CO129-335 - Governor Nathan - 1906 [8-10] — Page 307

Complaints against

the Observatory.

303

the way of avoiding Hongkong.

41.

Turning from the question of

relief to the sufferers of the past calamity to that of

the prevention, in so far as it lies within human power,

of its recurrence I have to inform Your Lordship that the

fact that practically no warning of the approach of the

typhoon was given by the Observatory was immediately after

and has ever since been the subject of unfavourable comment

in the local press, and though I have no reason to believe

that the Observatory Officials Dr. W. Doberck, Director,

and Mr. F. G. Figg, First Assistant, in the absence of

local indications or definite information from other

stations could have made an earlier prediction I deemed it

advisable with a view both to allaying public distrust in

those officials and to giving them the opportunity of

vindicating themselves to direct an enquiry into this

point by a small committee consisting of the Attorney-

General as Chairman with a Naval Officer, a Captain of

the Mercantile Marine and the Superintendent of the

Eastern Extension Telegraph Company as Members. As it has

since been generally and publicly stated that the working

of the Observatory is hampered by the unsatisfactory

relations