1941-01-20 — Page 66

CHINA MAIL, PAGE 18

1841

HONG KONG CENTENARY NUMBER

Troublesome Twenties

very

(Continued from Page 16) Woollen goods reached a high price that year owing to the fact that Home spimers were busy on war contracts; the opportunity presented of disposing of stocks harboured in the Colony since 1911 was immediately tuken.

Large profits were made in ship- ping, freights reaching very high rates some

high rates."

said "fantastically

Sailors of the Royal Navy on service on the China station were entertained in March, 1916, by Hong Kong's ladies, who enjoyed themselves quite as much as the matelots did! A rousing war speech was given by H. E. the Governor, Sir Henry May, at the annual dinner of the Hong Kong Volunteer Corps Sergeants' Mess that same month.

Memorial services were held in St. John's Cathedral und the Union Church for Lord Kitchener and for those who were killed in the naval battle off Jutland, June II and 14

"Our Day" held on October 19, 1916, on behalf of the Red Cross Funds drew a total of $41.000. while "Heather Day" in Hong Kong drew £1,582 in contribu- tions on December 1.

Supplies of woollen goods in the Colony were short in 1916 as the Bone mills were occupied in mak- ing Army cloth: prices were too high to permit of much business being done

On account of the scarcity of tonnage, the abnormally high freight rates, and the disturbed in South *conditions prevailing

China, the consumption of petro- leum and its products decreased by about 40 per cent during 1916,

To round off the picture of Hong Kong's third quarter-cen- tury, the little table of statistics below probably help to tell tale of steady, rapid growth:-

1891

1916

Shipping ton-

nage. €1-

tered and

the

cleared 10,279,043 19,106,690 Revenue $2.025,303 $13,833,387 Expenditure $2,449,086 $11,079,015 Non-Chinese

population 10,494 13,390*

Chinese

population 214,320 514,820

Total

population 224,814 528,010* Exclusive of Army and Navy.

Three Periods

THE Anal 25 years of Hong

Kong's first century may per- haps, for purposes of convenience, be divided into three periods- the first, of three years, largely taken up with the last war and its effects; the second, 1920/1930, the immediate post-war period; and the third and final, 1930/1941, which brings us up to the present day and finds Hong Kong part of an Empire which is again at war with the Hun.

Except for its effect on general trading conditions, the war left Hong Kong comparatively quiet during its latter: end, although there was great interest in the sale of the Deutsche-Asiatische Bank, Queen's Road Central, which was disposed of by auction and realis- ed $350,000.

"Armistice Day, 1918" was de- clared a public holiday, and Hong Kong celebrated the occasion in suitable fashion, even the trams blossoming out in unusual festive gear. A special meeting was call ed

of the Legislative Council,; thanksgiving services were held in all churches, and there were large meetings in both the Hong Kong Club and the Theatre Royal, A mémorial service for those who had died on active service "was held on December 29.

+

The metal market had been very profitable during the first half of

1918, but the news of the Armis- tice knocked the bottom out of it and a large number of orders were cancelled.

The end of the war was cele- brated by a meeting in the City Hall on January 5, 1919, and after that the war was gradually rele- gated into the realm of things past and done with. The Hong Kong War Charities Committee wound up its affairs, and the Police Re- held serve and the Volunteers their "last parade."

The year 1918 stood out in the memory of residents, however, not only because it brought the glad things of an Armistice but also because it was a year marked by

and several large crimes "natural disasters," including an earthquake.

Gresson Street

some

In-

Late in January that year, Gresson Street resounded to the cracks of shots as the police and a gang of armed robbers fought it out. The casualties were heavy. O'Sullivan, Detective - Inspector Detective-Sergeant Clark, an dian constable and a Chinese de- tective were shot dead; Sergeant Wills and one of the principal Chinese detectives were wounded; two robbers were killed and one shot himself. Two others escap- ed but were subsequently arrested.

In May, Sergeant Glendinning was killed when an Indian con- stable ran amok at Tai-0.

There were a number of other small during crimes, large and

1918 and 1919, but the next one to make the head-lines was when four prisoners made a break from Victoria Gaol, murdering Wurder Speed and an Indian Warder be- fore they left.

An

Earthquake

"Natural disasters" began with a serious fire in the Cheungsha- wan shipyards, when 500 people lost homes and property and were lucky to escape with their lives. Ten days later, on February 2, 1918, earthquake tremors shook Hong Kong; news from Swatow? told of serious damage there, with a casualty list of over 800 people.

Barely two weeks later, a col- lapse of the matshed stands at the Race Course resulted in a sudden

of outbreak

fire which spread Over 600 bodies were rapidly. recovered from the debris. Racing was abandoned for a while, and an exhaustive enquiry was open- ed.

The elements relaxed for a short while, then visited Hong Kong with a landslide in Morrison Hill -Road. Å 50-ton rock crashed down into some houses and six people were killed.

Meanwhile, on another element -the sea-Hong Kong was pro- ceeding comfortably on the route to developruent and progress. On March 27, 1917, the "Autolycus" was launched by the Taikoo Dockyard and Engineering Co., Ltd., the largest ship 'built up to then in British Dominions over- seas. Shipbuilding materials that year, however, were still entirely under Government control and it was difficult to obtain supplies.

War Vessel Launched

sea-level of 1,419,000,000 gallons, with a dam 1,255 feet long be- tween extremes and with an ex- treme height from foundations to the roadway of 170 feet (181 feet to the crest of the overflow); it was built of cement concrete faced with granite. Additional equip- ment and machinery was also in- stalled, including pumping mach- inery capable of raising 6,000,000 gallons a day to Tytam tunnel. The reservoir was formally open- ed by His Excellency the Governor the following February.

