1884 — Page 158

The user wants me to proofread OCR output of a historical document about pensions in Hong Kong. The text appears to be a table with columns: Date from which the Pension has been paid, Service for which the Pension was granted, Amount of Emolument when last employed in Public Service, Present Age of Pensioner, Cause of Retirement, and Remarks.

I need to reconstruct this as a proper Markdown table. The OCR has many errors: broken lines, misaligned columns, garbled text, wrong characters (like "Einolument" for "Emolument", "Gonoral" for "General", "Surgoon" for "Surgeon", "Juno" for "June", "Novombor" for "November", "Notion Surver" for "Notion Surveyor"? Actually "Notion Surver" might be "Notion Surveyor" or "Naval Surveyor"? Let's examine.

The data seems to be a list of pensioners with dates, positions, amounts, ages, causes. The OCR has mixed up rows and columns. I need to parse each row.

Let's list the lines as they appear:

(1 87) PENSIONS.

Date from which the Pension

has been paid.

Service for which the Pension was granted.

Amount of Einolument

when last

employed in

Present Age of Pensioner.

Cause of Retirement.

Public Service.

$ C.

20th May,

Postmaster General,........

3,840.00

Unknown.

Ill health.

1861.

16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -

1861.

3,360.00

>

"

28th April, 1865.

Surveyor General,

4,800.00

"

14th May, 1966.

Colonial Chaplain,

3,840.00

"

J

9th October, 1869.

First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,

1,920,00

•

E

19th April, 1872.

Colonial Surgoon,

4,221,00

19

20th Juno, 1874.

Sorter, General Post Office,

1,200,00

64

Retiremont from Service.

25th April,

1876.

Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,

6,280,00 Unknown.

Ill boulth.

1st March, 1877.

Wardon of Victoria Gaol,

1,192.-40

"

4th Novombor, 1878.

Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,

8,400,00

#

1st February, 1880.

Chinese Teacher, Government School,

210,00

"

1st Juno, 1880.

Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ

Polico Cours,

1,533.00

D

"

29th October, 1880.

18th July, 1880.

Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,

1,200.00

55

"

First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................

1,920.00

48

18th November,

Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,

480.00

46

#

1880.

1st March, 1881.

Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ...................................

240.00

71

t

*

1st March, 1883.

Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol,

420.00

61

Isa dècade

1st April, 1883,

Chief Inspector of Nuisances..............

910,00

35

18th April, 1884.

First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy

Registrar of Marringus,

2,100.00

61

REMARKS. Nth

This is messy. The table likely has 6 columns: Date, Service, Amount ($ C.), Age, Cause, Remarks.

But the OCR has split each row across multiple lines. I need to reconstruct rows.

Let's identify each pension entry. The first entry: "20th May, 1861." then "Postmaster General,........" then "3,840.00" then "Unknown." then "Ill health." That seems like a row: Date: 20th May 1861, Service: Postmaster General, Amount: $3,840.00, Age: Unknown, Cause: Ill health, Remarks: (blank). The "1861." appears on a separate line after "20th May," but it's part of the date.

Second entry: "16th September, 1861." then "Assistant Magistrate, -" then "3,360.00" then ">" then """"? Actually there's a ">" and then a line with just """". Might be a ditto mark for "Ill health"? The ">" might be a misread of a ditto mark. The next line "28th April, 1865." starts a new entry.

Third entry: "28th April, 1865." then "Surveyor General," then "4,800.00" then """ (ditto) then "14th May, 1966." Wait, "14th May, 1966." seems like a date for next entry? But 1966 is far future; likely a typo for 1866. Then "Colonial Chaplain," then "3,840.00" then """ then "J" then "9th October, 1869." That seems like another entry.

Let's parse systematically. The OCR text includes column headers at top. Then data rows. Each row seems to have: Date (maybe two lines: day month, year), Service (maybe multiple lines), Amount, Age, Cause, Remarks.

But the OCR has lost the table structure. I need to reconstruct based on typical patterns.

Let's write out the lines sequentially with line numbers:

1. (1 87) PENSIONS.

2.

1. Date from which the Pension
2. has been paid.

5.

1. Service for which the Pension was granted.

7.

1. Amount of Einolument
2. when last
3. employed in

11.

1. Present Age of Pensioner.

13.

1. Cause of Retirement.

15.

1. Public Service.

17.

1. $ C.

19.

1. 20th May,
2. Postmaster General,........
3. 3,840.00
4. Unknown.
5. Ill health.
6. 1861.

26.

1. 16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -
2. 1861.
3. 3,360.00
4. >
5. "

32.

1. 28th April, 1865.
2. Surveyor General,
3. 4,800.00
4. "
5. 14th May, 1966.
6. Colonial Chaplain,
7. 3,840.00
8. "
9. J
10. 9th October, 1869.
11. First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,
12. 1,920,00
13. •
14. E
15. 19th April, 1872.
16. Colonial Surgoon,
17. 4,221,00
18. 19
19. 20th Juno, 1874.
20. Sorter, General Post Office,
21. 1,200,00
22. 64
23. Retiremont from Service.
24. 25th April,
25. 1876.
26. Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,
27. 6,280,00 Unknown.
28. Ill boulth.
29. 1st March, 1877.
30. Wardon of Victoria Gaol,
31. 1,192.-40
32. "
33. 4th Novombor, 1878.
34. Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,
35. 8,400,00
36. #
37. 1st February, 1880.
38. Chinese Teacher, Government School,
39. 210,00
40. "
41. 1st Juno, 1880.
42. Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ
43. Polico Cours,
44. 1,533.00
45. D
46. "
47. 29th October, 1880.
48. 18th July, 1880.
49. Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,
50. 1,200.00
51. 55
52. "
53. First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................
54. 1,920.00
55. 48
56. 18th November,
57. Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,
58. 480.00
59. 46
60. #
61. 1880.
62. 1st March, 1881.
63. Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ...................................
64. 240.00
65. 71
66. t
67. *
68. 1st March, 1883.
69. Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol,
70. 420.00
71. 61
72. Isa dècade
73. 1st April, 1883,
74. Chief Inspector of Nuisances..............
75. 910,00
76. 35
77. 18th April, 1884.
78. First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy
79. Registrar of Marringus,
80. 2,100.00
81. 61
82. REMARKS. Nth

This is a mess. The OCR likely read a two-page table. The columns might be: Date, Service, Amount, Age, Cause, Remarks. But the data is interleaved.

Let's think: The original document is probably a list of pensioners with those columns. Each row: Date pension started, Service/Position, Amount of emolument, Age, Cause of retirement, Remarks.

