Directory_and_Chronicle_1897 — Page 280

HONGKONG

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Trade Report and the Overland China Mail. The Chronicle and Directory for China, Japan, Straits Settlements, &c., appears annually, and is printed at the Daily Press office. The China Review, which is devoted to reviews and papers on Chinese topics, is published once every two months. The native Press is represented by five daily papers-the Chung Ngoi San Po, which is the oldest and most influential, published at the Daily Press Office; the Wa Tsz Yat Po, or Chinese Mail; the Tsun Wan Yat Po, the Yut Po,. and the Wai San Yat Po. The Government Gazette is published once a week. There is a Portuguese weekly paper called 0 Extremo Oriente.

There are several good hotels in Victoria. The principal one in the city is the Hongkong Hotel, close to the Clock Tower, and extending from the Praya to Queen's Road, a handsome building, six stories high, and containing 150 rooms. There is also the Kowloon Hotel on the opposite side of the water. Two large and handsome hotels have been erected at Victoria Gap, about 1,400 feet above the sea-the Mount Austin Hotel, on the road to Victoria Peak, which provides extensive accommodation on a most luxuriou s scale, and the Peak Hotel, close to the Tramway terminus.

INDUSTRIES.

Manufactures are yearly increasing in importance. There are three large sugar refineries: the China Sugar Refining Co's establishments at East Point and at Bowring- ton, and the Taikoo Sugar Refinery at Quarry Bay. In connection with the first-named Company there is also a large Distillery, where a considerable quantity of rum is manu- factured. There is an Ice Factory at Bowrington, a large Rope Factory in Belcher's Bay, Steam Saw Mills at Bowrington, a Glass Manufactory and a Match Manufactory at Kowloon, a Feather Cleaning and Packing Establishment at Kennedytown, a Soap Factory at Shaukiwan, a Mica Composition Factory on the Shaukiwan Road, and two or three Engineering Works. The works of the Hongkong Brick and Cement Company are situated in Deep Water Bay, on the south side of the island. A Paper Mill on a considerable scale, fitted with the best English machinery, was erected at Aberdeen in 1891. The works of the Hongkong and China Gas Company are situated at West Point, and those of the Hongkong Electric Company at Wanchai. The city is illuminated partly by gas and partly by the electric light, the latter being introduced at the end of 1890. Among the industries pursued by the Chinese are glass blowing, opium boiling, soap making, vermillion and soy manufacture, tanning, dyeing; beancurd, toothpowder, and cigar making, boat building, &c., &c.

There is excellent Dock accommodation. The Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, have three extensive establishments, two at Kowloon, the other at Aberdeen on the South side of the Island. The Docks of this company are fitted with all the best appliances for engineering and carpenter's work, and in the Admiralty Dock the largest ironclad can be received. The docks are of the following dimensions :-Kowloon : -No. 1 (Admiralty) Dock-500 feet in length, 86 feet in breadth at entrance at top and 70 feet at bottom, and 30 feet deep. No. 2 dock-Length over all, 370 feet; breadth atentrance, 74 feet; depth over sill at ordinary spring tides, 18 feet 6 inches. No. 3 dock-Length overall, 264 feet; breadth at entrance, 49 feet; depth, 14 feet. Patent Slips: No. 1-Length over all, 250 feet; breadth, 60 feet; depth, 14 feet. No. 2-Length over all, 230 feet; breadth, Cofeet; depth at entrance, 12 feet. Tai Kok Tsui: Cosmopolitan dock-Length over all, 465, feet: breadth at entrance, 85 feet; depth, 20 feet. Aberdeen: Hope dock-Length over all, 433 feet; breadth at entrance, 84 feet; depth 24 feet. Lamont dock-Length over all, 340 feet; breadth, 64 feet; depth, 10 feet. There are other establishments at which ship- building and foundry work are carried on, and some good sized steamers have been launched in the Colony. Her Majesty's Naval Yard likewise contains machine sheds and fitting shops on a large scale, and repairs can be effected to the machinery of the British men-of-war with great expedition.

THE PEAK DISTRICT.

A well made but rather badly graded mountain road leads up to the summit of Victoria Peak, with numerous other paths branching off from it at Victoria Gap along t'e adjoining hills. A tramway, on the wire rope system, has been laid to the Victoria , where the stationary engine is fixed, the lower terminus being close to S. John's Cathedral, and was opened to traffic on the 30th May, 1888. Passengers can alight at the nnedy, Bowen, an Plantation Roads, where platforms are provided for their accommo- dation. Within the past few years the number of bungalows and houses on and about the Peak has increased so much that they now form quite a considerable alpine village. The Military erected a sanitarium on the heights in 1883; and in June of the same year the Peak Church was opened for worship there. Comfortable accommodation for visitors is now afforded by the Mount Austin and Peak Hotels. The road from Victoria Gap

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