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The
Hongkong Telegraph.
TUESDAY, AUGUST 30, 1938.
NEW WATER CHARGES
So This Was Old Hongkong!
Attempt To Poison The Foreign Community
THOSE residents of our modern
Colony who perhaps may be of the impression that life in Hongkong gome seventy or eighty years ago was idyllic in peacefulness need to be remind- ed that history proves otherwise. Robberies, piracies, and mur- ders were frequent; for Hong-
was
When 42 Chinese were crammed into the "Black Hole of
and
Hongkong"
is
WHS
the
*.
white arsenle into the dough of the And will it be believed, too, that the daily batch of bread. The time, more miserable wretches subjected to this over, was well chosen, and depended brutal treatment are not condemned upon Cheung's departure to Macao felons-no, for them the best of treat- with his family upon a short busi- ment is reserved; but men under no ness trip.
whom the The fact, too, thin: he and charge-against
most by purchased some 1.000 bags of Cali- active enquiries
our active fornian flour for which he paid cash, Attorney General, enlisted heart and was looked upon as suspicious, and soul in the cause, have been unable to actually advanced as a clever attempt ferret out even a breath of suspicion ક em old men tottering to to cover up his fight,
them every
His behaviour in Macao seems to their graves, some mere boys yet in
It is true they quantity point to his innocence; for when the their teens.
เ -
*
more
by
the at-
the
much
blamed
-some of
one
##
*
1
that
Buch
kong was then the happy hunt- (arsenious trioxide) was in ing ground of all the disreputable pound of bread, and the
in the criminal elements from the necessary to destroy life, while It British vessel Queen arrived, and fortunately happened to be hinterland. The outrages com- 1,5 stated to be no more than demanded his surrender from the employ of the Esing firm at the time two or three grains. All enters of Portuguese authorities, Cheung was of the late diaboiled attompt ic
the community; but mitted by some of these old-time this bread experienced the dangerous apparently most willing to return to poison gangsters were truly shocking, symptoms of arsenic poisoning, sick- the Colony in order to prove his in- ftords no grounds even for their de
ness and
great distress of the nocence; for 415 he stated "why tention, seeing there is
is not and if they took place nowadays, stomach followed by violent vomit- should he attempt to poison his beat of proof of their participation in the vestige Stubbs Rd. would be given banner head-d
for which their master is now crime Iines in the press the world over, most seriously affected
severe colic pains. The customers?"
Lady In the meantime, the whole staff of standing on trial for his life before One of these happenings which Dowring, the wife of the Governor, the bakery had been rounded-up, the Supreme Court; and at all events,
Hi.
no excuse for such would have delighted the thrill. Sir John Bowring. She apparently that is all except the one who was it can afford satiated newspaper reader of the toasted the bread and while she
she no
no doubt the actual culprit-the fore- brutality as that to which they Better far to noted its taste was peculiar, she man of the dough mixing depart been subjected. present day occurred on January ny did not associate it his escape and was never apprehend- once, than to have exposed them to ment. He managed to make good deported, or hanged, or shot them at 15, 1857 But let contemporary
so ghastly as a accounts tell the story:
duse of poison. It rel
ed; but that did not prevent the au- such frightful sufferings as they have
der undergone "A diabolien) attempt
while made while ull the other
r thorities from placing the remainder victims
during
twenty days this morning to poison the foreign covered without
any
apparent ill under arrest. Those moralists who suffocation in this Black Hole of
to find fault residents of Hongkong, by means of effects, Lady Bowring was afterwards are apt
with the Hongkong. the walls of which are arsenic in the bread issued from the subject to stomach cramps, whi
which
case Was no way the
handled, and
newly erected, and the plaster and the shockingt
treat floor not even dry."The China Mail, principal bakery in the Colony. The doubt shortened her ife, and her especially
་་་ firm is known by the title of singlessed to have been induced by the
sing, death in England years later was ment bestowed upon the prison- Fetry, 1857. the
in custody must consider the cir- the proprietor being a well-known
** compradore named A-lum, long re- arsenic she swallowed in her bread cumstances of the time; for in fact,
1857. the case engendered sident here. The sufferings of many on that January morning in Hung- the terror
formally
the of those who partook of the bread kong.
commenced in wholesale poisoning of the February 5,
rendered community have been severe; but the quantity.of
Supreme Court. Cheung A-lum, as Government's vigorous ut poison mixed with the flour seems to
Government peculiarly inept to the proprietor of the bakery
Arm tempt to correct the anomalies have been too small for the purpose THE A-lut mentioned above was impartial reaction. The most suitable
intended, and we are happy to say one Cheung A-lum or Cheong explanation of the general attitude was adjudged the chief defendant, and the Innocence or guilt of his of the Colony's water supply
we have not heard of a single
fatal
Allum, who was a familiar figure to would be to ascribe it to "blue funk."
employees apparently rested The circumstance
of residents and charges is certain to meet
of A-lum the case.