The OCR has mixed up the order because of column scanning. Perhaps the table was printed with columns side by side, and OCR read left-to-right across columns? But the text seems to be in a single column of lines, but with line breaks within cells.

Better approach: Recognize that each pension entry starts with a date. The dates appear at lines: 20-25 (20th May, 1861), 27-28 (16th September, 1861), 33 (28th April, 1865), 37 (14th May, 1966), 42 (9th October, 1869), 47 (19th April, 1872), 51 (20th Juno, 1874), 56-57 (25th April, 1876), 61 (1st March, 1877), 65 (4th Novombor, 1878), 69 (1st February, 1880), 73 (1st Juno, 1880), 79 (29th October, 1880), 80 (18th July, 1880), 88 (18th November, 1880), 93 (1880? maybe continuation), 94 (1st March, 1881), 100 (1st March, 1883), 105 (1st April, 1883), 109 (18th April, 1884).

But some dates are split across lines (e.g., "20th May," then "1861." later). Also there are stray lines like "J", "•", "E", "D", "#", "t", "*", "Isa dècade", "Nth". These are likely OCR artifacts from lines, dots, or misread characters.

We need to reconstruct each row by grouping lines that belong together.

Let's attempt to parse each entry:

Entry 1:

• Date: 20th May 1861 (lines 20, 25)
• Service: Postmaster General (line 21)
• Amount: 3,840.00 (line 22)
• Age: Unknown (line 23)
• Cause: Ill health (line 24)
• Remarks: (blank)

Entry 2:

• Date: 16th September 1861 (lines 27, 28)
• Service: Assistant Magistrate (line 27)
• Amount: 3,360.00 (line 29)
• Age: > (line 30) maybe ditto for Unknown? Or maybe age is ">"? Could be a misread of "Unknown"? But line 31 is a ditto mark """ which might indicate same as above (Ill health). So Age might be "Unknown" again? But line 30 is ">" which could be a misread of "Unknown"? Actually ">" might be a symbol for "ditto"? Not sure. The next line 31 is """ which likely means same cause as previous (Ill health). So Age might be missing? Let's see original: maybe Age column is "Unknown" for both. The OCR might have misread "Unknown" as ">"? But line 23 is "Unknown." for first entry. For second entry, age might be "Unknown" but OCR gave ">" and then a ditto for cause. We'll assume Age: Unknown, Cause: Ill health (ditto). Remarks: blank.

Entry 3:

• Date: 28th April 1865 (line 33)
• Service: Surveyor General (line 34)
• Amount: 4,800.00 (line 35)
• Age: " (ditto) (line 36) -> Unknown
• Cause: ? Next line 37 is "14th May, 1966." which is a date for next entry. So maybe cause is missing? Or the ditto for cause? But line 36 is a ditto for age? Actually line 36 is a single double quote, which often means "ditto" for the previous column. In tables, ditto marks repeat the value from the row above for that column. So line 36 under Age column would repeat "Unknown". Then line 37 is a new date, so that starts a new row. But then line 38 "Colonial Chaplain," line 39 "3,840.00", line 40 """ (ditto for age?), line 41 "J", line 42 "9th October, 1869." This is confusing.

Maybe the table has multiple columns and the OCR read them in a zigzag. Let's consider the possibility that the original table had two columns per page? Or the OCR read the table column by column? The header lines: "Date from which the Pension has been paid." "Service for which the Pension was granted." "Amount of Emolument when last employed in Public Service." "Present Age of Pensioner." "Cause of Retirement." "REMARKS." That's six columns.

The data might be arranged in rows. The OCR output seems to have the first column (Date) then second column (Service) then third (Amount) then fourth (Age) then fifth (Cause) then sixth (Remarks). But the lines are interleaved because the OCR read the page line by line, but the table rows are horizontal. However, the OCR output shows a sequence of lines that seem to be the first column entries, then second column entries, etc. But not exactly.

Let's look at the lines after the headers. The first data line is "20th May," then "Postmaster General,........" then "3,840.00" then "Unknown." then "Ill health." then "1861." That looks like a complete row but with the year separated. Then next line "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" then "1861." then "3,360.00" then ">" then """ then "28th April, 1865." So after the first row, the next row starts with "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" which includes both date and service? Actually "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" might be two columns: Date and Service. Then "1861." is the year? But the date already includes year? Wait, "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" then next line "1861." That suggests the date column might be split: day month, then year on next line. But the first entry had "20th May," then later "1861." So yes, the date column might be two lines: day month, then year.

Then after "1861." we have "3,360.00" (amount), then ">" (age?), then """ (cause?), then "28th April, 1865." (next date). So the second row: Date: 16th September 1861, Service: Assistant Magistrate, Amount: 3,360.00, Age: > (maybe Unknown), Cause: " (ditto for Ill health), Remarks: blank.

Third row: Date: 28th April 1865, Service: Surveyor General, Amount: 4,800.00, Age: " (ditto), Cause: ? Next line is "14th May, 1966." which is a date for next row. So cause might be missing or ditto? But there is a line "14th May, 1966." then "Colonial Chaplain," then "3,840.00" then """ then "J" then "9th October, 1869." So the third row might have cause blank? Actually the pattern: after amount, there is a ditto for age, then the next line is a new date. So cause and remarks might be empty for that row.

But then "14th May, 1966." starts a new row: Date: 14th May 1866 (assuming 1966 is typo for 1866), Service: Colonial Chaplain, Amount: 3,840.00, Age: " (ditto), Cause: "J"? That doesn't make sense. "J" might be a misread of something else. Then next date "9th October, 1869." So maybe the "J" is actually part of the cause? Or a stray character.

Let's look at the original source. This might be from the Hong Kong Blue Book or similar. The pension list for 1887? The header "(1 87) PENSIONS." suggests page 187? Or year 1887.

Given the difficulty, perhaps the best is to reconstruct the table as best as possible, correcting obvious OCR errors, and preserving the data as it appears, but organizing into a Markdown table with the six columns.

We need to decide on the rows. Let's list all distinct dates that appear as start of a row:

1. 20th May 1861
2. 16th September 1861
3. 28th April 1865
4. 14th May 1866 (corrected from 1966)
5. 9th October 1869
6. 19th April 1872
7. 20th June 1874 (Juno -> June)
8. 25th April 1876
9. 1st March 1877
10. 4th November 1878 (Novombor -> November)
11. 1st February 1880
12. 1st June 1880 (Juno -> June)
13. 29th October 1880
14. 18th July 1880 (appears after 29th Oct? Actually line 80 is "18th July, 1880." but line 79 is "29th October, 1880." Might be two entries on same line? Or maybe the table has two columns of dates? Let's see: line 79 "29th October, 1880." line 80 "18th July, 1880." line 81 "Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office," line 82 "1,200.00" line 83 "55" line 84 """ line 85 "First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................" line 86 "1,920.00" line 87 "48" line 88 "18th November," line 89 "Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury," line 90 "480.00" line 91 "46" line 92 "#" line 93 "1880." This is messy.

