72
Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841-1941
PAPERS RELATING TO
Prisons.
18. The only gaol in the Colony is the Victoria Gaol, situated in the town, in which the average number admitted during the last few years has been about 4,000. The daily average during 1889 was 581 as against 531 in the year before. Many among these belong to the mendicant class, who find their way to Hong Kong from the mainland of China, and who, when they arrive here, are arrested as vagrants, and committed accordingly. It is to be feared that prison life in regard to these is anything but a deterrent to crime. They frequently enter prison in such a state as to be at once placed on the sick list, and the gaol is, in fact, rather a hospital in which they are cared for than a house of detention in which they are punished. The introduction into the Colony of this class of Chinese should be discouraged as much as possible; but with the constant means of communication between Hong Kong and the different parts of China their arrival is very difficult to guard against.
19. The prison accommodation in the Victoria Gaol is unquestionably insufficient for the number detained there, and this subject is now receiving the serious attention of the Colonial Government. It is very satisfactory to find, however, notwithstanding its somewhat crowded condition, that the gaol is so healthy. There were only four deaths during the whole of the year, and the admissions to the hospital were but 244 as compared with 306 in 1888.
Public Works.
20. Most of the public works now in course of construction were referred to by Sir G. William Des Voeux in his Despatch above mentioned, but I may state that the Praya reclamation scheme (the object of which is to reclaim a large portion of land along the western front of the town of Victoria), the new drainage and water works, the new central market, and a new lunatic asylum for Chinese are rapidly being proceeded with. To these may be added the progress of the work connected with the Gap Rock Lighthouse, the foundation stone of which was laid a short time since. The rock on which this lighthouse is destined to stand is a small island, 400 feet in length, about 3.4 miles south-west of Hong Kong. It consists of two rugged mounds of rock separated from one another by a long narrow gullet, and this it is which gives the island the name of the Gap Rock. Much difficulty was at first encountered in obtaining the permission of the Chinese authorities to erect the lighthouse on what still continues to be Chinese territory. It is, I think, to be regretted that when Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain some of the small islets around, and which naturally belong to it, were not also acquired.
To have lighthouses adjacent to Hong Kong, although situated on Chinese territory, is no doubt better than to have none at all;
72
Hong Kong Annual Administration Reports, 1841-1941
PAPERS RELATING TO
Prisons.
18. The only gaol in the Colony is the Victoria Gaol, situated in the town, in which the average number admitted during the last few years has been about 4,000. The daily average during 1889 was 581 as against 531 in the year before. Many among these belong to the mendicant class, who find their way to Hong Kong from the mainland of China, and who, when they arrive here, are arrested as vagrants, and committed accordingly. It is to be feared that prison life in regard to these is anything but a deterrent to crime. They frequently enter prison in such a state as to be at once placed on the sick list, and the gaol is, in fact, rather a hospital in which they are cared for than a house of detention in which they are punished. The introduction into the Colony of this class of Chinese should be discouraged as much as possible; but with the constant means of communication between Hong Kong and the different parts of China their arrival is very difficult to guard against.
19. The prison accommodation in the Victoria Gaol is unques- tionably insufficient for the number detained there, and this subject is now receiving the serious attention of the Colonial Government. It is very satisfactory to find, however, notwith- standing its somewhat crowded condition, that the gaol is so healthy. There were only four deaths during the whole of the year, and the admissions to the hospital were but 244 as compared with 306 in 1888.
Public Works.
20. Most of the public works now in course of construction were referred to by Sir G. William Des Voeux in his Despatch above mentioned, but I may state that the Praya reclamation scheme (the object of which is to reclaim a large portion of land along the western front of the town of Victoria), the new drainage and water works, the new central market, and a new lunatic asylum for Chinese are rapidly being proceeded with. To these may be added the progress of the work connected with the Gap Rock Lighthouse, the foundation stone of which was laid a short time since. The rock on which this lighthouse is destined to stand is a small island, 400 feet in length, about 34 miles south-west of Hong Kong. It consists of two rugged mounds of rock separated from one another by a long narrow gullet, and this it is which gives the island the name of the Gap Rock. Much difficulty was at first encountered in obtaining the permission of the Chinese authorities to erect the lighthouse on what still continues to be Chinese territory. It is, I think, to be regretted that when Hong Kong was ceded to Great Britain some of the small islets around, and which naturally belong to it, were not also acquired.
To have lighthouses adjacent to Hong Kong, although situated on Chinese territory, is no doubt better than to have none at all;
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