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THE HONGKONG DAILY PRESS, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5, -121.5
i a
THE
KOWLOON - CANTON 55489
RAILWAY.
REC?
Rice 3 NOV II
THROUGH
CONNECTION ESTABLISHED.
FORMAL OPENING OF THE CHINESE SECTION.
On the invitation of the Directorate General of the Chinese Imperial Railways a number of guests from Hongkong and Canton assembled at Samchun yesterday to participate in the opening ceremony of the Chinese Section of the Canton-Kowloon Railway. The occasion was a memorable one, for it marked the connection of Hongkong and Canton by rail, and incidentally saw a material advancement in the scheme which aims at linking East and West with rails of steel.
Unfortunately His Excellency the Viceroy of Canton and His Excellency the Governor of Hongkong were unable to attend the opening ceremony. But there were many prominent men present, both from the Chinese capital and Hongkong. For a few days prior to the date fixed for the opening of the line rumours were rife that the revolutionaries intended to make their presence felt at the ceremony, and the visitor yesterday was inclined to place some eredence in those rumours when he witnessed a large number of braves assem bled in the vicinity where the function was to take place. The station at Samchun, which was festooned with greenery, was also guarded by armed men, who were drawn up a number of paces apart on either side. Along the side of a hillock which overlooked the shed in which the tiffin was held another guard of soldiers was entrenched, while other braves were posted around the doors of the shed.
The train from Canton, with its gorgeously decorated ongive, was the first to arrive at Samehun, and the arrivals from Canton were on the platform when the train from Hongkong drew up at the station. While greetings were being exchanged between Hongkong and Chinese officials and others, the following were observed to be among the number present :-- Hon. Mr. W. D. Barues (Colonial Secretary}, Hon. Mr. C. H. Ross, Hon. Mr. H. E. Pollock, Hon, Mr. C. G. Alabaster, Hon. Mr. W. Chatham, C.M.G., His Honour Mr. Justice Gompertz, His Lordship Bishop Lander, Captain F. W. Lyons, Dr. Stedmau, Mr. J. W. Jamieson, C.M.G., Mr. C. Clementi, Dr. J. W Hartley, Messrs. E. D. C. Wolfe, H. W. Looker, A. H. Harris, M. H. Logan, E. S. Kadoorie, W. S. Bailey, S. Moore, Garibaldi, R. M. Dyer, H. Gilman, E. A. Stanton. A. Tigges. R. F. Matheson, A. Ellis, W. S. Brown, and W. E. L. Shenton, His Excellency Li Ching Feng, His Honour Chen Wang Cheng, His Honour C. H. Chao, Taotsi Cheng Yung His Excellency Lung Chien Chang, Hon. Dr, Ho Kai, Hon. Mr. Wei Yak, Messrs. Lau Chu Pak and son, Ng Hou Tsz, S. W. Tso, Chan
Kai Ming, Fung Wa Chuen, Yeung Hee, Lau Tu Chung, Taung Yuet Kai, Kwok Yick Ting Leang Lai Mun, Tao Fat Shao, Chau Siu K, Leung Pui Chi, Wong Tsze Loung, Lau Yau Chuo, Yung Yik Ting, Ngan Hung Po and Captain Wu,
Ti e arrival being just before the hour fixed for tiffin, adjournment was made to a large galvanized shed near the station where the lunch. was laid out. The Chinese provod admirable hosts and soon bad their guests seated. A novel feature of the tiffin, apart from the military atmosphere which surrounded it, was the at- tendance of a Chinese band which played foreign - music with passable success. Sufficient time baving been allowed for the repast, the band played a stanza of the British National Anthem after which the toasts of the day wore proposed and responded to.
HE. LI CHING FENG, Commissioner of! Foreign Affairs, in proposing "Success to the Canton-Kowloon Railway," said:-I and my: official colleagne, the Taotni of Industry and Commerce. have bad the honour to be deputed by His Excellency the Viceroy of the Two Kwongs to represent him here to-day upon this auspicious occasion (His Excellency being pre- vented by other pressing official matters from attending in person). The connection aud opening of the whole line of this, the Canton- Κοπίσου
an Railway, to-day, is erent which may be regarded of extreme importance, establishing as it does a new facility of travel and transportation between the two friendly countries concerned. It is our fervent hope that this day will mark a new phase in the period of the commercial relations between our countrymen and their British friends and that the advent of th's rail- way will prove to be another link in the binding chain of friendship which has so long existed and tended to promote the welfare of our re- spective peoples and encourage the expansion of their trade. (Applause.) Our official and com. mercial eircles alike are indebted to those gentlemen on both sections of the line who have so ably supervised the construction of this railway, and we should take this opportunity of expressing to them our hearty cou- gratulation and thanks for the praiseworthy manner in which they have discharged their multifarious duties. May the life of this line henceforth be one of undisturbed harmony, and: may the line itself tend, as is its object, to facilitate and expand the commercial and industrial relations at both its ends; and with that wish and in the name of His Excellency Two Cheung Ming Ki, Viceroy of the Kwongs, we have much pleasure in declaring this Railway connected and opened to public traffic this 13th day of the 8th moon in the 3rd year of Shun Tang, being the 4th day of October in the year one thousand nine hundred and eleven. (Applause.)
Hon. Mr. BARNES, Colonial Secretary of Heugkong, in reply, said Your Ex- cellencies and Gentlemen,- Of the four names down on the toast list to return thanks to the toast proposed, mine happens to be that of the