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Enclosure
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34599
Hongkong General Chamber of Commerce.
OCT 13
St. George's Building, Hongkong, 11th.September, 1913.
Sir,
With reference to the correspondence which has passed between this Chamber and the Government during the past 2 years as to the pressing need for a suitable Wireless Telegraph Station being erected in this Colony in order to enable vessels at Sea to com-
-municate with Hongkong, I am directed by my Committee to ask if any further information has been received from the Secretary of
State for the Colonies on this subject.
The argumente in favour of the erection of a commercial
Wireless Station are well understood and need not here be recapitu-
-lated; they were however fully set forth in my letter of 25th.
April, 1911.
I would specially beg to bring to your recollection your
letter of 16th. December, 1912, (No. 1400/1910) the final paragraph
of which reads as follows:-
"His Excellency the Governor now proposes to ask the
Secretary of State to call for tenders, through the Crown Agents for the Colonies, for a 5 kilowatt station" and would ask if the Hongkong Government is in a position to make any further statement on the subject and whether they can assure us that the desired steps are being taken to carry out this im-
-portant work.
As we are now situated the Hongkong Shipping Community is #till dependent upon such Merchant vessels equipped with wireless installations as may be in the Harbour for sending and receiving messages to and from ships at sea, and it not infrequently happens that for several days consecutively no such vessels are in Port.
Vessels to the South are thus entirely aut off from any
communication with Hongkong, while those to the lorth are