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Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841–1941
COLONIAL REPORTS--ANNUAL.
(c.) —CLIMATE.
The mean shade temperature for the year at the Royal Observatory, Kowloon (108 feet above mean sea level), was 73°.4, 1°.5 higher than in 1913, and 1°.3 higher than the mean for the past 10 years. The maximum temperature was 94°.0 on the 31st August and the minimum 47°.4 on the 1st January. The hottest month was August, with a mean temperature of 82°.3 and the coldest, January, with a mean temperature of 62°.8.
The temperature at the high levels of the Peak District is from 3° to 8° less than at the Observatory. At Victoria it is practically the same. The rainfall and humidity are considerably greater at the Peak than at Victoria, the Observatory, or Tai Po (New Territories).
The total rainfall for the year was 100.21 inches, as compared with an average of 82.73 inches during the ten preceding years. The wettest month was July, with 26.30 inches, the driest, January, when no rain fell. The greatest amount of rain which fell on any one day was 5.25 inches on the 22nd June, while no rain fell on 219 days of the year. The mean relative humidity of the atmosphere for the year was 78 per cent., or the same as for the ten preceding years. The average daily amount of sunshine was 5.6 hours, being 46 per cent. of the possible duration.
X.—POSTAL SERVICE.
The total revenue from the Postal Service in 1914 amounted to $398,426.38 being $41,573.62 less than the amount estimated. The revenue from the sale of Postage Stamps in 1913 amounted to $397,083.40 and that for 1914 to $355,018.05, a decrease of $42,065.35, which is attributed to the dislocation of business and the diminished number of vessels sailing out of the Colony on account of the war. The expenditure in 1914 amounted to $371,646.06. The result of the year's postal transactions shows a credit balance of $26,780.32.
A branch Post Office was opened in the Saiyingpun district on the 1st May and is meeting a long-felt want.
The mails sent from London by the trans-Siberian route have been very erratic since the outbreak of hostilities, taking 30 to 35 days in transit against 19 days during the antebellum period.
XI.—GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
1. The condition of the Province of Kwangtung improved considerably during the year, though the Government found difficulty in suppressing the numerous robber bands which, owing to the disbandment of many soldiers who had been enrolled during the revolution...