HONGKONG
863
and offices east of the Artillery Barracks, and the Naval Authorities have another large establishment on the Kowloon side near to Yaumati.
CLIMATE
As intimated in earlier paragraphs, Hongkong formerly enjoyed a most unenviable notoriety for unhealthiness, and in years past the troops garrisoned here suffered grievously from malarial fevers. A great deal of the sickness in the early days of the Colony was believed to have been caused by excavating and otherwise, disturbing the disintegrated granite of which the soil of the island mainly consistst and which appears to throw off malarious exhalations when upturned. At the presene time, however, the Colony is one of the healthiest spots in the world in the samn latitude. The influence of the young pine forests created by the Afforestation Department and the training of nullahs on the slopes have no doubt been beneficial checking malaria, and the attention latterly bestowed on sanitation has not beein without its due effect. The general death rate per 1,000 in 1917 was 14.00 for the non-Chinese community only as compared with 15.08 in 1916. Among the Chinese community the death rate was 23.7 per 1,000 compared with 24.6 in 1916 and 19.00 in 1915. The birth-rate among the non-Chinese community was 20.08 in 1917. The birth statistics for the Chinese community, however, do not give an accurate record of the number of births.
The following table shows fifteen years' means of the annual and monthly values of the principal meteorological elements:-
Bar. Mean pressure Do. Maximum
Do. Minimum
Mean temperature
Do. maximum
Jan. Feb. March April May June July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Year ....30.040 30.024 29.939 20.844 29.750 29.654 29.619 29.628 29.719 29.874 29.989 30.055 29.844 ..80.500 30.400 30.355 30.273 30.045 29.880 29.889 29.873 30.009 30.192 30.311 30.444 30.509 ..29.605 29.421 29.527 29.488 29.330 29.284 28-762 29.083 28.876 29.089 29.575 29.752 28.762 €0.0 52.4 62.8 70.2 76.8 80.9 81.9 81.4 80.4 76,2 09.2 62.7 71.7 64.5 62.9 67.0 74.5
$0.7 86.4 85.3 80.8 74.3 67.7 76.4 78.3 77.6 76.6 72.5 €5.1 58.5 68.1 94.0 97.0 94.0 93.8 85.6 81.9 97.0 7.21 7.16 65.6 57.4 46.7
81.4 85.3
Do. minimum Maximum
56.3 54.9 69.5
66.9
73.6
77.0
79.3 79.1 82.1
88.6
91.6
93 6
Minimum
32.0 38.4 45.9
61.8
62.0
68.9
40.7 32.0
Mean daily range
8.2 8.0
7.5
7.6
7.8
7.7
Mean humidity
74 76
83
85
83
83
8.4 8.8
82
8.7
8.3
9.2
9.2 8.3
83
77
71
66 67 77
Mean rain fall..
1.442
1.688
2.987
5.511 11.713 15.681 12.555 14.362
9.608
4.911
1.445 1 221 83.143
Maximum in 24 hours 3.920 2.185
3.785
Mean max. in 24 hours 0.695
0.850
1.037
6.225 20.495 12.630 13.480 11.135 2.224 3.877 4.422 3.431 3.842
5,855 10.190
Maximum in 1 hour
0.725 0.070
1.570
2.420
3.400 2.855
3.480
2.360
Mean max. in 1 hour
0.230
0.247
0.444
0.905
1.218 1.405
1.195
1.267
1.010
Hours of rain
Wind direction
Do. velocity mean(M.P.H.)13.6
Do. Maximum
Hours of sunshine
62 Eby N EbyN E by N
14.5 15 8 46 53 139.0 95.5
70
83
79
E 14.7
90 E by S SEbyS SEbyS
87
66
68
54
35
SE
Eby N E by N
49 84.1
47 112,5
12.9 12,2 11.1
43 48 108 86 89 155.1 164,5 210.2 200.5 195,2
9.5
5.875 1.670 20.491 3,083 2.210 0.870 0.648 7.914 1.950 1.650 1.690 0.500 3.480 0.553 03.02 0.165 2.087
30 39 ENE ENE 11.7 14.4 13.1 12.1 13.
85
90
63 163 213,5 187,0 178,5 19.291
761
R
Four successive years of comparative drought, 1898-1901, led to the assumption that the rainfall of Hongkong is decreasing. But such is not the case; the mean annual rainfall for the period 1902-11 was 84.21 inches against 68.29 inches for the period 1895- 1901. The rainfall has never been so heavy as in the period 1888-1894, however, when the mean annual fall was 101.08 inches. In 1914 it rose to 100.21 inches, in 1915 it was 76.025 inches, in 1916, 79.85 inches and in 1917, 81,48 inches.
TRADE
The value of the trade of Hongkong is estimated in normal times at about £50,000,000 per annum. During the year 1917 the following tonnage entered and cleared :-
MATIONALITY
British
American
Austrian Belgian Chinese
ENTERED Vessels. Tons. Vessels.
CLEARED
4,824
4,580,445
4,845
Tong. 4,577,150
185,133
71
164,792
75
1,023
NATIONALITY
ENTERED
Vessels.
138 255
Norwegian Portuguese Russian Siamese Swedish
CLEARED
Tons. Vessels. Tons. 185,536 137 162,7′′-1
86,278
253 85,7-6 6,721
6,721 4,072
4,073 10,825
10,825 445
445
mi can
1,025
Chinese Junks.. 13,020
Danish
Butch.
French
German
Italian
Japanese
738,837
1,016,000
13,047
0
156
10,300 427,585
6
156
155
250,881
155
1
3,420
737,816 1,601,269
16,360 427,585 247,786
3,420
1,058 2,110,574 1,061 2,109,170
No Flag Steamshipsun-`
der 60 tons
trading ports outside the Colony..)
to
3,223 110,042 3,309 110,106
A total of 16,457 vessels of 9,052,232 tons entered, and 18,061 vessels of 8,991,234 tous cleared with cargoes. There also entered in ballast 7,490 vessels of 1,240 540 tons, and
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