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the duration of which is to be 30 years.
The construction is to be under the direction of a Chinese Managing Director with whom are to be associated a British Engineer-in-Chief and a British Chief Accountant. The agreement provides that a further one for the joint working of the British and Chinese sections of the railway should be arranged between the Viceroy of Canton and the Governor of Hongkong. Negotiations for this further agreement were not started before the end of the year,
The Final Loan Agreement for the Canton-Kowloon Railway also lays down that "it is understood that the Chinese Government will not build another line competing with this railway to its detriment." In this connection it may be mentioned that a proposal of the Chinese authorities to build a line towards Amoy which for some 40 miles must have followed approximately the same course as the Canton-Kowloon Railway called forth considerable opposition from Hongkong where it was held that the construction of such a line was contrary to the preliminary agreement of March 1899.
While the survey work on the British section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway was being completed in the early part of the year construction was proceeding on the line between Tai Po and Lo Fu ferry under the Public Works Department and by the end of April about 24 miles of bank had been formed not including, however, any bridge or heavy earthwork. On the 23rd March Mr. W. G. Eves who had been appointed by the Consulting Engineers—Sir JOHN WOLFE BARRY & Co.,—to be Chief Resident Engineer, arrived in the Colony and took charge of the work being assisted by an engineering staff of one executive and four assistant engineers who arrived subsequently. During the Summer sickness among staff and workmen and some difficulties with labour delayed the progress of the work which consisted at first in preparing for the piercing of the tunnel through the Kowloon Hills. By the end of the year quarters for staff and labourers and work-shops were completed on the South but were still under construction on the North side of the tunnel. A store yard, with arrangements for landing plant and material, had been formed at Tai Kok Tsui and connected by about 3,000 yards of temporary metre gauge railway with the South face while a service road some 1,500 yards long formed with part of the existing Public Works Department road a communication to the North face from a temporary landing place at Lok Lo Ha in Tide Cove. As regards permanent work, by the end of the year a heading had been started from the open at either end of the tunnel but in neither case had advanced more than a few feet inside what will be the ultimate tunnel face. A shaft 90 feet deep had been sunk 330 feet inside this face at the South end and headings commenced in both directions from it. Another shaft to be 268 feet deep, 5,100 feet from the first, and 1,350 feet inside the North face, had been decided on but not yet started. At the end of the year work was also proceeding on 4 bridges South of the tunnel and on 2 North of it in the Shatin Valley. A considerable portion of the earthwork for about a mile on either side of the tunnel and about that between Tai Po and the Lo Fu ferry had been completed. The reclamation for the station site in Hung Hom Bay had been put in hand. The total expenditure that had actually been incurred by the 31st December was $599,546.
Turning to the minor incidents of the year and reverting to commercial matters it may be mentioned that with a view to making Hongkong products better known in England and also to assisting the general trade of the Colony, collections of specimens of its manufactures and also of the various articles which are included in its export trade, have been sent to England to constitute a permanent exhibition in the Imperial Institute buildings at South Kensington.
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In the Colony itself two exhibitions were held which it is hoped will be repeated annually. On the 1st and 2nd February the new Horticultural Society, revived on the lines of the old Society which organised annual flower shows from 1873 to 1883, successfully held its first show in the Botanical Gardens. On the 1st, 2nd and 3rd November an "Arts and Crafts exhibition collected in the City Hall some good specimens of local photography, needlework, book printing and binding, and domestic furniture and some fine pieces of pottery and other works of art lent by European and Chinese Residents.
An interesting event in the early part of the year was the visit of the mission with H.R.H. Prince ARTHUR of CONNAUGHT at its head, which was conveying the Garter to H. I. M. the Emperor of Japan. The mission was in Hongkong from the 9th to the 13th February. In March advantage was taken of the presence of a Japanese squadron to return some of the hospitality that had been shown in the previous Summer to the British fleet in Japanese waters, and of the visit of the French squadron of the Far East to bear witness to the cordial understanding between England and France. In September a Joint Naval and Military Committee under the presidency of Sir JOHN OWEN, K.C.B., visited the Colony for the consideration of certain matters connected with its defence.
Changes during the year in personnel outside the Colony but closely affecting it were the substitution of CHOU Fu formerly Acting Governor-General Liang Kuang for Ts'en CH'UN-HSÜAN as Governor General Liang Kuang, and the appointments in May of Sir JOHN N. JORDAN, K.C.M.G., to replace Sir ERNEST SATOW, G.C.M.G., as Minister at Peking, and in April of Mr. R. W. MANSFIELD, C.M.G., to replace Mr. J. SCOTT as Consul-General at Canton. During the year the British Naval and Military Commanders were both changed. Vice-Admiral Sir ARTHUR W. MOORE, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., C.M.G., succeeding Admiral Sir GERARD H. U. NOEL, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., as Commander-in-Chief of the China Station in March and Major-General R. G. BROADWOOD, C.B., following Major-General V. HATTON, C.B., in command of the Troops in South China in December.
Reference has already been made to the lamented deaths of Bishop HOUAR and Capt. BARNES-LAWRENCE. The latter has been succeeded as Harbour Master by Commander B.R.H. TAYLOR, R.N. On the 31st October, Sir HENRY S. BERKELEY, Kt., K.C., retired from the office of Attorney General, Mr. W. REES DAVIES, who did not arrive in the Colony before the end of the year, being appointed to succeed him. In the Legislative Council Mr. E. A. HEWETT on the 30th April succeeded Mr. R. SHEWAN as elected representative of the Chamber of Commerce and on the 1st June, Mr. W. J. GRESSON of Messrs. Jardine, Matheson & Co. took the place of Mr. C. W. DICKSON of the same firm as a nominated member. Mr. E. OSBORNE temporarily relieved Mr. G. STEWART in a similar position when the latter went on leave early in the year.
On the 15th December, Mr. F. H. MAY, C.M.G., who had arrived from England a week previously took over the administration of the Colony on my having to proceed on short leave to Java for the recovery of health. Mr. SERCOMBE SMITH who had been acting as Colonial Secretary during the whole period of Mr. May's absence from the Colony served in the same capacity on the latter assuming the charge of the Government.
I have the honour to be,
My Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient, humble Servant,
M. Nathan
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