TELEPHONE No 2188 LONDON WALL.
TELEGRAPHIC Appress ́OAKENPIN, Ave London.
China &
51
& Japan Telephone & Electric CoʻL'd
Alderman's House.
Alderman's Walh Brishopsgate.
London.
BC
21st February 1916.
8372
The Under-Secretary of State,
Colonial Office,
London, S. W.
REC (REG: 22 16
SIT,
Mr. Charles Hatt who is in our employment at Hongkong as a
telephone inspector and line foreman, has been on leave for the
last few months and is now in this country. He proposes to leave
England en route for Hongkong by the 8.8."Katori Maru" sailing
about the 22nd proximo. In view of the present situation, and
as Mr. Hatt is of military age, we understand that it will be
necessary to obtain your authority for Mr. Hatt to return to
Hongkong, and we therefore beg to apply for the necessary authori-
sation.
The telephone service in Hongkong and the adjacent territory
of Kowloon is carried on under the supervision of 4 Europeans, of
whom Mr. Hatt is one, with the assistance of a large staff of
Chinese and Eurasian employees, As Hongkong is such an important
Naval and Military centre, the proper upkeep of the telephone
service is a matter of importance to the local authorities, and
it is therefore important that Mr. Hatt should be allowed to return
to Hongkong and resume the discharge of his duties there. Com-
petent men are in any case extremely difficult to get, and it
would at this juncture be almost impossible to replace Mr. Hatt
certainly it would be impossible to get a man having his technical
-
!