Important road extensions were carried out in 1918, and 1919, work in the latter year including im- provements to the Pokfulam Road and the remaining two sections of the Island motor road, from Repulse Bay to Tytam Tuk and from Tytam Gap to Shaukiwan; the completion of a 20-foot road from Tsunwan to Castle Peak, throwing open a circular route round the New Territories 57 miles long; and further improve- inents to the Taipo Road.

Mass Meeting

The year 1917 saw the forma- tion of the "Hong Kong Constitu- tional Reform Association," inau- gurated at a public meeting in the Theatre Royal, followed by an- other meeting in the City Hall in 1919. It unfortunately slowly fizzled out.

The next ten years saw a rapid growth of political consciousness It among the peoples of China, was a period of strikes and boy- cotts, skirmishes and battles, mur- ders and counter-murders, of rape and robbery, culminating in the final welding of the country-save for a few Quislings like

Wank Ching-wei-in united resistance against Japanese aggression. For a time, too, feeling in China was high against both Britain and the United States, not without a siderable amount of justification in many cases; mistakes and errors were made on both sides, some of them very costly ones.

con-

of

a

two days later a large and hostile demonstration was staged by crowd of workmen, students and soldiers outside Shameen (the foreign settlement of Canton).

A boycott of British goods, and a general strike, were declared. An army of 2,000 pickets were re- cruited from among the strikers of workers and a huge exodus from Hong Kong to Canton took place temporarily.

the clear-

This state of affairs Insted

while throughout the year, Kuomintang busted Itseif ing up the mess of civil war and strife in Kwangtung province. On July 14, 1926, a party of British delegates left for Canton and ne- gotiations for ending the boycott were started the very next day. On October 19, 1926, the Canton Government officially declared the boycott to be over.

There was a further disturbance in the Canton area in 1927, fol- lowing an attempted coup by the Communists, and H.M.S. "Moor" hen" had to evacuate 81 Europeans This from the eastern suburb.

year, too, saw a boycott of pas- senger traffic on the ships of the Macao Hong Kong, Canton and Steamboat Co., on June 22, fol- lowed a week later by a strike among the employees of the China Navigation Co. The boycott was settled early in August, the strike in September.

The Cenotaph

Since then, labour disputes have tended to diminish and strikes to

disappear, while the gradual coalescing of the country of China under Chiang Kai-shek made it possible, almost for the first time in history, for normal relations to begin to prevail between that country and the Western Powers.

Meanwhile, what of purely local conditions and happenings in Hong Kong?

Although the war was gradual- ly forgotten more and more as the yeurs slipped by, those who had help pay for the final victory with their lives were not, In addition to the "Armistice Day" services and wreath-laying, a number of memorials were erected made

post-war years.

But this is not 3 history China and her struggles as a na- tion, but that of Hong Kong and so only slight mention of these distressful times will be

where they apply to this Colony or affect it directly. The picture,

therefore, may be a somewhat one-sided one at times-but it should be sufficient to remember that China has progressed a great deal since those days, which now seem as remote as the actual founding of the Colony of Hong Kong, and to-day China is proud to have the help and assistance that is being given her by America and the British Empire.

Period Of Strife

Hong

The period of strife opened quietly enough with a strike on March 3, 1920, by the Chinese en- gineers and fitters of. the Kong dockyards; this was followed by a strike of fitters of the Tram company a week later. Settle- ment was achieved on March 20. There were odd strikes of seamen and Peak chair coolies during the next few years (including the famous one of 1922) but the real · trouble began shortly after the death of Sun Yat-sen in Peking in March, 1925.

the By June 12,

Nationalist Government was firmly establish- ed in Canton. Anti-foreign riots had broken out in May at Shang- hal, in June at Chinking and Hankow. The agitation culmin- beated in the unfortunate "May

The following year, in August, 1917, Lady May, wife of His Ex-.. cellency the Governor, launched the "War Drummer", which was constructed by the Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Co. She was the first "standard ship" to built in the Colony.

Public works, too, were pro- ceoding apace. The second sec- tion of the Tytam Tuk scheme, which was started in 1012;' was completed in October, 1917, and included a 'storage reservoir at

30th" incident in Shanghai, when nino Chinese were killed and others injured during a demon- stration outside Louza police sta

tion,

The Hong Kong Volunteers were mobilised on June 21 and

in the

On March 16, 1920, the "Peace Celebrations Committee" decided on the erection of a cenotaph on a site in front of the Hong Kong Club (Statue Square); this decl- sion was confirmed a few days later at a meeting of the "General Peace Celebrations Committee."

War Memorials

was

On January 29, 1921, the Hong Kong War Memorial Cross unveiled by Sir Reginald Stubbs, the Governor, in an appropriate ceremony of remembrance.

own

were

the

In June, 1922, Mr. D. G. M. War Bernard unveiled the Ewo Memorial, while in 1923 the Colony's

War Memorial Cenotaph was unveiled, Further memorials Canadian Pacific Memorial Tablet, unveiled by Sir Reginald Stubbs in January, 1924, and the unvell- ing of the Chinese and Indian War Memorials on May 6 and May 25, 1928, by the Governor and the Officer Administering the Government respectively.

Fires and other disasters con- tinued to be provided by the elements, including a destructivo fire at West Point in February, 1920, when 53 persons lost their lives and the damage was estimat- ed at around $1,500,000; a typhoon which

In struck the Colony

and did heavy August, 1923, damage ashore and afloat, includ- ing the sinking of Submarine L-19 and the s.8. "Loong Sang” in the harbour; the Hong Kong Hotel fire on New Year's Day, 1926, which

1941