Maybe the table has two sub-columns? Or the OCR read two pages side by side.

Given the instruction: "Reconstruct the table using Markdown table syntax." I need to produce a table with the data. I'll do my best to parse each pensioner entry.

Let's try to group by the pattern: Date, Service, Amount, Age, Cause, Remarks.

We'll go through the lines sequentially and assign to columns.

I'll write a script mentally, but let's do manually.

We have the header columns:

1. Date from which the Pension has been paid.
2. Service for which the Pension was granted.
3. Amount of Emolument when last employed in Public Service. ($ C.)
4. Present Age of Pensioner.
5. Cause of Retirement.
6. Remarks.

Now, the data lines after "$ C." (line 18) start at line 20.

I'll create a list of tokens per line, but lines may contain multiple columns.

Better: The OCR likely read the table row by row, but with line breaks within cells. So each row may span multiple lines. The first row seems to span lines 20-25. Second row lines 27-31. Third row lines 33-36. Fourth row lines 37-41. Fifth row lines 42-46. Sixth row lines 47-50. Seventh row lines 51-55. Eighth row lines 56-60. Ninth row lines 61-64. Tenth row lines 65-68. Eleventh row lines 69-72. Twelfth row lines 73-78. Thirteenth row lines 79-84. Fourteenth row lines 85-87. Fifteenth row lines 88-92. Sixteenth row lines 93-97. Seventeenth row lines 100-104. Eighteenth row lines 105-108. Nineteenth row lines 109-113.

But the line numbers are not exactly aligned.

Let's try to parse each row as a block separated by a blank line? The OCR text doesn't have blank lines between rows. But there are some blank lines in the provided text? The user input has blank lines. Let's look at the raw input: It has line breaks. The user pasted the OCR output with line breaks. There are blank lines between some lines. For example, after "1861." there is a blank line before "16th September,". After "Ill health." there is a blank line? Actually the user input shows:

"20th May,

Postmaster General,........

3,840.00

Unknown.

Ill health.

1861.

16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -

1861.

3,360.00

>

"

28th April, 1865.

Surveyor General,

4,800.00

"

14th May, 1966.

Colonial Chaplain,

3,840.00

"

J

9th October, 1869.

First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,

1,920,00

•

E

19th April, 1872.

Colonial Surgoon,

4,221,00

19

20th Juno, 1874.

Sorter, General Post Office,

1,200,00

64

Retiremont from Service.

25th April,

1876.

Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,

6,280,00 Unknown.

Ill boulth.

1st March, 1877.

Wardon of Victoria Gaol,

1,192.-40

"

4th Novombor, 1878.

Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,

8,400,00

#

1st February, 1880.

Chinese Teacher, Government School,

210,00

"

1st Juno, 1880.

Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ

Polico Cours,

1,533.00

D

"

29th October, 1880.

18th July, 1880.

Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,

1,200.00

55

"

First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................

1,920.00

48

18th November,

Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,

480.00

46

#

1880.

1st March, 1881.

Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ...................................

240.00

71

t

*

1st March, 1883.

Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol,

420.00

61

Isa dècade

1st April, 1883,

Chief Inspector of Nuisances..............

910,00

35

18th April, 1884.

First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy

Registrar of Marringus,

2,100.00

61

REMARKS. Nth"

There are blank lines in the user message? Actually the user message is a single block of text with line breaks. In the markdown rendering, it's shown as separate lines. But there are empty lines? Let's check: After "1861." there is a blank line? In the text above, there is a blank line before "16th September,"? In the user message, it's shown as a new line but not necessarily blank. The user message is:

"(1 87) PENSIONS.

Date from which the Pension

has been paid.

Service for which the Pension was granted.

Amount of Einolument

when last

employed in

Present Age of Pensioner.

Cause of Retirement.

Public Service.

$ C.

20th May,

Postmaster General,........

3,840.00

Unknown.

Ill health.

1861.

16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -

1861.

3,360.00

>

"

28th April, 1865.

Surveyor General,

4,800.00

"

14th May, 1966.

Colonial Chaplain,

3,840.00

"

J

9th October, 1869.

First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,

1,920,00

•

E

19th April, 1872.

Colonial Surgoon,

4,221,00

19

20th Juno, 1874.

Sorter, General Post Office,

1,200,00

64

Retiremont from Service.

25th April,

1876.

Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,

6,280,00 Unknown.

Ill boulth.

1st March, 1877.

Wardon of Victoria Gaol,

1,192.-40

"

4th Novombor, 1878.

Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,

8,400,00

#

1st February, 1880.

Chinese Teacher, Government School,

210,00

"

1st Juno, 1880.

Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ

Polico Cours,

1,533.00

D

"

29th October, 1880.

18th July, 1880.

Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,

1,200.00

55

"

First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................

1,920.00

48

18th November,

Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,

480.00

46

#

1880.

1st March, 1881.

Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ...................................

240.00

71

t

*

1st March, 1883.

Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol,

420.00

61

Isa dècade

1st April, 1883,

Chief Inspector of Nuisances..............

910,00

35

18th April, 1884.

First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy

Registrar of Marringus,

2,100.00

61

REMARKS. Nth"

There are no blank lines between entries. So it's a continuous stream.

Given the complexity, perhaps the best is to present the data as a table with the rows as they can be discerned, correcting obvious OCR errors (like "Einolument" -> "Emolument", "Gonoral" -> "General", "Surgoon" -> "Surgeon", "Juno" -> "June", "Novombor" -> "November", "Wardon" -> "Warden", "Clork" -> "Clerk", "Cathoiral" -> "Cathedral", "thoĮ" -> "the", "Polico Cours" -> "Police Courts", "Notion Surver" -> "Naval Surveyor"? Or "Notion Surveyor"? Might be "Naval Surveyor". "Fist Class" -> "First Class", "Grol" -> "Gaol", "Isa dècade" -> maybe "Isa decade"? Could be "Isa decade" is a remark? "Marringus" -> "Marriages", "Offen" -> "Office", "Clark" -> "Clerk". Also "Retiremont" -> "Retirement". "Ill boulth" -> "Ill health". "Offico" -> "Office". "Harbour Master's Offico" -> "Harbour Master's Office". "Colonial Chaplain" etc.

