(4)
4. Ordinances were also passed for the establishment of a hospital for infectious diseases in connection with the Tung Wa Hospital; for the imposition of fees for the issue by the Government of Hongkong of certain certificates to certain Chinese; and for the provision of more effectual means to ensure the observance, by those in charge of certain steam-launches, of reasonable precautions against piracy and robbery.
IV. EDUCATION,
1. At the close of 1900 there were in this Colony 13 Government Schools and 91 Grant-in-aid Schools, purporting to give an education to 7,481 children. Of this number, no less than 1,440 scholars are claimed by Queen's College. The remaining 103 schools are thus left with an average of not quite 59 pupils each, the smallest number in any given school being 12. This state of affairs cannot be considered satisfactory, and it seems desirable while diminishing the number of educational centres to cultivate greater uniformity in the system and object of teaching adopted by the various scholastic establishments.
2. There are 5 schools in the Colony—Queen's College being by far the most considerable—which give an education both in English and in Chinese. Twenty-one schools offer an education in English only, while in the remainder only Chinese is taught.
3. No satisfactory provision for the Education of European children exists in Hongkong. Whilst European parents prefer to have their sons and daughters educated at home, a preference dictated by climatic and other reasons, there are not a few Europeans new in the Colony who are unable to afford to send their children to Europe. It would seem only just that educational facilities which are at present wanting should be afforded for such children.
4. The education of Chinese should have as its two objects the instruction of the native pupils in their own language, and in English. Anything further would seem at present to be premature, save in the case of a very few exceptionally clever scholars. If the Chinese boy on leaving school is equipped with a sound knowledge of English, his so-called "secondary" education may confidently be left in his own hands, and its evolution will depend on circumstance and opportunity. It is more than doubtful whether this principle is at present realized with sufficient clearness.
V.—PUBLIC WORKS.
1. The total expenditure on Public Works during the year was a sum of $683,946.74. This shows an increase of $232,581.23 over the expenditure under this head in 1899.
2. The designs for the new Law Courts were prepared in England by the Consulting Architects to the Colonial Office. The plans for the piled foundations were prepared locally, a satisfactory contract for the work was let in July, 1900, and good progress has since been made.
3. A new Police Station was built on a site selected above the Cattle Depôts on the road leading to the Pokfulam Road. The work was completed on the 1st October. Police Stations are also being built at Saikung and Shatin Kok in the New Territory.
4. The Public Works Department Store at Wanchai was completed early in the year. All stores previously deposited at Crosby Store in Queen's Road and in a rented building on Praya East were then removed to the new store, where they were arranged and catalogued.
5. The construction of two new latrines was completed during the year, while three more are being built. A chair shelter for coolies has also been constructed at the Peak Tram Station.
6. Good progress was made on the Pokfulam Conduit Road during the year, and plans and estimates are ready for its completion as far as a junction with Robinson Road. It has been decided that the Harlech Road at the Peak should be taken over and completed by the Military Authorities, to give access to sites for batteries on the High West and for buildings beyond to the North of the hill's saddle. The trunk road to Táipó in the New Territory is still in course of construction.
7. A contract for building a Peak Residence for the Governor has been let and fair progress was made during the year. The stone foundations of the main building are well advanced, and the woodwork of the doors and windows was in course of preparation.
8. On the 29th November the Governor opened to the public a new pier opposite the end of Pedder Street, 200 feet long by 40 feet wide, now known as Blake Pier. The base was designed to carry the new Clock Tower which it is proposed to erect to take the place of that which stands in Pedder Street, and which has become an obstruction to the traffic.
(5)
VI.—GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONS.
(a.) Hospitals.—1. A total number of 2,913 cases were admitted into the Government Civil Hospital during the year 1900, showing an increase of 1% over the number of admissions in the previous year. Two hundred and twenty-five operations were performed, of which only seven ended fatally.
2. Fifty-four (54) cases were admitted into the Maternity Hospital as against 36 in 1899. Six deaths occurred among the patients.
3. The Hospital Hulk Hygeia was not used during the year as the accommodation at Kennedy Town Hospital is now sufficient. It is proposed to use the Hygeia for quarantined passengers under examination.
4. One hundred and seven (107) cases of plague were treated at the Kennedy Town Infectious Hospital during the year with a mortality of 77.5 per cent., 83 cases ended fatally. Fifteen cases of Beri-beri, with one death, were also treated.
5. The admissions to the Gaol Hospital numbered 495, as compared with 503 in 1899. Six deaths occurred from natural causes, and there were two executions.
6. The number of patients in the wards of the Tung Wa Hospital at the beginning of the year was 154; 2,981 were admitted during 1900, making a total of 3,135 cases treated. 1,267 deaths, the high rate of mortality being due to the fact that the lower classes of the Chinese community regard this hospital as not alone a place for the treatment of diseases, but also a refuge in which to die. A free site has been granted on the western side of Inland Lot 1,082 for the erection of a permanent branch hospital for the treatment of contagious diseases. This new hospital will take the place of the temporary matsheds which have hitherto been built for the reception of infectious cases.
(b.) Lunatic Asylum.—7. The Lunatic Asylum is divided into European and Chinese wards. 109 patients were admitted. There was an increase in the number of Chinese patients treated, viz., 97 as against 59 in 1899.
(c.) Reformatory.—8. The Belilios Reformatory was opened during 1900, but at the close of the year no case had been admitted.
(d.) Public Mortuary.—9. During the year 1,712 bodies were removed to the Public Mortuary.
(e.) Vaccine Institute and Government Laboratory.—10. The Vaccine Institute has been working throughout the year under the Colonial Veterinary Surgeon, and the lymph has, as usual, given satisfaction. 321 articles were examined during the year in the Government Laboratory.
(f.) Po Leung Kuk.—11. I append a return (Table showing the work of the Po Leung Kuk, a Society for the Protection of Women and Children, for the year 1900. The number of persons admitted to the home was 337 as against 252 in 1899. The balance to the credit of the fund was $13,697.99 at the close of 1900, and the subscriptions for the year show an increase of $1,459.80 over the subscriptions for 1899. At the beginning of the year the services of a female teacher were engaged, and the inmates now receive regular elementary instruction.
(g.) Fire Brigade.—12. At the commencement of the year, the Nam Pak Hong Fire Brigade was reorganized and placed under the immediate supervision of the officers of the Government Fire Brigade, which is itself a sub-department of the Police and under the control of the Captain Superintendent of Police. The Nam Pak Hong now maintains, at its own cost, six trained firemen, while two firemen of the Government Brigade reside in the station house with them.
13. There were 51 fires and 74 incipient fires during the year, causing an estimated damage of $130,599.73 and $729.10 respectively. The Brigade turned out 61 times during the year.
(h) Police.—14. The total strength of the Police Force, which stood at 630 in 1898, and at 827 in 1899, has been increased to 929, an increase necessitated by additional work in connection with the New Territory. To keep pace with this increase in the numbers of the men, the staff of officers, which had previously consisted only of a Captain Superintendent of Police and a Deputy Superintendent of Police, was doubled by the appointment of two Assistant Superintendents of Police, though only one of these was actually employed in Police Work during the year.