Directory_and_Chronicle_1919 — Page 920

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HONGKONG

Sports are also held every year by the residents and the garrison, and occasionally swimming matches and boat races take place. There is a Philharmonic Society and also an Amateur Dramatic Club, the members of which give several performances in the Theatre Royal during the season. There are three large Chinese Theatres, where the- Chinese drama is almost constantly on view.

There are four daily papers published in English: the Hongkong Daily Press and the South China Morning Post, which appear in the morning, the China Mail and the Hongkong Telegraph, issued in the evening. There are three weekly papers, the Hongkong Weekly Press and China Overland Trade Report, the Overland China Mail, and the Weekly Telegraph. The Directory and Chronicle for China, Japan, Straits Settlements, &c., has been issued annually since 1863 from the Daily Press Office. The native Press is represented by six daily papers-the Chung Ngoi San Po, which is the oldest, published at the Daily Press Office; the Wa Tsz Yat Po, or Chinese Mail; the Tsun Wan Yat Po, the Sai Kai Kung Yik Po, the Kung Wo Po and the Tai Kwong Po. There is also a small Japanese paper called the Hongkong Nippo. The Government Gazette is published once a week.

There are several good hotels in Victoria, the leading ones in the city being the Hongkong Hotel, extending from Queen's Road to Des Voeux Road, and the King Edward Hotel, situated in

Hotel, situated in Des Voeux Road. The Peak Hotel is situated at Victoria Gap, about 1,400 feet above the sea, and provides considerable accommodation. A palatial building on Kennedy Road, erected as a residence for the late Mr. E. R. Belilios, C.M.G., but never occupied by him, has been converted into a private hotel, and named Kingsclere. On the other side of the harbour are the Station Hotel and the Palace Hotel.

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 at Causeway Bay, and a Match Manufactory at Kowloon, a Feather Cleaning and Packing Establishment at Kennedy-town, a Soap Factory at Shaukiwan, 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 Hunghom, in Kowloon. A Paper Mill on a considerable scale, fitted with the best English machinery, was erected at Aberdeen in 1891 and is successfully run under Chinese management. In 1899 a Cotton Spinning,. Weaving and Dyeing mill was established at Soo-Kun-po, but after working with indifferent success for fifteen years, the mill was transferred to Shanghai. Flour Mills at Junk Bay, capable of turning out 8,000 sacks of flour per day, commenced operations on January 1st, 1907, but disaster overtook the concern in 1908, and the mills were closed about a year later. A Brewery, designated the Oriental Brewery, was opened at Laichikok in 1909. It was equipped with the most. modern plant having a capacity of about 100,000 barrels of beer per annum, and an ice- plant was worked in connection with the Brewery, but this concern also has had to close down.

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. A new power- station for the Electric Company is in course of erection at North Point, on a site- reclaimed from the sea for this purpose. The city is illuminated partly by gas and. partly by 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, boat building, etc.

There is excellent Dock accommodation in the Colony. The Hongkong and Whampoa Dock Company, Limited, have three extensive establishments, one at Hunghom, Kowloon, one at Tai Kok Tsui, and the third at Aberdeen on the south side of Hongkong Island. The establishments 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 on the China Station has been received into the No. 1 Dock at Hunghom. The docks and slips are of the following dimensions :-Hunghom :-No. 1 (Admiralty). Dock-700 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

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