Extract from daily bees of 9th hergader (70)
VICTORIA MEMORIAL HOSPITAL
AND JUBILEE ROAD.
OPENING CEREMONY.
On Saturday afternoon the Victoria Memorial Hospital was formally opened by His Excellency the Governor, Sir Honry A. Blake, G.C.M.O., and the Jubilee Road hauded over to the Government by Hon. Sir Paul Chater, CM.G., on behalf of the Jubilee Committee. The ceremony took place at the Hospital in Barker Road. Among those present were Lady Blake, Sir John Kenue, Bart. Private Secretary; His Honour Sir William M. Goodman, Chief Justice, and Lady Goodman: Hon. Sir Henry S. Berkeley, Attorney-General, and Lady Berkeley; Mrs. May; Hon. Dr. J. M. Atkin- son, Principal Civil Medical Officer, Hon. Dr. Ho Kai, C.M.G.; Hon. W. Chatham. Director of Public Works: Captain F. W. Lyons, Acting Captain Superintendent of Police; Dr. G. H. Bateson Wright, Mr. J. Dyer Ball, Mr. L. C. Reea, Mr, B. Brotherton Harker, Mr. J. R. Michael. Dr. E. A. R. Laing, Mr. H. W. Bird, Mr. Ho Fook, Mr
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public memorials of the gracitals ladykkho misbe justly described as the greatest Queen in history. I will go back to the commencement, when it had been resolved to worthily calebrate, in an enduring manner, this great occasion. Sub- seriptions were invited from the community in 1897 on the understanding that a Hospital for Women and Children and a Nursing Institute should be erected, aud that the first section of a road to encircle the main portion of the island of Hongkong should be constructed. These works, I am glad to say, have now bee completed, so far as the Hospital and the section of the road are concerned. Many diff culties, which could not have bean foreseen by the Committee, have been encountered, necessarily delaying the work, but, as will be so, they were overcome at length, and we now have the pleasure of recording their completion. The amount available from the sum subscribed, after defraying the cost of the local celebrations of the event, was $182,424.00, and this divided equally betwem the two projects, giving for each $91,219. 1 propose for the sake of convenience to deal separ-
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S. W. Tso, Mr. Ho Kom Tong, and Mr. Hately with them, aud will refer first to the Shun Chueu. The building wa+ finely decorated with flags. the decorations having been carried out by Lug. Signalmen F. Ransted. and W. Foster, of the Tumor, under the super- intendence of Mr. J. Coyle of the Public Works Department.
Ifis Excellency the Governor having taken up a position on the steps leading to the door of the Hospital,
Hon. Sir, PAUL CHATEL said-Your Ex. cellency, ladies and gentlemen-The Committee formed for the purpose of a caring for this Colony an adequate and suitable permanent memorial of the late Queen Victoria's Diamod Jubilee or such faw of them as are left after a six years' interval-hava invited your Ex- cellency to meet them here to-day to take over, as head of the Government, this building and s new road recently constructed. The com- mittee was formed in 1897 to consider what form the memorial subscribed for by a loyal population should take, and how best to carry their wishes into effect, and now, in the closing mouths of 1933, having brought their laboars to a satisfactory conclusion, they ask to be relieved of their responsibilitios After much discussion it was agreed to have two memorials, ono, in deference to the late Queen's well-known predilection for works of mercy, to take the form of a Hospital, and the other, to meet a widely-expressed wish, to be a carriage road to encircle the island, These works were to commemora, ia lasting manner. the sixtieth anniversary of her late revered Majesty's glorions reig. As the sebeme for this commemoration origiastel daring the administration of your Excellency's predecessor, Sir William Robinson, I think it will be both interesting and appropriate to briefly recapita- late the circumstances attending the inception of the plan and subsequent creation of these
Hospital. The soleme originally provided for the erection of a building in the grounds of the Government Civil Hospital, and included a Nursing Institute, which was to form an adjunct of the staff quarters of that institution, Competitive designs were invited, and were in due course sent in by the local architects, hut before any decision had been arrived at regarding these, a letter was received from the Principal Civil Medical Officer urging that the proposed Hospital should be erected at the Peak and suggesting that "Craigieburn " might be acquired for the purpose. This letter was considered by the committee, and though the suggestion for the purchase of "Craigie. burn
was not adopted, there was a consensus of opinion in favour of acquiring a site on the higher levels instead of orecting the building in the Civil Hospital compound. A reso- Intion to the effect that a site not lower than Robinson Road should be selected was accord. ingly carried. Some difficulty was experienced by the committee in finding a desirable site, but fortunately Barker Bord was then under construction, and after examination of those sites available, it was decided to apply to the Government for the ground on which we are now assembled, You, Sir, readily consented to grant the site, and the committee then concen- trated its energies on securing the best building possible for the funds at its disposal. Owing to the greater cost of buiding on the high levels, and the necessity of providing quarters for the staff required, the Committes found that the fands were not sufficient to erect both the Hospital and the Nursing Institute as well. It became necessary, therefore, to refer the matter to the Govern peut, and your Excellency, recoguising the difficulty, kindly consented to recommend to the Secretary of State for the Colonies that an adjunct to the Government Civil Hospital be erected for a Nursing In- stitute. This sanction having been obtained. and the Hospital being now completed, it remains for the Government to carry out your Excellengy's recommendation, and speaking for the Committer, I hope IO time will
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