Directory_and_Chronicle_1916 — Page 890

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Volunteers' Club and other purposes. The buildings are lighted throughout by incandes- cent electric lights, the Town Hall having six 300 candle-power incandescent lamps. besides the numerous side lights. The whole of the buildings form an effective group, although the narrowness of the streets on the East and West sides considerably detracts from the possibility of obtaining a good view of the block. They took about eighteen months to erect and were built from the designs and under the superinten- dence of Mr C. Mayne, c.E., the Municipal Engineer, and Mr. F. M. Gratton, F.R.I.B.A., of the firm of Morrison & Gratton, of Shanghai, as joint architects and engineers. Towards the close of 1913 additional land at a cost of about Tls. 555,000 was purchased and plans were prepared and submitted to the President R.I.B.A. for a new block of Cen- tral Municipal Offices to occupy the whole of the site bounded by Hankow, Kiangse, Foochow and Honan Roads. The work of construction was commenced in March, 1915, and it is expected the building will be finished by December 31st, 1918, the estimated cost of the entire Scheme being Tls. 800,000. building will be on Hankow Road, overlooking the Cathedral compound.

The main part of the massive construction, and with every detail carefully worked out with an eye to Being of architectural beauty, and with a central ornamental tower reaching 150 feet above the ground, the new offices will indeed be an imposing pile. A new Mixed Court was completed in 1899. A monument to the memory of Mr. A. R. Margary, of the British Consular service, who was murdered by Chinese in Yunnan, was unveiled in June, 1880, and a statue of the late Sir Harry Parkes, British Minister to Peking, was erected in 1890, A bronze monument in memory of the heroic death of the crew of the German gunboat Iltis, lost in a typhoon off the coast of Shantung on 25th July, 1896, was erected on the Bund, at the end of the Peking road, in November, 1898. A bronze statue by Mr. Henry Pegram, A.R A., of Sir Robert Hart, late Inspector General of Chinese Maritime Customs, subscribed for by the community, was erected on the Bund near the Customs House in 1913. The statue is nine feet in height and stands on a granite pedestal eight feet high. The principal buildings on the French Concession are the Municipal Hall and the Consulate. In 1914 the new building of the Cercle Sportif Francais was thrown open to the members of the club and their friends, the more humble pavilion having given place to a handsome two- storied edifice. A bronze statue of Admiral Protet, who was killed when directing an attack on Nan-yao on 17th May, 1862, stands in front of the Municipal Hall. The Public Markets of the French Concession are large and well built and are perfect as regards sanitary arrangements. An efficient tram service is maintained in both Settlements.

INSTITUTIONS

Among the institutions of the place may be mentioned the Volunteer Defence Force, composed of members of all nationalities, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel R. N. Bray (West Riding, Duke of Wellington's Regiment), with Major T. E. Trueman as second in command. It consists of Staff 8, Light Horse 52, Artillery 38, Maxim Company 30, Engineer Company 42, "A" Company 100, "B" Company 50, German Company 69, Customs Company 51, Japanese Company 68, American Company 60, Portuguese Company 66, Chinese Company 92, Unit Reserve 56, Buglers 16, Re- serve Company 115, German Reserve 31, 12-Bore Company 26, Light Horse Reserve 19, Portuguese Company Sportsmen's Section 36-total 48 officers and 704 non-commissioned officers and men on the active list, and 11 officers and 272 rank and file reserve, a grand total of 1,035, and thirteen retired officers. These numbers are exclusive of the Medical Staff and the Band. Originally formed in 1861, the Volunteer Force gradually went to decay, until the fear of attack after the Massacre a Tientsin in 1870 caused its revival with considerable vigour. It again dwindled in numbers, but a re-organisation under the late Major Holliday proved successful, and in 1900, during the Boxer crisis, the membership of 300 was more than trebled and included a Naval Company, since disbanded. The annual inspection was made on 25th April, 1914, by Major General Kelly, C.B., Commandant of the Hongkong Garrison, and the Corps was awarded high praise. Six officers and 675 men were present on parade. The infantry is arméd with the Lee-Metford and the new short rifles. A separate Company of Volunteers, under the order of the French Consul-General, was formed in May, 1897. Fire Brigade consists of 59 foreign volunteers with a paid departmental engineer, and a staff of 106 native assistants, and is composed of three Fire Engine and one Hook and Ladder Companies, with a spare fire engine and steam fire float and 20,150 feet of hose. It attended 130 fires in 1913. It is pronounced to be one of the

of the most efficient volunteer brigades in the world. Owing

The

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