COPY.
Sir,
No. 5.
From the Governor to the Officer Commanding Troops.
46436
Read
Government House, Hongkong, 5th November, 1909.
The Honourable
I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 29th October on the subject of replacing the Electric Light Emplacements at Beaconsfield Arcade which were destroyed during the typhoon of the 19th September last.
2.
The objections, which were formerly held by this Government, to having these emplacements on the Praya Road still obtain. This road at the ends of Collinska Street and of Queen's Road West, opposite to which two of the emplacements were sited, has only a 40 feet width for wheeled traffic, has a double line of tramway and fairly frequent service of trams along it as well as considerable traffic conducted in large heavy vans in connection with the Slaughter House. Again, part of the Kennedy Town District is still undeveloped and it may reasonably be assumed that the traffic will increase when that is built over. These conditions do not exist in the new Praya Road opposite Marine Lot 299 in front of which the remaining emplacements were erected. Here the roadway for wheeled traffic is 85 feet in width and there are no tramways. Nevertheless, I should be loath to permanently hand over to the War Department sites in this thoroughfare.
3.
I would point out that the typhoon of September 18th was abnormally violent in character and the recurrence of such a storm need not be taken into consideration in connection with the rebuilding of the Electric Light Emplacements.
The Officer Commanding the Troops.