CO129-028 - Bonham - 1849 [1-3] — Page 301

HONG KONG.

Encl. 2 in No. .

SIR,

295

10

REPORTS EXHIBITING THE PAST AND PRESENT

The original estimate amounted to Amount disallowed

£. 8. d.

637 9 21

314 3 I

£323 6 11

Authorized for the other services, which, with the exception of a small amount due on one of them, were executed for 2691. 6s. 10d.

I have, &c., (Signed)

The Honourable Major W. Caine,

Colonial Secretary.

(True Copy)

W. CAINE, Colonial Secretary.

Enclosure 2 in No.

CHAS, ST. GEO. CLEVERLY,

Surveyor-General.

Surveyor-General's Office, Victoria, February 19, 1849.

I HAVE the honour to make the following Annual Report upon the state and progress of this department during the year ending December last.

The superintendence of the works executed by the department devolverl temporarily upon Mr. Strachan, who was appointed clerk of works and civil engineer after the decease of Mr. Pope, and he continued those duties, until the arrival of the Honourable W. Napier, as Mr. Pope's successor, in July last. In the office I received great assistance from Mr. Strachan, as a draughtsman, in the preparation of the plans for the proposed Government House, which, together with the detailed estimate, were transmitted to England in Report and Estimate, No. 1, of 1848.

The contracts and working drawings for the Aberdeen-road were all completed early in the year; upon this road I subdivided the work into 17 contracts (to suit the means of the generality of contractors who tender for such works at a distance from Victoria), and thus the whole work progressed very actively, and I was in hopes of seeing at least all the earth-work quite finished before the hot weather; but as it proceeded, many of the contractors found they had miscalculated (that is to say, if they ever did calculate the cost of the work); some absconded, others I had great difficulty with, to force them on with their work, and some I had to finish by days' labour, and charge the amount upon the respective contracts.

This system is advantageous in some respects, as the competition is so great that prices are lowered; most of the men, however, guess the amount of their tender; the result, therefore, is quite a chance; if they fail, they generally abscond, leaving the labourers unpaid, and it has frequently happened that I could not induce other men to go upon the work until all payments due upon it had been made; with masons, this is particularly the case, in consequence of the trade union, which delayed the completion of three contracts for bridges; the fault, no doubt, The sureties in these cases are originated with the contractors, who could not pay the men. applied to, who are compelled to complete the services, or pay the money due, and leave me to finish the work, and pay the balance remaining, if there should happen to be any.

The completion of the Aberdeen police station was the only new work out of the town which required our attention during the year; this being finished, the clerk of works was enabled to give more time and attention to the road above alluded to.

In my previous Annual Reports, I have dwelt at considerable length upon the difficulties and danger we have had to encounter in executing out-of-door work at a distance from Victoria; the difficulties, more particularly the getting access to our work, have been much improved by the opening of the roads, that the same time and fatigue are not now necessary; thus much of the danger is avoided, but it is and ever must be great in this climate, where exposure to the sun has never been done with impunity. I have to record the death of one of the overseers employed upon that road, Mr. Lowrie; and two of the others went into hospital with fever, and were subsequently discharged from the employ.

In Victoria the completion of some services to the gaol, together with the erection of the Coole stands, sundry contingent works to buildings, in repair or otherwise, the extension of the harbour master's pier, the plans and estimates for such, and the duties of supervision, occupied a very considerable portion of our time; the greater part of this, however, falls upon the clerk of works, in addition to which his services were necessarily demanded in visiting the roads and superintending their repair, which from the want of shelter along the road, was only performed once a fortnight up to July last, when the further repair or maintenance it was indispensably necessary to stop. In alluding to this circumstance I cannot but express my regret at it; for although repairs to roads are heavier here than in many other places, I am confident the total annual repairs would not exceed 5007. upon a length of 30 miles of road, and with this sum I could effect several improvements in the usual manner upon the sanction of the Governor. The question has arisen, of what use are these roads, there being little or no traffic theron, or likely to be so, from which any revenue might be derived; the country is thickly-peopled and but little cultivated, and it is now stated they are of no use in a military point of view; of this I can be no judge, but certainly during the last command it was thought advisable to complete the circuit of the island, and to effect a means of communication with each of the military stations by road, and which it is not always practicable to do by sea; with this object

very

STATE OF HER MAJESTY'S COLONIAL POSSESSIONS.

