Directory_and_Chronicle_1902 — Page 895

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HONGKONG

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 Match Factory at Hungham, and two or three Engineering Works. The Green Island Cement Company has works at Deep Water Bay, on the south side of the island, and at Hungham, in Kowloon. The Hongkong Cotton Spinn- ing, Weaving, and Dyeing Company, Limited, has a mill of 50,000 spindles at Soo-Kunpo, which commenced running with 12,000 spindles in June, 1899. A Paper Millon a consider- able 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 at Yaumati, and those of the Hongkong Electric Company at Wanchai. The city is illu- minated partly by gas and partly by the electric light, the latter having been introduced at the end of 1890. Among the industries pursued by the Chinese are glass blowing, opium boiling, soap making, vermilion and soy manufacture, tanning, dyeing; beancurd, toothpowder, and cigar making, boat building, &c., &c.

There is excellent Dock accommodation in the Colony. The Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, have three extensive establishments, one at Kowloon, one at Tai Kok Tsui, and the third at Aberdeen on the south side of Hongkong Island. The establish- ments of this company are fitted with all the best and latest appliances for engineering and carpenter's work, and the largest vessel in H.M's Navy has been received into the No. 1 Dock at Kowloon. The docks and slips are of the following dimensions :-Kowloon : —No. 1 (Admiralty) Dock-576 feet in length, 86 feet in breadth at entrance at top and 70 feet at bottom, and 30 feet depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides. No. 2 dock -Length on keel blocks, 371 feet; breadth atentrance, 74 feet; depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides, 18 feet 6 inches. No. 3 dock-Length on keel blocks, 264 feet; breadth at entrance, 49 feet 3 ins.; depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides, 14 feet. Patent Slips: No. 1-Length on keel blocks, 240 feet; breadth at entrance,60 feet; depth on the blocks, 14 feet. No. 2-Length on keel blocks, 230 feet; breadth at entrance 60 feet; depth of water on the blocks at ordinary spring tides, 12 feet. Tai Kok Tsui : Cosmopolitan dock-Length on keel blocks, 466 feet; breadth at entrance, 85 feet 6 inches; depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides, 20 feet. Aberdeen: Hope dock-Length on keel blocks, 430 feet; breadth at entrance, 84 feet; depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides, 23 feet. Lamont dock-Length on keel blocks, 333 feet; breadth at entrance, 64 feet; depth of water over sill at ordinary spring tides, 16 feet. The Kowloon and Cosmopolitan Docks are in close proximity to the shipping in port and are well sheltered on all sides. The approaches to the Docks are perfectly safe and the immediate vicinity affords capital anchorage. The Docks are substantially built throughout with granite. Powerful lifting shears with steam purchase at Kowloon and Cosmopolitan Docks stand on a solid granite sea wall alongside which vessels can lie and take in or out boilers, guns and other heavy weights. The shears at Kowloon are capable of lifting 70 tons and the depth of water alongside is 24 feet at low tides. There are other establishments at which shipbuilding and foundry work is 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. A large extension of the Naval Yard has been decided upon involving an important reclamation on the foreshore, the construction of a dock and erection of various works, which are now in course of being carried out. At Quarry Bay extensive works are also in progress by Messrs. Butterfield & Swire, for the construction of docks, slips, and wharves.

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 the adjoining hills. A tramway, on the wire rope system, has been laid to the Victoria Gap, 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 Kennedy, Bowen, and Plantation Roads, where stations 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 sanatorium on the heights near Magazine Gap in 1883, and in 1897 acquired the handsome and commodious Mount Austin Hotel for the same purpose. The Peak Club, which has been lodged in temporary quarters for several years, is about to be lodged permanently on a site just below Craigieburn Hotel. The Peak Church, an unpretending structure after the similitude of a jelly mould, was opened for worship in June, 1883. Comfortable accommodation for visitors is afforded

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