17.
404
Head 10 Harbour Department and Air Services.
As
There are certain re-groupings under Harbour Department which, while they complicate the departmental
Estimates for 1935, will simplify those of future years.
A large increase is shown in Special Expenditure but this is mainly due to the provision of launches and launch
engines for other departments such as the Police and the
Imports and Exports Department. It will be observed
that Sub-Head 20 New Launch to replace H.D. 1 $10,000 -
is a re-vote. The delay in construction is due to cer-
tain experiments which had to be carried out in the Model
Tankat The National Physics Laboratory at Teddington.
stated in the footnote to Sub-Head 25 the present boat at
Tai O has been condemned. A motor boat is essential for
patrolling and searching duty at Tai O and outlying dis- tricts including Tung Chung. The existing Police Launch
No.9 (Sub-Head 26) is now due for replacement,
built in 1922 at a Chinese Yard and purchased from stock,
the boiler only being built to Government specification,
at a time of urgent necessity when piracy was rampant in
local waters. The launch has never been up to the
standard of the remainder of the fleet and has required
constant attention to maintain a reasonable state of
efficiency. The existing No.1 Police Launch, the replace-
ment of which is provided under Sub-Head 27, is a wooden
vessel built in 1900. It is not equipped with wireless
telegraphy and has ceased to be seaworthy in other than
fair weather. Provision was made in the Estimates for
It was