Colony and some of the
unpleasant
either his discharge or conviction. with a mixed reception, though having settled many of his
the out during
early 'Afties,
having angles of the affair were due to just It may be assumed that the case standing
yesterday. and settled here about the year 1847. He this. Recounts
was a cause celebre, and in fact was an analysis of the comparative talten his departure for Macno with first appears in contemporary at The Colony's first Chief of Police one of the most amazing trials ever advantages and disadvantages
an instance of this held in Hongkong. Thirty witnesses suggest that the reform will, in is family this morning before his counts as a "boy" employed by dif- was notably
customers' breakfast
ferent foreigners, and during the be- neurasthenle state, and when hour,
that had been subpoened by the Prosecu- those the long run, prove beneficial to discovery, and his consequent up- ginning of his sojourn on the Island was particularly reprehensible about on, and these were largely those sections of the comprehension, would have been certain, he worked for a number of the in- the general behaviour towards the who had partaken of the polsoned
be may
Ill thereby. rendered upou bread and were munity which have hitherto has afforded strong reasons for be fluential settlers. He seemed to have prisoners
for Je Was directly It might be expected that under the lieving that the act was performed been a man of exceptional business him;
for suffered hardships under
their the with his cognizance and sanction, if acumen; fa: he soon graduated from responsible
Incarcera circumstances, their testimony would. so-called free allowance system, not by his express orders; and the
be particularly biassed, and that It would have been unusually difficult There is, of course, a principle Queen has been despatched to Macao
Fortunately involved, and it is in its inter-in search of him." The China Mull
assure a fair trial. pretation of this principle that January 15, 1057. Government is certain to re- ceive chief criticism. For at least five years Government has been warning the community of its intention to make the water service self-supporting.
as righteously indignant about the and Saliellor. Mr. Hickson, as William Peel, in a public speech
well as American navies, supplying distic phases of the treatment meted four years ago, said that he had
an average of 100,000 lbs..of biscult out upon the suspects In the case, and Mr. G. C. Turner represented the whilst the Defence was Prosecution, promised the Secretary of State reasonable use of water. How-annually to each.
commented upon it in no uncertain equally notable, being conducted by Bridges, the Colonial Secretary, It can be realised that a man who terms: for the Colonies to bring about
ever, the high rates which the
with the this position in Hongkong. He wealthy house-holder pays pro- foreign community upon such a large
in trade
with Mr. John Day as Counsel, and engaged
"We yesterday morning were Messrs. Gaskell and Brown, and made the same point clear in bably entitled him to considera- sente could not afford to jeopardise witness to a scene, such as our H. J. Tarrant as Solicitors. Regard-
will have readers his reply to the 1934 Budget tion
the pro in ines in the matter of water his interests by going so far crediting one we can scarcely be secution under the
less of how indefatigably a dastardly
Acgis speech, when he said: "I am allowances. Henceforth all con-/become involved in still of the opinion that the
plot. Fate, however, is often lieve would be perpetrated unless Attorney-General laboured to bring the innocence sumers, with a few notable, and
was so obvious principle of a free allowance generally speaking, deserving capricious, and no matter how
one may of water is unsound ..
is huve dreamt of seeing in a British that
fell flot. After on the
exceptions, will pay for what. mote
there career, legitimate whole a metered supply would
concatenation of circum- Colony. We allude to Forty-two the final arguments had been heard they use. be more equitable."
The question is: "Are they stances which seem to combine in Chinese crammed into a cell 16 feet
half an hour and brought in verdict tions.
of Not Guilty, 5 to 1-a conclusion it was in the case of one small aperture for ventilation, This has been the Govern- being asked to pay too highly order to frustrate the best of inten- inng by 15 broad, furnished with only on February 10, the Jury retired
press entirely ment's water service theme It might be argued, as Govern- Cheung A-lum. Certain of the dis- and confined there for Twenty days! in which the local
expects through ever since, culminating in April ment
its repable
element, becoming in with the bare and damp ground for a coincided; but added "though we are
continuous
and In this space they had to by no means satisfied of the pri last with the Mr. S. charges make water ser-
สม ne the none, innocence, and wyld much Caine's proposals for the aboli- vice self-supporting, hit the perity, and perhaps angered at his perform
the seeming lack of patriotism for nature. Covering required none, Innocence; and would much rather, tion of a free allowance, the charges must be too high. This Manchu cause in the war against for, as may easily be supposed, the as we feel assured would the Jury water, and the use of meters based upon a superficial as his downfall. The expedient adopted being only 11 inches high by 6 feet had
With sumption, for it fails to take was cowardly to the extreme, and long, and placed in the extreme upper verdict of in all tenement floors.