Also numbers: "1,920,00" -> "1,920.00", "4,221,00" -> "4,221.00", "1,200,00" -> "1,200.00", "6,280,00" -> "6,280.00", "1,192.-40" -> "1,192.40", "8,400,00" -> "8,400.00", "210,00" -> "210.00", "1,533.00" ok, "480.00" ok, "240.00" ok, "420.00" ok, "910,00" -> "910.00", "2,100.00" ok.

Ages: "Unknown.", ">", """ (ditto), "19", "64", "55", "48", "46", "71", "61", "35", "61". Some ages are numbers, some "Unknown". The ">" might be a misread of "Unknown"? But ">" appears only once. The """ is a ditto mark meaning same as above. In the table, we should replace ditto marks with the actual value from previous row.

Cause of retirement: "Ill health.", """ (ditto), "Retiremont from Service.", "Ill boulth." (Ill health), """ (ditto), """ (ditto), "D" (maybe "Death"?), """ (ditto), """ (ditto), "t", "*", "Isa dècade", (none for last?). The last row has no cause? The line "REMARKS. Nth" at end.

Remarks column: The header "REMARKS." appears at the end. The data might have remarks in the last column. But the OCR doesn't clearly separate remarks. There are some stray characters like "J", "•", "E", "D", "#", "t", "*", "Isa dècade", "Nth". These might be remarks or artifacts.

Given the instruction: "If data is clearly in table format, reconstruct the table using Markdown table syntax." I need to produce a table. I'll do my best to create a table with the six columns, filling in data for each pensioner.

Let's list the pensioners in order as they appear:

1. 20th May 1861 - Postmaster General - $3,840.00 - Unknown - Ill health - (no remark)
2. 16th September 1861 - Assistant Magistrate - $3,360.00 - Unknown - Ill health - (no remark)
3. 28th April 1865 - Surveyor General - $4,800.00 - Unknown - (cause?) - (remark?)
4. 14th May 1866 - Colonial Chaplain - $3,840.00 - Unknown - (cause?) - (remark?)
5. 9th October 1869 - First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office - $1,920.00 - ? - ? - ?
6. 19th April 1872 - Colonial Surgeon - $4,221.00 - 19 - ? - ?
7. 20th June 1874 - Sorter, General Post Office - $1,200.00 - 64 - Retirement from Service - ?
8. 25th April 1876 - Postmaster General, and Collector of Stamp Revenue - $6,280.00 - Unknown - Ill health - ?
9. 1st March 1877 - Warden of Victoria Gaol - $1,192.40 - ? - (ditto?) - ?
10. 4th November 1878 - Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General - $8,400.00 - ? - ? - ?
11. 1st February 1880 - Chinese Teacher, Government School - $210.00 - ? - (ditto?) - ?
12. 1st June 1880 - Clerk and Sexton of Cathedral, and Usher in the Police Courts - $1,533.00 - ? - ? - ?
13. 29th October 1880 - Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office - $1,200.00 - 55 - (ditto?) - ?
14. 18th July 1880 - First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office - $1,920.00 - 48 - (ditto?) - ?
15. 18th November 1880 - Naval Surveyor, Colonial Treasury - $480.00 - 46 - ? - ?
16. 1st March 1881 - Chinese Teacher, Central School - $240.00 - 71 - ? - ?
17. 1st March 1883 - First Class Assistant Turnkey, Gaol - $420.00 - 61 - ? - ?
18. 1st April 1883 - Chief Inspector of Nuisances - $910.00 - 35 - ? - ?
19. 18th April 1884 - First Clerk, Registrar General's Office, and Deputy Registrar of Marriages - $2,100.00 - 61 - ? - ?

But we have 19 entries? The OCR shows up to 18th April 1884.

Now, we need to fill missing columns. The ditto marks (") indicate repetition of the previous row's value for that column. So we can propagate.

Let's process row by row with ditto resolution.

We'll create a list of rows with raw columns as they appear in the text sequence. But the text sequence is not clearly column-separated. However, we can assume the order of columns in each row is: Date, Service, Amount, Age, Cause, Remarks. The OCR seems to output them in that order for the first row. For the first row, we have:

• Date: "20th May," and "1861." (two lines)
• Service: "Postmaster General,........"
• Amount: "3,840.00"
• Age: "Unknown."
• Cause: "Ill health."
• Remarks: (none)

Second row:

• Date: "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" and "1861." (but "Assistant Magistrate" is service, not date). Actually the line "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" seems to combine date and service. Then "1861." is year. So Date: "16th September 1861", Service: "Assistant Magistrate".
• Amount: "3,360.00"
• Age: ">" (maybe "Unknown" but OCR error)
• Cause: """ (ditto for "Ill health")
• Remarks: (none)

Third row:

• Date: "28th April, 1865."
• Service: "Surveyor General,"
• Amount: "4,800.00"
• Age: """ (ditto for Unknown)
• Cause: (next line is "14th May, 1966." which is next date) So cause missing? Maybe cause is also ditto? But there is no ditto mark. Could be blank.
• Remarks: (none)

Fourth row:

• Date: "14th May, 1966." (should be 1866)
• Service: "Colonial Chaplain,"
• Amount: "3,840.00"
• Age: """ (ditto)
• Cause: "J" (maybe a remark? Or cause? Could be "J" for something)
• Remarks: (next line "9th October, 1869." is next date)

Fifth row:

• Date: "9th October, 1869."
• Service: "First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,"
• Amount: "1,920,00"
• Age: "•" (bullet? maybe a number?)
• Cause: "E" (maybe "E" for something)
• Remarks: (next line "19th April, 1872." is next date)

Sixth row:

• Date: "19th April, 1872."
• Service: "Colonial Surgoon,"
• Amount: "4,221,00"
• Age: "19"
• Cause: (next line "20th Juno, 1874." is next date) So cause missing?
• Remarks: (none)

Seventh row:

• Date: "20th Juno, 1874."
• Service: "Sorter, General Post Office,"
• Amount: "1,200,00"
• Age: "64"
• Cause: "Retiremont from Service."
• Remarks: (next line "25th April," is next date)

Eighth row:

• Date: "25th April, 1876." (split across two lines)
• Service: "Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,"
• Amount: "6,280,00 Unknown." (here "Unknown." appears on same line as amount? Actually line: "6,280,00 Unknown." So amount and age combined? Then next line "Ill boulth." is cause.
• Age: "Unknown." (from that line)
• Cause: "Ill boulth." (Ill health)
• Remarks: (next line "1st March, 1877." is next date)

Ninth row:

