SUNDAY, MAY 15,1977
OLD HONG KONG MAP RESTORED
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A TATTERED MAP SHOWING HOW VICTORIA LOOKED LIKE 110 YEARS AGO HAS BEEN RESTORED BY THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE.
THE MAP MEASURES 10-1/2 FEET BY 3-1/2 FEET. DRAWN AT A SCALE OF 160 FEET TO AN INCH, IT SHOWS IN DETAIL THE TOPOGRAPHY, STREETS AND MAJOR BUILDINGS OF THE AREA BETWEEN CAUSEWAY BAY AND KENNEDY TOWN IN 1867.
IT IS BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN PREPARED BY THE SURVEY DEPARTMENT OFFICERS PREDECESSORS OF THE CARTOGRAPHERS IN THE PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT.
THE MAP THEY DREW HOWEVER IS NOTICEABLY DIFFERENT FROM CURRENT MAPS DRAWN BY THEIR MODERN COUNTERPARTS. THE COASTLINE AT THAT TIME WAS ALMOST WHERE THE TRAM TRACK LIES AT PRESENT AND THE SLOPES OF THE HILLS WERE YET TO BE CUT BACK TO PROVIDE SPACE FOR DEVELOPING THE BUSY CENTRAL DISTRICT.
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HONG KONG MORE THAN A CENTURY AGO, SOME PROMINENT LANDMARKS AT THAT TIME ARE STILL FAMILIAR TO US: THE BOTANICAL GARDENS, GOVERNMENT HOUSE, CENTRAL POLICE STATION, FLAGSTAFF HOUSE AND THE STEEP, CURVING ICE HOUSE STREET.
OTHERS, THOUGH LONG SINCE FADED FROM LIVING MEMORY, ARE STILL WITH US IN THE NAME OF A ROAD OR A STREET. WONG NEI CHUNG VILLAGE, OCCUPYING A LARGE STRETCH OF FLAT LAND TO THE SOUTH-EAST OF THE RACE COURSE, IS NOW BLOCKS OF CONCRETE FLATS.
A FEW, LIKE THE ROYAL MINT, LOCATED BY THE SEA AT EAST POINT, ARE NOW BURIED DEEP SOMEWHERE IN BOOKS ON HONG KONG'S EARLY HISTORY.
THE OLD MAP ITSELF WAS KEPT IN THE REGISTRAR GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT.
IT WAS BRIEFLY PUT ON SHOW AT THE OPENING OF THE HONG KONG MUSEUM OF HISTORY IN 1975 WHEN IT AROUSED WIDE PUBLIC INTEREST.
AS THE MAP WAS TOO WORN BY THE YEARS TO BE ABLE TO BE KEPT PROPERLY, IT WAS HANDED TO THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE LAST YEAR FOR RESTORATION AND RETENTION.
+ THE ORIGINAL SKETCH WAS DRAWN ON TRACING PAPER, HAND-COLOURED WITH TINTED INKS, AND MOUNTED ON CARTRIDGE PAPER AND LINEN, SAID MR. A. I. DIAMOND, ARCHIVIST OF THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE. +IT WAS CRUMBLING INTO BITS AND PIECES WITH THE SMALLEST NO BIGGER THAN THE SIZE OF A FINGER NAIL.+
+ THE TRACING WAS METICULOUSLY TAKEN OFF AND THE SEVERAL HUNDRED SEPARATE PIECES OF THE MAP WERE SET FLATLY ON NEW CARTRIDGE PAPER BY TECHNICIANS WHO HAVE HAD MANY YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN REPAIRING OLD DOCUMENTS, HE SAID.
+THEY WERE