CO129-423 - Governor Sir May - 1915 [7-8] — Page 521

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Hon. Secretary for Chinese Affairs,

PEC? REGEZ SEP 15

I have the honour to report that I left for

Canton on July 25th. to investigate the conditions of Flood Relief,

and returned to Hongkong on August 7th,

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Flood relief measures always assume 3 phases

which are, successively, Immediate Relief (kap chạn), Autum Barricades (t'sau lan) and Winter Embankment repairs (tung kei).

So far this year attention has been confined to Immediate Relief. The Tung Wa Hospital has despatched over 3 million catties of rice, and its 3 centres at Canton, Shiu Hing, and Sam Shui, with a branch under the latter up the North River at Teing Yun, have done excellent work in conjunction with the Canton Relief Societies.

Nearly half a million cat ties of Tung Wa Hospital rice were taken over by the Standard Oil Co. who kindly undertook to see to their distribution. The United States Navy, the British American Tobacco Company and the Asiatic Petroleum Company have also given generous assistance. Supplies of rice have been given by the Tung Ta Hospital to various missionary bodies who have worked nobly for the relief of sufferers.

In company with Mr. Tong Yat Chun, who has been

in charge of the Shiu Hing centre, I spent ten days up the West River and its tributaries investigating the conditions in the important districts of Ko Yiu, Ko Ming and Hok Shan, and especial care was taken to see that the more remote places received due attention.

The outstanding features of distress are the breaches in the embankments and the ruined houses. The loss of life up the West River, apart from the destruction of a village at the foot of the ancient pagoda in the Eastern Suburbs of Shiu Hing City, has apparently not been great. That village, however, is said to have lost 2,000 persons who had no time to escape from the water rushing through the sudden breach.

In