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(copy)
To
His Excellency
Sir Henry May, K.C.H.G.,
Governor of Hongkong
gir,
Hongkong, 28th March,1917
40
:
*
Since I had the honour of addressing Your Excellency on the 16th instant, the Cheong Yue 8.8.Co.,Ltd. has been informed by the Naval Authorities through its Marine Buper- intendents, Messrs Carmichael & Clarke, that its third and remaining steamer the "Singaporean" would also be required by the Imperial Government. This intimation was received by my Company with surprise and consternation: surprise, because the order should have come after two out of three of our boats had already been taken and after the very strong appeals made to Your Excellency and the Commodore for the release of one of the two requisitioned ships; consternation, because the requi- sitioning of the "Singaporean" would mean the financial ruin- ation of the Company.
All the three steamers owned by the Company were just out of the docks after their annual repairs, when the order for their requisitioning came from the Naval Authorities. These repairs cost about $100,000 and have not yet been paid for.
If the Company were deprived of the earning power of the
"Bingaporean" in addition to its other two boats, it will have
absolutely no means of paying for the repairs, and of