CO129-439 - Others - 1916 — Page 52

TELEPHONE No 2188 LONDON WALL.

TELEGRAPHIC Appress ́OAKENPIN, Ave London.

China &

51

& Japan Telephone & Electric CoʻL'd

Alderman's House.

Alderman's Walh Brishopsgate.

London.

BC

21st February 1916.

8372

The Under-Secretary of State,

Colonial Office,

London, S. W.

REC (REG: 22 16

SIT,

Mr. Charles Hatt who is in our employment at Hongkong as a

telephone inspector and line foreman, has been on leave for the

last few months and is now in this country. He proposes to leave

England en route for Hongkong by the 8.8."Katori Maru" sailing

about the 22nd proximo. In view of the present situation, and

as Mr. Hatt is of military age, we understand that it will be

necessary to obtain your authority for Mr. Hatt to return to

Hongkong, and we therefore beg to apply for the necessary authori-

sation.

The telephone service in Hongkong and the adjacent territory

of Kowloon is carried on under the supervision of 4 Europeans, of

whom Mr. Hatt is one, with the assistance of a large staff of

Chinese and Eurasian employees, As Hongkong is such an important

Naval and Military centre, the proper upkeep of the telephone

service is a matter of importance to the local authorities, and

it is therefore important that Mr. Hatt should be allowed to return

to Hongkong and resume the discharge of his duties there. Com-

petent men are in any case extremely difficult to get, and it

would at this juncture be almost impossible to replace Mr. Hatt

certainly it would be impossible to get a man having his technical

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