CO129-319 - Governor Sir Blake - 1903 [10-11] — Page 462

Nos.

COPY.

4582

440.5

REC

St. John's Cathely 2.7 DEC 13

Hongkong, October

Dear Mr. Stewart,

With reference to our conversation of a

few days ago I beg to lay before you the following facts and

figures.

By Ordinance No. 6 of 1899, Section 13,

the Chaplain of St. John's Cathedral is bound to provide for

requisite religious services and ministrations of the Church of

England at Victoria Gaol and the Government Civil hospital.

That section is quoted from an earlier Ordinance passed, I

believe, about 189% or 1893, at the time when the Church of

England was disestablished in the Colony. At that time the

Government undertook to pay $600 per annum (this sum was raised

to $800 at the beginning of this year, 1908,) in return for the

work done by the Chaplain in the Gaol and Hospital. Now however

not only has the value of the dollar gone down considerably but

the work in connexion with both the Gaol and Hospital has

largely increased.

In 1892 the daily average of European

prisoners in Victoria Gaol was 19, in 1901 it was 46, in 1902

42; in 1882 the number of European in-patients during the course

of the year was 788, in 1901 it was 960; it must be remembered

that the greater part of the work both at the Gaol and hospital

does not consist in holding services but in dealing with indivi-

duals. Also of late years a good many European plague patients

have been treated at the Kennedy Town Flague Hospital during

several months of the year and it can easily be seen that the

necessity of visiting them has added greatly to the duties of

the

*lad***r"