XN000022-1979-11-10 — Page 3

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FU

SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1979

PRESENT AT THE CONFERENCE WILL BE THE DIRECTOR OF THE CAMP, MR K.C. SIU- THE MUSIC ADMINISTRATOR, MRS ELIZABETH WONG- AND THE MUSIC CONSULTANT, MR DAVID STONE.

YOU ARE INVITED TO SEND REPRESENTATIVES TO COVER THE

CONFERENCE.

BOOK OF LETTERS BY HK'S FIRST ADMINISTRATOR RESTORED

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THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE HAS RESTORED A VALUABLE BOOK OF LETTERS WRITTEN BY HONG KONG'S FIRST ADMINISTRATOR, MR ALEXANDER R. JOHNSTON.

THE BOOK, CONTAINING MR JOHNSTON'S PERSONAL AND OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1831 AND DECEMBER 1852, IS THE OLDEST DOCUMENT KEPT AT THE PUBLIC RECORDS OFFICE.

THE ARCHIVIST, MR IAN DIAMOND, SAID THE BOOK, CONTAINING ABOUT 200 LETTERS AND OTHER DOCUMENTS, WAS PRESENTED TO HIS OFFICE BY MR JAMES T. RUTNAM OF SRI LANKA, A PROMINENT BUSINESSMAN AND COLLECTOR OF HISTORICAL MANUSCRIPTS.

+THE 140-YEAR-OLD LETTERS, HE SAID +PROVIDE VALUABLE DETAILS ABOUT LIFE AND EVENTS IN HONG KONG AND CANTON DURING MR JOHNSTON'S SERVICE AT THESE PLACES.+

MR JOHNSTON BEGAN HIS CAREER IN MAURITIUS AS A WRITER AND LATER AS A CLERK IN THE COLONIAL SECRETARY'S OFFICE, MR DIAMOND SAID.

+HE WENT TO CHINA IN 1833 AS PRIVATE SECRETARY TO LORD NAPIER AND THROUGH VARIOUS PROMOTIONS HE BECAME THE DEPUTY SUPERINTENDENT OF TRADE UNDER CAPTAIN CHARLES ELLIOT.

IN 1841, HE TOOK OFFICE AS HONG KONG'S FIRST ADMINISTRATOR,+ HE SAID.

+THE CORRESPONDENCE, THEREFORE, ALLOWS THE READER TO CATCH A GLIMPSE OF HONG KONG'S EARLY YEARS AND TO GAIN AN INSIGHT INTO POLITICAL, SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC EVENTS IN THE FOREIGN TRADING ENCLAVE IN CANTON IN THE LATE 1830S+.

MR DIAMOND SAID WHEN HE FIRST TOOK DELIVERY OF THE BOOK, IT WAS DAMAGED AND THE PAGES +STUCK TOGETHER SO THAT THE VOLUME WAS LIKE A PAPER BRICK.+

+AFTER WEEKS OF CAREFUL WORK BY OUR REPAIR TECHNICIANS, THE BOOK WAS RESTORED AND RE-BOUND, HE SAID.

+THE 'REJUVENATED' VOLUME IS NOW AS STRONG AS ANY NEW BOOK,+ HE SAID.

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