CO129-328 - Governor Nathan - 1905 [1-6] — Page 766

COPY.

No. 297.

The Monourable

Sir,

C.O.

757

6027160 1

Harbour Department

Hongkong, June 29th, 1904.

f

JUL 05!

The existing systems of communication bet-

-ween this Office and the various stations connected therewith

being cumbersome, inconvenient, and inefficient, I have the honour

to offer the following remarks and suggestions on the subject, in

the hope that some uniform and satisfactory system may result.

2.

now

i do not propose to deal, with the branch

Harbour Stations, where the work is done by the Folice, but only

with those stations which are wholly under the control of this

Department, i.e. the Lighthouses and Signal Stations, and the

Government Gunpowder Depot.

3.

The several methods of communication ea-

-ployed with these are as follows:-

(a).

Green Island Signal Station is connected directly with this Office by telephone, and is therefore the only one of them with which we can communicate satisfactorily, though even here improvement is desirable. The Lighthouse on Green Island is not connected in any way, any message from it to the Signal Station being carried by messenger up a steep climb of over 200 feet.

(b).

Gap mock is connected by Government Tele- -graph Cable with the office of the Joint Telegraph Companies, with recording instruments at each end of the line. Between that Office and this, the messages are transmitted by telephone by young Fortuguese clerks at one end, and by either Fortuguese or Chinese Clerks or an Indian Constable at the other. Frequent Butilation of messages, with consequent misunderstanding and loss of time is the result. important messages are sometimes sent

The Harbour Master.

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