• Date: "1st March, 1877."
• Service: "Wardon of Victoria Gaol,"
• Amount: "1,192.-40"
• Age: """ (ditto for Unknown? But previous age was Unknown, so ditto)
• Cause: (next line "4th Novombor, 1878." is next date) So cause missing? But there is a """ on line after amount? Actually line after amount is """ (line 64). That might be cause ditto? But cause previous was Ill health. So cause = Ill health.
• Remarks: (none)

Tenth row:

• Date: "4th Novombor, 1878."
• Service: "Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,"
• Amount: "8,400,00"
• Age: "#" (maybe a symbol for something)
• Cause: (next line "1st February, 1880." is next date) So cause missing?
• Remarks: (none)

Eleventh row:

• Date: "1st February, 1880."
• Service: "Chinese Teacher, Government School,"
• Amount: "210,00"
• Age: """ (ditto for #? or previous age? Previous age was #, but that's not a number. Maybe age is Unknown? But ditto might refer to previous row's age which was #? That doesn't make sense. Could be that "#" is a remark? Actually "#" might be a footnote mark. The age might be missing. The """ might be for cause? Let's see pattern: After amount, there is a line with """ then next date. In row 9, after amount there was """ then next date. That """ was under Age column? In row 9, the columns: Date, Service, Amount, Age, Cause, Remarks. The line after amount was """ which we interpreted as Age ditto. Then cause was missing. In row 10, after amount there is "#" then next date. So "#" might be Age? But "#" is not an age. Could be a misread of a number? Or a symbol for "Unknown"? In row 11, after amount there is """ then next date. So """ might be Age ditto from previous row's age? But previous row's age was "#". That seems unlikely.

Maybe the table has only five columns? But header shows six.

Let's look at the header again: "Date from which the Pension has been paid." "Service for which the Pension was granted." "Amount of Einolument when last employed in Public Service." "Present Age of Pensioner." "Cause of Retirement." "REMARKS." That's six.

The OCR output after "$ C." starts the data. The first row has 5 data lines after date? Actually first row: date (2 lines), service, amount, age, cause. That's 6 columns (date, service, amount, age, cause, remarks). Remarks empty.

Second row: date+service combined, year, amount, age, cause. That's 5 lines? But we have 5 lines after the combined line? Let's count lines for second row from the stream:

Lines:

"16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" (line 27)

"1861." (line 28)

"3,360.00" (line 29)

">" (line 30)

""" (line 31)

Then next line "28th April, 1865." (line 33) starts new row.

So second row has 5 lines after the first line? Actually the first line contains both date and service. Then year separate. Then amount, age, cause. That's 5 lines for 5 columns? But we need 6 columns. Remarks missing.

Third row:

"28th April, 1865." (line 33)

"Surveyor General," (line 34)

"4,800.00" (line 35)

""" (line 36)

Then next line "14th May, 1966." (line 37) new row.

So third row has 4 lines: date, service, amount, age. Cause and remarks missing.

Fourth row:

"14th May, 1966." (line 37)

"Colonial Chaplain," (line 38)

"3,840.00" (line 39)

""" (line 40)

"J" (line 41)

Then next line "9th October, 1869." (line 42) new row.

So fourth row: date, service, amount, age, cause? "J" might be cause. Remarks missing.

Fifth row:

"9th October, 1869." (line 42)

"First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico," (line 43)

"1,920,00" (line 44)

"•" (line 45)

"E" (line 46)

Then next line "19th April, 1872." (line 47) new row.

So fifth row: date, service, amount, age, cause. Remarks missing.

Sixth row:

"19th April, 1872." (line 47)

"Colonial Surgoon," (line 48)

"4,221,00" (line 49)

"19" (line 50)

Then next line "20th Juno, 1874." (line 51) new row.

So sixth row: date, service, amount, age. Cause and remarks missing.

Seventh row:

"20th Juno, 1874." (line 51)

"Sorter, General Post Office," (line 52)

"1,200,00" (line 53)

"64" (line 54)

"Retiremont from Service." (line 55)

Then next line "25th April," (line 56) new row.

So seventh row: date, service, amount, age, cause. Remarks missing.

Eighth row:

"25th April," (line 56)

"1876." (line 57)

"Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue," (line 58)

"6,280,00 Unknown." (line 59)

"Ill boulth." (line 60)

Then next line "1st March, 1877." (line 61) new row.

So eighth row: date (split), service, amount+age, cause. Remarks missing.

Ninth row:

"1st March, 1877." (line 61)

"Wardon of Victoria Gaol," (line 62)

"1,192.-40" (line 63)

""" (line 64)

Then next line "4th Novombor, 1878." (line 65) new row.

So ninth row: date, service, amount, age (ditto). Cause and remarks missing.

Tenth row:

"4th Novombor, 1878." (line 65)

"Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General," (line 66)

"8,400,00" (line 67)

"#" (line 68)

Then next line "1st February, 1880." (line 69) new row.

So tenth row: date, service, amount, age. Cause and remarks missing.

Eleventh row:

"1st February, 1880." (line 69)

"Chinese Teacher, Government School," (line 70)

"210,00" (line 71)

""" (line 72)

Then next line "1st Juno, 1880." (line 73) new row.

So eleventh row: date, service, amount, age (ditto). Cause and remarks missing.

Twelfth row:

"1st Juno, 1880." (line 73)

"Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ" (line 74)

"Polico Cours," (line 75)

"1,533.00" (line 76)

"D" (line 77)

""" (line 78)

Then next line "29th October, 1880." (line 79) new row.

So twelfth row: date, service (split across two lines), amount, age? "D" might be age? Or cause? Then """ might be cause ditto? But "D" could be "Dead" or "Death". The """ after "D" might be remarks ditto? Hard to know.

Thirteenth row:

"29th October, 1880." (line 79)

"18th July, 1880." (line 80)

"Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office," (line 81)

"1,200.00" (line 82)

"55" (line 83)

""" (line 84)

Then next line "First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................" (line 85) new row? But line 85 seems like another service entry. Actually line 85 might be the service for the next row, but there is no date before it. The date might be "18th July, 1880." which is line 80. So perhaps the thirteenth row has two dates? "29th October, 1880." and "18th July, 1880."? That seems like two entries. But the table might have two columns of data per page? Or the OCR read two columns side by side.

Look at lines 79-84:

"29th October, 1880."

"18th July, 1880."

"Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,"

"1,200.00"

"55"

"""

Then line 85: "First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................"

line 86: "1,920.00"

line 87: "48"

line 88: "18th November,"

line 89: "Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,"

line 90: "480.00"

line 91: "46"

line 92: "#"

line 93: "1880."

line 94: "1st March, 1881."

This suggests that after the twelfth row, the OCR started reading a second column of the table. The original table might have been two columns wide (like two pages side by side). The header might be repeated? But the header only appears once.

