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respect of Petroleum Par – from the Rules and Regula. tions already referred to:
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
Your Most Obedient Humble Servant,
Mack Major General, Administering the Go
vernment
14
COPY.
Sir,
ENCLOSURE.
Rece
&
Rea? 31 OCT 98
Hong-Kong, 23rd. August,1898.
The ROYAL DUTCH PETROLEUM COMPANY, whose inte-
rest we represent at Hong-Kong is desirous of introducing PETROLEUM TAR into this Colony as fuel.
In order to ascertain the nature of the tar we
applied to the Government Analyst already in February a.c.for an analysis the result of which we beg to enclose, accompanied with a fresh sample of the tar, should you wish to subject it to further examinations.
We beg to submit that the analysis shows that the tar has so high a fire test as to exclude the product from the class of goods looked upon as dangerous and we therefore respectfully ask for your confirmation of this view.
We look upon this Petroleum tar as the same as
Gas tar and heavy lubricating oils and if so classified we would be enabled to treat the product as ordinary cargo with- out any restrictions.
As the trade cannot be commenced until your
decision on the matter is known, we have not made definite ar- The Honourable
T.SERCOMBE SMITH,
Colonial Secretary,
rangements