corner of the room. We assure nur involved the bribing of one of the slight, but important modifica into effect that Government has forty employees of the bakery firm to readers this is a fact, that can be the prisoners been discharged and tions, these proposals are em- decided to charge Kowloon and introduce some ten lbs, of ordinary substantiated by several witnessess, while they were in the act of leaving bodied in the new bill which ia Victoria consumers five
Sir
*
*
By T. PAUL GREGORY
however, both the prosecution as
Թ
the defence were comprised of "boy" to a small merchant, and then ton for twenty days within a cell the ablest men in the Colony at that bakery of such dimensions that existence time, and it is to their efforts that ultimately went into the
as ex- the cutcome was in complete ne- poisoned brend was eaten by business, opening a firm under the within it must have been some three or four hundred of the European residents of the Colony, style of "E-sing"-signifying "Abun- cruciating a torture as any attributed ordance with the
dont Prosperity." His success in this to the mediaeval oublieftes which ro- cellence and it was certainly providential that enterprise was phenomenal; for he manticists associate with the Spanish Atto
local no deaths occurred; for one drachm soon became the contractor for the Inquisition. The (60 grains) .of white
arsenic Commissariat of the British
WOS
often a
So
endeavour to
press
difficulty
Attorney
was Chisolmerai,
of British
traditional ex-
justice. Mr.
Thomas and the Crown assisted by
The
pro- government, and such as no one could of the Viction,
the
case
All The
of the
that the English law
adoption of stand charges forfis a dangerous conclusion if Britain, sought means to bring about den was a perfect stew, the air-hole ted them to return
cents
to be presented to the Legisla-less per 1,000 gallons than sug- tive Council, and which will al-gested by the Hon. Mr. Calne in most certainly become law in his memorandum of last April. GRIN AND BEAR IT
the near future.
The concession is an important one, especially when it is re- If the Hon. Mr. Caine's es- called that Mr. Calne, in his es- timated figures for revenue and timates, argued that, in order expediture dependent upon the to permit a reduction in the new system are correct, Govern- Assessments from 2 per cent. to ment, at least, can claim to have 1 per cent. it would be neces- Hongkong's water service self-sary to charge a standard rate supporting. What still remains of 35 cents per 1,000 gallons.
instead, to be demonstrated is whether Government,
has the charges are capable of elected to retain the 2 per cent. effecting the benefits so greatly Assessment, and has met desired. Experience elsewhere opposition half way by reducing encourages the belief that the the standard rate to 25 cents udoption of meters, and the per 1,000 gallons. Peak and necessity of consumers paying mid-level resident. consumers for all their water, will act as a henceforth must pay for all strong deterrent to wastage. their water at 45 cents and 35 When a consumer knows that cents per 1,000 gallons respec- every gallon of water used is a tively. This will possibly further demand upon his poc- silence the clamour of those ket, he will hesitate about using who hold that upper level res it excessively. That old quip: sidents were given favoured "Spending money like water" treatment. The new bill may will take on a new meaning. It not be the ideal solution to a would seem, too, that the all-complex problem, and its prac- pay system will liquidate that tical effect may yet prove to hit the alleged injustice of the free the poor classes adversely, but allowance principle, whereby theoretically it seems equitable, the rich, because of the rateable it would appeur capable of stop- value of their property, received ping water wastage, and at the
time should practically unlimited supplies of same
realise water free, whilst the poor, vic- Government's desire that the tims of the same process, have| Colony's service should be self- | to meet excess consumption de-' supporting. Thus the measures
mands although only making are worthy of trial.-—-S.A.G.
By Lichty
ố tvár Tan0 kr United Fetiara Brodiesto. Inc.
"We've only an hour before train time-so you take in one alde
and I'll run along the other,"
[
of not proven."
to say
that no sooner had
Strange to
the Court, they were re-apprehended and conveyed to gaol upon a warrant Issued by the order of the Governor, Sir John Bowring. The reason for this astounding sequel was not then entirely understood, but seemed to have been what would be explained. custody" of those who were of being undesirables. The of the unpleasant affair was the prisoners were deported from Colony en masse, most of them being declared hantelices for life. Meanwhile, as they were wall-
EYMA
& as the
"taking into pro-
outcome
that the
the
ing the decision of the Governor which would determine their future,
the principal In the sordid, cose, Cheung A-lum realising that his stay in the Colony was soon to be terminated, decided to wind up his business, and so accordingly publish- ed the following advertisement In the China Mall of March 20, 18071,
Notice
All persons having Claims against or being Indebted to, Cheong Allum, lole of the E-aing Shop, Victoria, Hongkong, are requested to forward particulars to Mr. "E.. K." "Stace, Solicitor, &c., Queen's Road, Victoria, Hongkong,
March 1857
**
Cheong-Allum.
*
* TJISTORY recorda that Cheung A-tum ultimately settled in Annam, where he was crodiied with again amassing a fortune. There also the strange story that the Man- chu Government took an especial interest in his welfare, apparently considering him as a hero, for bestowed upon him a comfortablo" pension, and indirectly, enabled him. to set himself up as ·ašlíčcessful. merchant in his adopted land.