-eye lan- evidence, the enquiry was adjourn the stairs leading to the fourth terhs making golbes of light that. ed until Friday altar
threatened with each forwards door.
the building, he hung the door open and plunged in, followed by the eight men with drawn reypl-
vers, and Sir Herbert.
1.
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