Given the complexity, perhaps the user expects me to output the text as a cleaned-up version preserving paragraphs, not necessarily a perfect table. But the instruction says: "If data is clearly in table format, reconstruct the table using Markdown table syntax." The data is clearly a table. I should attempt to reconstruct a single table with all rows.

Given the difficulty, I might produce a table with the rows I can clearly identify, and for the messy part, do my best.

Alternatively, I could output the text as a series of paragraphs? But the instruction says to use Markdown table syntax for tabular data.

Let's think: The OCR output is from a single page of a table. The table likely has 6 columns and many rows. The OCR read it line by line, but because the table spans two pages or two columns, the reading order is messed up.

Maybe the best is to present the data as a list of entries with the columns, acknowledging uncertainties.

But the user said: "Return the proofread text in standard Markdown: Use #, ##, ### for headers found in the original. Use bold for labels, titles, and emphasized text. Use Markdown table syntax to reconstruct tabular data."

So I should output a Markdown document with a header "PENSIONS" and then a table.

I'll create a table with columns: Date, Service, Amount ($), Age, Cause of Retirement, Remarks.

I'll populate with the 19 entries I identified, using ditto propagation.

Let's resolve ditto marks:

We'll go row by row in the order they appear in the text (which seems to be the order of the first column of the table). But the text order might be the correct row order.

Define rows in order of appearance of dates:

Row 1: 20th May 1861

Row 2: 16th September 1861

Row 3: 28th April 1865

Row 4: 14th May 1866

Row 5: 9th October 1869

Row 6: 19th April 1872

Row 7: 20th June 1874

Row 8: 25th April 1876

Row 9: 1st March 1877

Row 10: 4th November 1878

Row 11: 1st February 1880

Row 12: 1st June 1880

Row 13: 29th October 1880? But there is also 18th July 1880. Which comes first? The text shows "29th October, 1880." then "18th July, 1880." That might be two separate rows: one for 29th Oct, one for 18th July. But 18th July is earlier than 29th Oct. However, the table might not be strictly chronological. The order in the table might be by date of pension? The first rows are 1861, 1865, 1866, 1869, 1872, 1874, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1880, 1880, 1880, 1880, 1881, 1883, 1883, 1884. So there are multiple 1880 entries.

The text after row 12 (1st June 1880) shows "29th October, 1880." then "18th July, 1880." then "Overseer of Works..." then "First Clerk..." then "18th November..." then "1st March, 1881." So there are at least three 1880 entries: 1st Feb, 1st June, 29th Oct, 18th July, 18th Nov. That's five 1880 entries. But the text order: 1st Feb, 1st June, 29th Oct, 18th July, 18th Nov. That's not chronological. But maybe the table is grouped by department? Not sure.

I'll keep the order as they appear in the OCR text, as that likely reflects the original table order (maybe alphabetical by name? But we don't have names).

Let's list all entries in the order they appear in the OCR stream, each time a new date appears at the start of a line (or after a ditto). But the stream has dates appearing at lines: 20, 27, 33, 37, 42, 47, 51, 56, 61, 65, 69, 73, 79, 80, 88, 93, 94, 100, 105, 109. That's 20 dates. But some are not new rows (like 18th July 1880 appears after 29th Oct 1880, but might be a second column). The line 93 "1880." might be a continuation of 18th November? Actually line 88 "18th November," line 89 "Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury," line 90 "480.00" line 91 "46" line 92 "#" line 93 "1880." So that row's date is 18th November 1880. Good.

Line 79 "29th October, 1880." line 80 "18th July, 1880." line 81 "Overseer of Works..." This suggests two rows: one for 29th Oct, one for 18th July. But they are interleaved? Actually line 79 is a date, line 80 is another date, line 81 is a service. Which service belongs to which date? Possibly the table has two columns: left column and right column. The OCR read left column top to bottom, then right column top to bottom. So the first column contains rows 1-12 (up to 1st June 1880), and the second column contains rows 13 onward starting with 29th Oct 1880, 18th July 1880, etc. But the header only appears once.

Given the instruction to reconstruct the table, I think we should combine all rows into a single table in the order they appear in the original document. Since we don't have the original, we can present the rows in the order they appear in the OCR text, but that might be the correct order if the table is single column. However, the appearance of two dates in a row (29th Oct and 18th July) suggests a two-column layout.

Let's examine the original source: "(1 87) PENSIONS." This might be page 187 of the Hong Kong Blue Book for 1887. The Blue Book often has a table of pensioners. It might be a single table spanning two pages. The OCR might have scanned two pages as one image, causing two columns to be read left-to-right across the gutter.

But the user gave a single block of text. As a proofreader, I should correct the text flow and present it as a single table. I'll assume the table is a single list of pensioners. The order in the text might be the correct order if we ignore the column issue. But the text has "29th October, 1880." then "18th July, 1880." then "Overseer of Works..." then "First Clerk..." then "18th November..." This could be three rows:

• 29th Oct 1880: Overseer of Works...
• 18th July 1880: First Clerk...
• 18th Nov 1880: Notion Surver...

But the dates are out of order. However, the table might be sorted by name or office, not date.

Given the ambiguity, I'll treat each date as a separate row and assign the following service, amount, age, cause based on the subsequent lines until the next date.

Let's parse the stream sequentially with a state machine: When we see a date pattern (e.g., "20th May," or "28th April, 1865."), we start a new row. Then we read lines for service, amount, age, cause, remarks until next date.

But the lines are not clearly separated. However, we can use the fact that after a date, the next line is service, then amount, then age, then cause, then remarks. But the number of lines per row varies.

Given the time, I'll produce a table with the rows I can clearly parse, and for the messy later part, I'll do my best.

I'll write the Markdown table with the following rows (in order of appearance in the text, but combining the two-column issue by taking the dates in the order they appear: 20th May 1861, 16th Sep 1861, 28th Apr 1865, 14th May 1866, 9th Oct 1869, 19th Apr 1872, 20th Jun 1874, 25th Apr 1876, 1st Mar 1877, 4th Nov 1878, 1st Feb 1880, 1st Jun 1880, 29th Oct 1880, 18th Jul 1880, 18th Nov 1880, 1st Mar 1881, 1st Mar 1883, 1st Apr 1883, 18th Apr 1884.

That's 19 rows.

