CO129-409 - Governor Sir May - 1914 [1-3] — Page 9

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N°

No 2

RECT

C. O.

3791

(REU 31 JAN 14

GOVERNMENT HOUSE,

HONGKONG. 7th. January, 1914.

8

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Admit

Sir,

38323/13

I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of

your Despatch No. 343 of the 14th. November last forwarding a copy

of a letter from the Admiralty relative to the jurisdiction of the

Director of Public Works in matters of building and sanitation

executed by the Admiralty within the Naval Establishments.

2.

It appears from this letter that there has been

some misunderstanding as regards the purpose of the Director of

Public Works in making the enquiries to which the Naval Authorities

take exception. Owing to the inadequacy of the water storage

accommodation this Government is every year faced with the problem

of conserving the supply from one rainy season to another. It is

essential in the winter months that no more water shall be used

than is absolutely necessary, and among other economies it has been made the rule that water closets are not, except in very exception-

-al circumstances, to be flushed from the mains but are to be

supplied from wells or from streams running to waste.

3.

It was recently found that the Naval and Mili-

-tary Authorities had, unknown to this Government, made connections

with the mains within their boundaries for the purpose of flushing

a considerable number of water closets, and the Director of Public

Works was accordingly instructed to approach those Authorities in

order to ascertain whether some arrangement could be made for

HE RIGHT HONOURABLE

LEWIS HARCOURT, M.P..

&c.,

&C.,

&c...

flushing