Wengting 23rd April, 1866.
Made of the hint (J.M. Kinder)
lo
Colonial Secretary
(M. J. Marker).
Mint
Report of Accidunt Breaking of driving rohulst
Enclosure 2 in
Governor Sir
Richard Graves Mac Donnell's Dispatch N.33 of 124 May
1866
En 65066
"The Evening Mail"
Houghton 7th May 1866.
94
As event, the importance of which to the Colony of Hongkong can scarcely be over- rated by the Community took place this morning. The Hongkong mint was for- mally opened for the public service by His Excellency the Governor; though the de- sirability of avoiding the great disturb ance to work which would have necessari. į ly ensued, had the general public been ad- mitted rendered it advisable that His Ex- cellency's visit should be rather of a priv- ate than a public nature.
By the courtesy of Sir R. Macdonnell we are in a position to describe the semi- official ceremony of ushering into light the first legal Hongkong dollar. His Ex- cellency and Lady McDonnell, Mr Mercer and Lieut. Stewart arrived at the mint about 11 A.M. Captain Kinder the Super- intendent of the Mint then proceeded to show the Governor and party the details of the various processes by which the white metal received in the shape of ingots, used up dollars, and, in one case at least a service of plate, became fashioned into that as yet rare and coveted article a Hongkong dollar.
They were first of all taken to the bul- lion room were apoplectic jute bags were piled in layers each filled with a certain amount of the old and ill used Spanish currency. In pigeon holes made to re- ceive them, were large and heavy ingots, some of pure metal and some of melted up Mexican or Spanish dollars. The total value of bullion and dollars received for récoining up to the present date amounts to $2,000,000 (Two million of dollars) so the energetic master of the mint is not likely have his hands empty for some little time.
From the bullion room Captain Kinder led his visitors to the smelting room, where
in some dozen furnaces each at an intense i beat, but so ingeniously built that the temperature was anything but as warm as ! might have been expected, silver shoes of sycee were being melted. From this they proceeded to the rolling room where the large and unsightly masses of silver are reduced by being passed through three powerful machines, into ribbons of the necessary thickness for punching there- from the round silver counters which. ultimately form dollars. It was in this room that the accident occurred a short time since, which threatened to se- riously cripple the mechanical powers of the establishment; a large cast iron cog wheel some nine feet in diameter having fractured at its periphery into three pieces Fortunately no one was hurt on this oc- casion, but while admitting and cordially! admiring the beautiful machinery fitted for the purposes of the establishment, we may be permitted to point out one or two defects of detail, which if not amended may someday result in serious accident to the employés if not in a total and length- ened stoppage of the coining machi- nery. In the first place duplicates of all parts of the machinery are urgently want. ed, The enormous cogwheels used to transmit motive power to the heavy rol- ling machines are all cast with iron cogs; he fracture of a single dog may not only damage the machine most seriously, but also endanger human life, and we cannot see what reason there is for neglecting to adopt the hard wood cogs in use for the multiplying gear of screw steamers, as for rolling presses regularity of action is not of such supreme importance as for other machines. Secondly some means ought to be adopted for stopping the engius in less time than it now takes; at present the only piens of checking the revolution
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