54403/15/51.
Dr Herklots.
6
Wa
might have had some
Spoke. You
Bunt. If you have had it would perhaps
be preferable to approach
throught you
contact with Mu
lim senin-oficially?
с
15/1/51
Key in 4.9.7.
view
4/2
Mr. Fairclough.
I have made some enquiries.
When Dr. Van de Linde (Medical Officer, New Territories, Hong Kong) was on leave in this country last year he saw Mr. Brunt in May and subsequently had talks with both
Dr. H.L. Richardson and with Dr. E.M. Crowther. It is quite clear therefore that the Governor's suggestion that Mr. Brunt should go to Hong Kong has resulted from Dr. Van de Linde's advice. The Mitchell Engineering Company is a highly reputable firm.
I am given to understand that the amount of compost that is being manufactured in this country nowadays from city waste is negligible because a high proportion of city waste is salvaged. In any case experience of disposal of city garbage in temperate countries cannot be directly applicable to the tropics. The objective in Hong Kong is not the economic disposal of wastes but the production of high-grade fertilizer for agriculture. The city wastes of Hong Kong are very different in character from those in this country.
I think that it would be better for an official letter to be sent to Mr. Brunt rather than a private one from me, and that it should refer to the Governor's request and should include the suggestion that, in the first place, perhaps Mr. Brunt would like to come round to the Office for discus- sion with you and me when he could be given a picture of the problem and of the objective. Later it might be advisable for him to meet Dr. Richardson, late of China and now of the Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, who knows a great deal about the disposal of urban wastes in China; and Dr. Crowther of Rothamsted who is the leading authority in this country from the agricultural point of view.
Incidentally, I am informed that Dr. James C. Scott (see (15) in 19934/69/17/49) is not returning to his old post in China and is now looking for a job, also that he has a book nearly ready for the press on the utilization of nightsoil etc. based on his long experience in China. name should not be forgotten in case Hong Kong would later like to appoint a man to run this show.
His
Gal Hakke
17th January, 1951.