Directory_and_Chronicle_1907 — Page 1074

HONGKONG

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looking down on the fountain. It was unveiled in November, 1887, by Governor Sir William Des Voeux. The chief public building is the City Hall, erected in 1866-9 by subscription; it contains an elegant theatre, numerous large rooms used for balls and public meetings (in one of which known as St. George's Hall, is a fine portrait of the late Queen Victoria, presented by Sir Thomas Jackson, Bart., in 1900), an excellent and valuable Library, and a Museum gradually increasing in importance. In front of the main entrance is a large fountain presented in August, 1864, by Mr. John Dent, a former merchant of the Colony. Eastward of the City Hall is a fine open space or lung in the shape of the Parale Ground south of the road and the Cricket Ground on the north. The latter is furnished with a neat Pavilion, and the turf is kept in perfect order.

The Government Offices, Supreme Court House, and Post Office are very plain and most inadequate edifices, but now Law Courts are in course of erection, and a new Post Office on a site with frontages on the Praya, Pedder Street and Des Vœux Rond is now being built. A fin bronz statue of the Duke of Connaught, presented by Sir C. P. Chater to the Colony, occupies a site in front of the new Law Courts and was unveiled by Sir William Gascoigne on the 5th July, 1902. Government House occupies a commanding situation, in picturesque grounds pleasingly laid out, in the centre of the city. Victoria Gaol is a large and massive structure, with its main entrancy from Arbuthnot Road. The Police Burracks and Central Station adjoin the Gaol, as does the Magistracy, a small and inconvenient structure. The strength of the Police Force is 1018, of whom 133 are Europeans, 392 Indians, and 593 Chinese, A Roformatory was built and opened in 190) at Causeway Bay, the cost of erection being borne by Mr. E. R. Belilios, C.M.6, ; but the building has not been used for the purpose, the idea having proved impracticable. The Lunatic Asylum consists of two smill buildings, one for Europeans and the other for Chinese, below the Bonham Road. The Government Civil Hospital is a large and well designed building affording extensive accommodation, situated in the western part of the town. The Alice Memorial Hospital, situated at the corner of Hollywood Road and Aberdeen Street, is a useful and philanthropic institution, which is also the headquarters of the Hongkong College of Medicine for Chinese; affiliated with it is the Nethersole Hospital on Bonham Road. A little to the wost is a hospital designated the Ho Miu Ling Hospipal, the gift of Madam Wu Ting Fang, to the Medical Mission of the London Missionary Society. The Royal Naval Hospital occupies a small eminence near Bowrington. The Military Hospital, a fiue range of buildings, occupies a commanding position on an eminence above Bowen Road; it is now nearing completion. The Queen's College, a hand- some and commodious structure, which stands on a sits having its chief frontage on Staunton Street, is the home of the chief Government educational institution in the colony. It was opened in 1889. The Belilios Public School for Girls, in Gough street, is the chief centre of female education. The Tung Wa Hospital, a Chinese institution, which has been of great utility in the Colony, was considerably enlarged in 1993, and a well-designed Plague Hospital for Chinese, situated at Kennedy Town, was also built at the expense of the Chinese community, The Barracks for the garrison are extensive, and constructed with great regard to the health and comfort of the troops, and the buildings belonging to the Naval Establishment are substantial and spacious. The chief cantoniments lie on both sides of the Queen's Rowl, between the Cricket Ground and Arsenal Street, Wanchai. There are also extensive Barracks at Kowloon, in which the Indian regiments are quar- tered; and a magnificent sanatorium (formerly the Mount Austin Hotel) at the Peak for the European troops. A smaller one is situated near Magazine Gap. Head-quarter House, the residence of the General in Command of the Troops, occupies a pleasant elevation overlooking the cantonments in Victoria. A commio:lious Central” Market situated between Queen's Road Central and Des Voeux Road, was opened in 1895. The building of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank is large, hand- some, and massive, and would do credit to any large city. It occupies a fine site next to the City Hall, and has frontages on Queen's Road and Des Voeux Road. The exterior walls and elegant fluted pillars are of dressed granite, and the offices on the Queen's Road frontage are crowned with a large dome. Opposite the Des Voeux Road entrance to the Bank stands a bronze statue of Sir Thomas Jackson, Bait.... who from 1876 to 1902 was chief manager of the Bank. The statue was unveiled by Governor Sir Matthew Nathan on February 24th, 1996. An extensive reclamation along the city

the city water frontage from West Point to Murray Road initiated by Sir C. P. Chater, c.M.G., was completed in 1903, the total area reclaimed from the sea being approximately 65 acres. Of this area 33'73 acres constitute building land, the

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