11

and the improvement of the island as encouragement to settlers, both native and European, I conceived the roads were made, for the former for the cultivation of the land, and the latter for country locations, of which there are numerous available sites, in several apparently healthy and in beautiful parts of the island. I can speak positively that the Chinese appreciate these roads; and although, as before stated, the traffic is not considerable, it enables them to bring their produce to market in a safer and more expeditious manner than by sea; and only in the vicinity of the roads are the cattle driven to graze, for they are always brought home at night to Victoria. I am of opinion that it would be unwise to abandon the roads altogether; and if real encouragement were given to settlers for the cultivation of the ground, and the land given rent-free for a number of years, we should have a respectable resident class of inhabitants, who would be enabled to supply the market with every necessary produce; and the rearing and feeding of cattle might be conducted entirely upon the island with advantage, instead of being obliged to import everything for the consumption of the community both ashore and afloat. All these objects I think might be gained if the roads were maintained in good order; and further be the means of deterring strangers from effecting the robberies and depredations which, before the roads were complete, and which upon the old Stanley road were of such frequent occurrence, particularly when it was out of repair, and Europeans seldom travelled it.

In the town of Victoria some additions have been made to the drainage, particularly in the Chinese district, Ta-ping-shan, where it was much needed; there is, therefore, not that accu- mulation of filth about the place that formerly existed, but this the Chinese do not care about. It is extremely difficult to keep the drains clear, or at least prevent a deposit at the mouth of them; the police see that the streets are cleaned; every morning the rubbish is swept into the mouth of the drains and there left, and if we have no rain for a long time they become choked, and cause much damage to parts of the street by the overflow. To correct this as far as pos- sible, the Coolies of the department are employed, as well as in executing small repairs over the district.

I have found these four men and the overseer of the greatest possible service to me in this particular, as well as in executing other services demanded from them as messengers, chain- men, and assistants in surveying; during the latter part of the year they have been in attend ance upon the civil engineer and clerk of works, whom (as most of the works were stopped or finished) I have been able to employ upon the survey of the town, to include all the houses and other works which have been undertaken since the first survey made by me in 1843. This I have no doubt he will be able to complete during the cold season.

The next service I pro- pose to adopt will be a particular survey of the road round the island, with a sketch of the ground on either side, for such distances as may be considered advisable, for the purpose of showing its capabilities either for agricultural purposes or otherwise; but this cannot be com- menced until the next cold season.

The employment of the convicts engages much of my attention, assisted by Mr. Bowden, road overseer, who is also employed as a clerk, in which capacities he has shown himself most useful, and given me great satisfaction; he prepares the monthly reports of their labour, measures their work, and superintends the direction given for the works they are engaged upon; in addition to this he is storekeeper, and fills to the utmost of his ability the duties of a clerk of works.

In my Report upon Roads I have spoken of the labour of the convicts, at least of such con- victs as are sent out to work under my directions; now it frequently happens that Europeans and others are confined in the gaol, who, although condemned to hard labour, there is not the means of employing them; the former are generally sailors; they might be employed in making hemp-mats, in making light ropes from picked oakum, which are much used by all Coolies here for slings to carry baskets or other weights; and even if the supply was sufficient for the convicts employed upon the works alone, it would be a great service and saving of expense; also baskets might be made, which being of the simplest description, the commonest Coolie might be made to construct. And, lastly, for actual hard labour, I would respectfully suggest that all refractory or idle convicts should be compelled to break a certain quantity of stones, which I could now employ with advantage on several streets and roads in Victoria. The granite here is not difficult to break, and although the kind of work is new to them, I should very soon arrive at the quantity which every man should do. It has been a habit with some of the men to create cutaneous eruptions, that they might be exempt from work; these I consider fit subjects for real hard labour. I have lately begun to collect and break stones, to which employment I place the laziest of the gang.

I beg leave to suggest the foregoing propositions for work inside the gaol, as I think it would be found advantageous; the expense, if any, I do not think would be felt, for some of the articles might be sold and all used with advantage, so that it would not be an ultimate loss to the Government for the supply of the materials.

I at one time thought of proposing that the convict tools, such as pick-axes, wheelbarrows, &c., should be repaired in the gaol; but I believe there are few artizans in the gaol, and much danger might accrue if these men were allowed blacksmiths' and carpenters tools, for they might manufacture and conceal house-breaking implements, with which an escape from the gaol might be effected. I am, however, of opinion that the service would be benefited if a paid blacksmith and carpenter were added to my establishment; they would have ample employment repairing the convict tools, executing slight repairs to Government buildings, which are frequently called for and should be executed immediately. A monthly or more frequent examination might be made by myself of all the civil buildings, and the necessary repairs pointed out to the men; this I am sure would be a saving of expense, and enable me to execute the smallest repair without going through the trouble and form of a Requisition to

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HONG KONG,