31
which in turn were 389.45% higher than those of 1937. The gain resulting from the elimination of the uneconomic overlapping of road and rail services can be gauged from the fact that rail earnings on this section have increased from $1,713.80 in 1937 to $15,989.78 in 1939. This latter figure is made up of $7,316.65 from the rail-bus and $8,673.13 from the ordinary train service. This striking advance has been achieved at the expense of an increased annual cost of only $5,330.00.
Prospects for the coming year are not particularly bright. There appears to be no possibility of resuming through traffic; a marked advance in local passenger receipts is not expected; a fall in earnings from rentals is anticipated, and a considerable rise in expenditure must be faced due to the war in Europe. For these reasons a cautious financial policy will need to be pursued.
POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS,
[Please see also Chapter XI. of the 1938 Report.]
The total revenue from the Government Wireless Telegraph service amounted to $87,958 as compared with $126,902 in 1938; a decrease of $38,944 mainly due to enforced restriction of the mobile services in the latter months of the year.
The number of paid messages mobile and commercial press services—forwarded and received during the year was 95,725, consisting of 8,557,491 words, as compared with 56,883 messages of 4,568,023 words in 1938; the increase being due to press services taken over by Government.
Unpaid traffic, which includes meteorological, police, anti-piracy, Rugby press, intercepted press, aircraft and air station operational messages, navigation warnings, etc., totalled 86,758 messages of 4,608,940 words as against 87,815 messages of 3,077,842 words in 1938.
Service messages totalled 5,647 consisting of 68,289 words as compared with 4,684 messages of 49,433 words in 1938; the increase being due to additional messages necessitated by war conditions.
Internal.
RAILWAY.
After the 12th of October, 1938, rail communication by the Kowloon-Canton Railway was limited to the section of the line within British territory.
ROADS.
There are 384.49 miles of roads in the Colony, 173 miles on the Island of Hong Kong, 106 miles in Kowloon and 105.49 miles in the New Territories. Of the total mileage, 227 miles are constructed of water-bound macadam dressed with asphalt, 11 miles of sheet asphalt on a cement concrete foundation, 29 miles of tar macadam, 68.49 miles of concrete, 3 miles of granite setts and wooden blocks on a cement concrete foundation and 45 miles of earth.
The public travelling over the Colony's roads increases yearly, with a corresponding growth in the number of motor buses, of which there are 109 operating on the island of Hong Kong, and 136 on the mainland. These are gradually replacing rickshaws, the number of which decreases year by year.
The Hong Kong Tramway Company has a fleet of 106 double-deck tram-cars running along the sea-front of Victoria from Kennedy Town to Shaukiwan. The length of the Hong Kong Tramway tracks is about 10 miles.
There were 4,439 private motor-cars, 362 motor-cycles, 385 public cars and taxis and 1,205 commercial lorries and vans registered in 1939.
31
which in turn were 389.45% higher than those of 1937. The gain resulting from the elimination of the uneconomic overlapping of road and rail services can be gauged from the fact that rail earnings on this section have increased from $1,713.80 in 1937 to $15,989.78 in 1939. This latter figure is made up of $7,316.65 from the rail-bus and $8,673.13 from the ordinary train service. This striking advance has been achieved at the expense of an increased annual cost of only $5,330.00.
Prospects for the coming year are not particularly bright. There appears to be no possibility of resuming through traffic; a marked advance in local passenger receipts is not expected; a fall in earnings from rentals is anticipated, and a considerable rise in expenditure must be faced due to the war in Europe. For these reasons a cautious financial policy will need to be pursued.
POSTS AND TELEGRAPHS,
[Please see also Chapter XI. of the 1938 Report.]
The total revenue from the Government Wireless Telegraph service amounted to $87,958 as compared with $126,902 in 1938; a decrease of $38,944 mainly due to enforced restriction of the mobile services in the latter months of the year.
The number of paid messages mobile and commercial press services-forwarded and received during the year was 95,725, consisting of 8,557,491 words, as compared with 56,883 messages of 4,568,023 words in 1938; the increase being due to press services taken over by Government.
Unpaid traffic, which includes meteorological, police, anti-piracy, Rugby press, intercepted press, aircraft and air station operational messages, navigation warnings, etc., totalled 86,758 messages of 4,608,940 words as against 87,815 messages of 3,077,842 words in 1938.
Service messages totalled 5,647 consisting of 68,289 words as compared with 4,684 messages of 49,433 words in 1938; the increase being due to additional messages necessitated by war conditions.
Internal.
RAILWAY.
After the 12th of October, 1938, rail communication by the Kowloon-Canton Railway was limited to the section of the line within British territory.
ROADS.
There are 384-49 miles of roads in the Colony, 173 miles on the Island of Hong Kong, 106 miles in Kowloon and 105.49 miles in the New Territories. Of the total mileage, 227 miles are constructed of water-bound macadam dressed with asphalt, 11 miles of sheet asphalt on a cement concrete foundation, 29 miles of tar macadam, 68.49 miles of concrete, 3 miles of granite setts and wooden blocks on a cement concrete foundation and 45 miles of earth.
The public travelling over the Colony's roads increases yearly, with a corres- ponding growth in the number of motor buses, of which there are 109 operating on the island of Hong Kong, and 136 on the mainland. These are gradually replacing rickshaws, the number of which decreases year by year.
-
The Hong Kong Tramway Company has a fleet of 106 double-deck tram-cars running along the sea-front of Victoria from Kennedy Town to Shaukiwan. The length of the Hong Kong Tramway tracks is about 10 miles.
There were 4,439 private motor-cars, 362 motor-cycles, 385 public cars and laxis and 1,205 commercial lorries and vans registered in 1939.
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