A. Enclosure No 14.
394
From The China & Japan Telephone Co Ltd. To The Hon: Acting Colonial Secretary.
Hongkong 4th June, 1901.
Hongkong.
I have the honour to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 25th ultimo, giving over to me a draft Bill entitled “An Ordinance for Authorising the Construction of a Tramway within the Colony of Hongkong", and requesting me to furnish you with any observations that may occur to me.
The Exchange controlled by this Company is worked on what is known as the Single Line System, using earth connections, and this system has been found to be perfectly successful and to meet the requirements of Hongkong, the lines being too short for any appreciable induction to take place, and they are readily restored after typhoons.
I gather from the copy of the Ordinance that it is proposed to use the Single Trolley System; if so we can only continue our business by doubling the number of wires in the streets and roads of the Colony, at great expense, to provide each Subscriber with two wires, instead of one as at present. This multiplication of wires will give rise to much more serious stoppages by typhoons than hitherto, there will also be a heavy expenditure in providing entirely new Switch-boards
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