Now assign data:

Row1: Date: 20th May 1861, Service: Postmaster General, Amount: $3,840.00, Age: Unknown, Cause: Ill health, Remarks:

Row2: Date: 16th September 1861, Service: Assistant Magistrate, Amount: $3,360.00, Age: Unknown (ditto), Cause: Ill health (ditto), Remarks:

Row3: Date: 28th April 1865, Service: Surveyor General, Amount: $4,800.00, Age: Unknown (ditto), Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row4: Date: 14th May 1866, Service: Colonial Chaplain, Amount: $3,840.00, Age: Unknown (ditto), Cause: (J? maybe blank), Remarks:

Row5: Date: 9th October 1869, Service: First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office, Amount: $1,920.00, Age: (bullet? maybe unknown), Cause: (E? maybe blank), Remarks:

Row6: Date: 19th April 1872, Service: Colonial Surgeon, Amount: $4,221.00, Age: 19, Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row7: Date: 20th June 1874, Service: Sorter, General Post Office, Amount: $1,200.00, Age: 64, Cause: Retirement from Service, Remarks:

Row8: Date: 25th April 1876, Service: Postmaster General, and Collector of Stamp Revenue, Amount: $6,280.00, Age: Unknown, Cause: Ill health, Remarks:

Row9: Date: 1st March 1877, Service: Warden of Victoria Gaol, Amount: $1,192.40, Age: Unknown (ditto), Cause: Ill health (ditto), Remarks:

Row10: Date: 4th November 1878, Service: Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General, Amount: $8,400.00, Age: (unknown, #), Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row11: Date: 1st February 1880, Service: Chinese Teacher, Government School, Amount: $210.00, Age: (ditto from previous? previous age #, not good), Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row12: Date: 1st June 1880, Service: Clerk and Sexton of Cathedral, and Usher in the Police Courts, Amount: $1,533.00, Age: (D? maybe 50?), Cause: (ditto?), Remarks:

Row13: Date: 29th October 1880, Service: Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office, Amount: $1,200.00, Age: 55, Cause: (ditto?), Remarks:

Row14: Date: 18th July 1880, Service: First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office, Amount: $1,920.00, Age: 48, Cause: (ditto?), Remarks:

Row15: Date: 18th November 1880, Service: Naval Surveyor, Colonial Treasury, Amount: $480.00, Age: 46, Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row16: Date: 1st March 1881, Service: Chinese Teacher, Central School, Amount: $240.00, Age: 71, Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row17: Date: 1st March 1883, Service: First Class Assistant Turnkey, Gaol, Amount: $420.00, Age: 61, Cause: (Isa decade? maybe "Isa decade" is a remark), Remarks: Isa decade

Row18: Date: 1st April 1883, Service: Chief Inspector of Nuisances, Amount: $910.00, Age: 35, Cause: (blank), Remarks:

Row19: Date: 18th April 1884, Service: First Clerk, Registrar General's Office, and Deputy Registrar of Marriages, Amount: $2,100.00, Age: 61, Cause: (blank), Remarks:

This is speculative.

Given the instruction to not add or remove substantive words, only correct obvious errors, I should present the text as a cleaned-up version of the OCR output, preserving the paragraph structure. But the OCR output is a table, not paragraphs. The instruction says: "Reconstruct the table using Markdown table syntax." So I must output a table.

I'll output a Markdown table with the columns as per header, and fill in the data as best as I can, using the text from the OCR, correcting spelling, and resolving ditto marks by repeating the previous value.

I'll write the table in Markdown.

First, the header: "PENSIONS" maybe as a header.

The original has "(1 87) PENSIONS." That might be a page number and title. I'll include that as a header.

Then the table.

Let's construct the table row by row using the data from the OCR, but with corrected spelling and resolved dittos.

I'll go through the OCR lines again and extract each row's cells in order.

I'll write a script in my mind to parse. But maybe I can do it manually with careful reading.

Let's number the lines in the OCR text as they appear in the user message (split by newline). The user message has newlines. I'll copy the user message lines into an array.

But as an AI, I can process the text directly.

Let me write the OCR text as a single string and split by newline.

The user message (the OCR text) is:

(1 87) PENSIONS. 

Date from which the Pension 

has been paid. 

Service for which the Pension was granted. 

Amount of Einolument 

when last 

employed in 

Present Age of Pensioner. 

Cause of Retirement. 

Public Service. 

$ C. 

20th May, 

Postmaster General,........ 

3,840.00 

Unknown. 

Ill health. 

1861. 

16th September, Assistant Magistrate, - 

1861. 

3,360.00 

> 

" 

28th April, 1865. 

Surveyor General, 

4,800.00 

" 

14th May, 1966. 

Colonial Chaplain, 

3,840.00 

" 

J 

9th October, 1869. 

First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico, 

1,920,00 

• 

E 

19th April, 1872. 

Colonial Surgoon, 

4,221,00 

19 

20th Juno, 1874. 

Sorter, General Post Office, 

1,200,00 

64 

Retiremont from Service. 

25th April, 

1876. 

Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue, 

6,280,00 Unknown. 

Ill boulth. 

1st March, 1877. 

Wardon of Victoria Gaol, 

1,192.-40 

" 

4th Novombor, 1878. 

Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General, 

8,400,00 

# 

1st February, 1880. 

Chinese Teacher, Government School, 

210,00 

" 

1st Juno, 1880. 

Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ 

Polico Cours, 

1,533.00 

D 

" 

29th October, 1880. 

18th July, 1880. 

Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office, 

1,200.00 

55 

" 

First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,...................... 

1,920.00 

48 

18th November, 

Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury, 

480.00 

46 

# 

1880. 

1st March, 1881. 

Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ................................... 

240.00 

71 

t 

* 

1st March, 1883. 

Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol, 

420.00 

61 

Isa dècade 

1st April, 1883, 

Chief Inspector of Nuisances.............. 

910,00 

35 

18th April, 1884. 

First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy 

Registrar of Marringus, 

2,100.00 

61 

REMARKS. Nth

I'll split by newline. But note there are empty lines? The text shows blank lines between some lines. In the above, there are blank lines after "(1 87) PENSIONS." and between header lines. But for parsing, I'll ignore blank lines.

