M 8
housing accommodation for the Chinese is still in excess of the supply.
The Colony has several times since 1911 been subjected to the influx of many thousands of Chinese seeking refuge from disturbances in their own country and of these not a few appear to remain after the majority have returned to China.
In connection with anti-plague measures to keep rats as much as possible out of houses 111 ground surfaces have been cemented in Victoria and 27 in Kowloon (124 and 46 in 1916) whilst 496 buildings have had rat-runs filled with cement in Victoria and 487 in Kowloon (261 and 559 respectively in 1916).
Permits for the use of three basements for workshops, and one for use as a shop, were issued.
Obstructions have been removed from backyards in 26 houses in Victoria and 2 in Kowloon (38 and 7 in 1916).
5,229 notices were issued for the abatement of sanitary nuisances in Victoria (7,110 in 1916) and 1,458 in Kowloon (1,559 in 1916); while 2,335 and 303 represent the number of notices for the prevention of nuisances, in contravention of the Buildings Ordinance, in Victoria and Kowloon (2,120 and 475 respectively in 1916).
Notices prohibiting the breeding of mosquitoes were served to the number of 38 in Victoria and 15 in Kowloon (136 and 11 in 1916).
Other sanitary improvements have been carried out by the Public Works Department during the year, including additional nullah training to the extent of 10,383 feet, (6,670 in 1916), and scavenging lanes have been provided to the extent of 2,792 feet.
METEOROLOGICAL RETURNS.
The following table gives the meteorological data recorded by the Royal Observatory during the year:
Month Barometer at M.S.L. TEMPERATURE HUMIDITY Cloudiness Sunshine WIND Rain Max. Mean. Min Rel. Abs. hours Direction. Vel. ins. January 30.24 60.7 | 65.8 51.7 63 0.29 72 169.9 ENE 11.0 0.345 February 30.13 64.4 | 59.4 55.3 66 0.37 184.5 E by N 12.9 0.405 March 30.00 65.9 | 61.6 68.4 0.43 116.9 E by N 14.2 2.670 April 29.89 78.5 | 69.4 66.4 0.63 76.9 5.230 May 78.- June 29.69 85.4¦ 81.1 77.7 83 0.72 168.6 E by S 9.9 9.685 July 29.76 -7.21 82,0–78,3 $3 0.90 SU August 82,0 83 0.90 167.8 S by W 8.3 11.540 September 29.86 86.6 82,0 78.1 77 0.85 50 October 29.95 81.3 77,0 : 78.8 78 0.63 38 November 30.12 72.7 | 68,2, 64.7 60 0.43 56 189.5 SE by S 8,8 0.095 December 30,16 63.7 59,2 55.2 60 | | | | 0.32 43 239.6 ssir 1.140 Mean or Total 29.96 75.6 71.0 67.4 75 0.62 63 2187.2 E by S 11.2 81.485