CO129-614-1 Commission of Inquiry into fire at West Point- report 26-5-1949 - 22-12-1949 — Page 59

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readily to supply copies of labels, We recommend that the necessity for labelling and the places where labels may be purchased should be brought

to the notice of the public, perhaps by a notice on the back of the lic-

ensing form.

73. The initial onus for labelling is placed by the Ordinance on the

owner of goods, not the godown-keeper; this is as it should be. If im-

porters could be persuaded to inform their suppliers of the procedure for labelling in Hong Kong, and we see no reason why this should not be done, it should be possible to have labels affixed at source by manu- facturers or suppliers. Such a procedure would be of great advantage to shippers. If this recommendation be accepted we consider that colour- stencilling in the forms prescribed for labels should be permitted in

lieu of labels. We further recommend that a similar system of marking should be introduced for packages of cinematograph film or celluloid,

and that the labels should bear in Chinese characters a clear and un-

equivocal description of the contents.

The Use of License Plates for Notifying Licensed Places of Storage:

74. Licensed storage places are also required to bear a metal plate on

the entrance, of a kind prescribed by the Ordinance, and given to the

licensee by the Fire Brigado, on payment of a fee of $1.00. We were

informed that the Fire Brigade hold no stock of these plates and have

not replenished stocks since the war, and this provision of the regul-

ations has not been carried out since 1945. The use of license plates

we consider to be of value, if only because they serve to draw the at-

tention of owners to the existence of regulations. We recommend that

owners of licensed godowns shoull be required to display their licenses

in a position where they can be seen by the public. Licenses should be

in English and Chinese, We have some further remarks to make on the

subject of licensing in a later paragraph of this Chapter, but here we wish to point out that the location of godowns, and particularly those licensed for the storage of highly inflarmable goods is a factor to be borne in min" by the licensing authority, when considering the grant of

a license. It was obvious in the case of this fire, that had the wind

been blowing in another direction the danger to the gasometers of the