Let's list non-empty lines in order:

1. (1 87) PENSIONS.
2. Date from which the Pension
3. has been paid.
4. Service for which the Pension was granted.
5. Amount of Einolument
6. when last
7. employed in
8. Present Age of Pensioner.
9. Cause of Retirement.
10. Public Service.
11. $ C.
12. 20th May,
13. Postmaster General,........
14. 3,840.00
15. Unknown.
16. Ill health.
17. 1861.
18. 16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -
19. 1861.
20. 3,360.00
21. >
22. "
23. 28th April, 1865.
24. Surveyor General,
25. 4,800.00
26. "
27. 14th May, 1966.
28. Colonial Chaplain,
29. 3,840.00
30. "
31. J
32. 9th October, 1869.
33. First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico,
34. 1,920,00
35. •
36. E
37. 19th April, 1872.
38. Colonial Surgoon,
39. 4,221,00
40. 19
41. 20th Juno, 1874.
42. Sorter, General Post Office,
43. 1,200,00
44. 64
45. Retiremont from Service.
46. 25th April,
47. 1876.
48. Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue,
49. 6,280,00 Unknown.
50. Ill boulth.
51. 1st March, 1877.
52. Wardon of Victoria Gaol,
53. 1,192.-40
54. "
55. 4th Novombor, 1878.
56. Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General,
57. 8,400,00
58. #
59. 1st February, 1880.
60. Chinese Teacher, Government School,
61. 210,00
62. "
63. 1st Juno, 1880.
64. Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ
65. Polico Cours,
66. 1,533.00
67. D
68. "
69. 29th October, 1880.
70. 18th July, 1880.
71. Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office,
72. 1,200.00
73. 55
74. "
75. First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................
76. 1,920.00
77. 48
78. 18th November,
79. Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury,
80. 480.00
81. 46
82. #
83. 1880.
84. 1st March, 1881.
85. Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ...................................
86. 240.00
87. 71
88. t
89. *
90. 1st March, 1883.
91. Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol,
92. 420.00
93. 61
94. Isa dècade
95. 1st April, 1883,
96. Chief Inspector of Nuisances..............
97. 910,00
98. 35
99. 18th April, 1884.
100. First Clark Registrar General's Offen, and Deputy
101. Registrar of Marringus,
102. 2,100.00
103. 61
104. REMARKS. Nth

Now, the header lines 2-10 are column headers split across lines. They correspond to 6 columns. The "$ C." line 11 indicates currency.

The data starts at line 12.

We need to group lines into rows. Each row should have 6 cells. But the lines are not grouped. However, we can infer that the table was read row by row, but each cell may span multiple lines. The first row seems to take lines 12-17:

• Line 12: "20th May," (part of date)
• Line 13: "Postmaster General,........" (service)
• Line 14: "3,840.00" (amount)
• Line 15: "Unknown." (age)
• Line 16: "Ill health." (cause)
• Line 17: "1861." (year of date)

But the date is split across line 12 and 17. That suggests that the date column might be split into two lines: day/month and year. In the original table, the date column might have two lines per row? Or the OCR broke the line.

Similarly, row 2: lines 18-22:

• Line 18: "16th September, Assistant Magistrate, -" (this line contains both date and service? Actually "16th September," is date, "Assistant Magistrate, -" is service)
• Line 19: "1861." (year)
• Line 20: "3,360.00" (amount)
• Line 21: ">" (age)
• Line 22: """ (cause)

Row 3: lines 23-26:

• Line 23: "28th April, 1865." (full date)
• Line 24: "Surveyor General," (service)
• Line 25: "4,800.00" (amount)
• Line 26: """ (age)

Row 4: lines 27-31:

• Line 27: "14th May, 1966." (date)
• Line 28: "Colonial Chaplain," (service)
• Line 29: "3,840.00" (amount)
• Line 30: """ (age)
• Line 31: "J" (cause)

Row 5: lines 32-36:

• Line 32: "9th October, 1869." (date)
• Line 33: "First Clerk in the Harbour Master's Offico," (service)
• Line 34: "1,920,00" (amount)
• Line 35: "•" (age)
• Line 36: "E" (cause)

Row 6: lines 37-40:

• Line 37: "19th April, 1872." (date)
• Line 38: "Colonial Surgoon," (service)
• Line 39: "4,221,00" (amount)
• Line 40: "19" (age)
• (cause missing, next line is new date)

Row 7: lines 41-45:

• Line 41: "20th Juno, 1874." (date)
• Line 42: "Sorter, General Post Office," (service)
• Line 43: "1,200,00" (amount)
• Line 44: "64" (age)
• Line 45: "Retiremont from Service." (cause)

Row 8: lines 46-50:

• Line 46: "25th April," (date part)
• Line 47: "1876." (date part)
• Line 48: "Postmaster Gonoral, and Collector of Stamp Revenue," (service)
• Line 49: "6,280,00 Unknown." (amount and age)
• Line 50: "Ill boulth." (cause)

Row 9: lines 51-54:

• Line 51: "1st March, 1877." (date)
• Line 52: "Wardon of Victoria Gaol," (service)
• Line 53: "1,192.-40" (amount)
• Line 54: """ (age)
• (cause missing)

Row 10: lines 55-58:

• Line 55: "4th Novombor, 1878." (date)
• Line 56: "Colonial Secretary, and Auditor General," (service)
• Line 57: "8,400,00" (amount)
• Line 58: "#" (age)
• (cause missing)

Row 11: lines 59-62:

• Line 59: "1st February, 1880." (date)
• Line 60: "Chinese Teacher, Government School," (service)
• Line 61: "210,00" (amount)
• Line 62: """ (age)
• (cause missing)

Row 12: lines 63-68:

• Line 63: "1st Juno, 1880." (date)
• Line 64: "Clork and Sexton of Cathoiral, and Usher in thoĮ" (service part 1)
• Line 65: "Polico Cours," (service part 2)
• Line 66: "1,533.00" (amount)
• Line 67: "D" (age)
• Line 68: """ (cause)

Row 13: lines 69-74:

• Line 69: "29th October, 1880." (date)
• Line 70: "18th July, 1880." (another date? This is problematic)
• Line 71: "Overseer of Works, Surveyor General's Office," (service)
• Line 72: "1,200.00" (amount)
• Line 73: "55" (age)
• Line 74: """ (cause)

Row 14: lines 75-77:

• Line 75: "First Clerk, Harbour Master's Office,......................" (service)
• Line 76: "1,920.00" (amount)
• Line 77: "48" (age)
• (cause missing, next line is date)

Row 15: lines 78-83:

• Line 78: "18th November," (date part)
• Line 79: "Notion Surver, Colonial Treasury," (service)
• Line 80: "480.00" (amount)
• Line 81: "46" (age)
• Line 82: "#" (cause? or remark)
• Line 83: "1880." (date year)

Row 16: lines 84-89:

• Line 84: "1st March, 1881." (date)
• Line 85: "Chinese Teacher, Central School,... ................................. ................................... " (service)
• Line 86: "240.00" (amount)
• Line 87: "71" (age)
• Line 88: "t" (cause)
• Line 89: "*" (remark?)

Row 17: lines 90-94:

• Line 90: "1st March, 1883." (date)
• Line 91: "Fist Class Assistant Turnkey, Grol," (service)
• Line 92: "420.00" (amount)
• Line 93: "61" (age)
• Line 94: "Isa dè