Directory_and_Chronicle_1925 — Page 1091

1012

HONGKONG

square miles of the peninsula were first granted in perpetual lease by the Kwangtung Government to Sir Harry (then Mr.) Parkes, but were definitely ceded to Great Britain in 1860 by Article VI. of the Peking Convention. Yau-ma-ti, the principal village, has greatly increased in population, and is becoming an important town. There is a considerable Chinese junk trade at this place, and amongst other industries is a preserved ginger factory. Gas Works were erected there in 1892, and the settled portion of the peninsula is lighted with gas; electricity is also now largely used, the generating station being at Hunghom. Waterworks were established in 1895, but, with the rapid growth in the population, further provision was necessary, and the new waterworks now provide for the supply of a million and a half gallons daily. Three regiments of Indian infantry are usually stationed at Tsim-tsa Tsui, where barracks and officers' quarters are located and a Mahomincdan mosque has been erected. At Tsim-tsa Tsui, too, a number of European houses and flats have been erected, and this portion of the peninsula, which faces Victoria, has gradually developed into a populous residential settlement. It is approached by Nathan Road, a fine wide thoroughfare running at right angles to the water-front. A fine bund, with a massive granite wall, has been constructed here, and an extensive range of godowns built and several fine wharves made for discharging cargo and coaling. Here, also, is situated the handsome terminal station of the Canton- Kowloon Railway. During 1905 and 1906 extensive reclamation works were carried out extending eastward from the godown company's property to Hunghom. Messrs. Butterfield & Swire have erected extensive godown accommodation on the reclamation. The same period will also be remembered by the building of two churches at Kowloon St. Andrew's, in Robinson Road, being the gift of the Hon. Sir Paul Chater, C.M.G., and the Roman Catholic Church in Chatham Road, the gift of Dr. S. A. Gomes. Sir Paul Chater has recently donated the funds for erecting a third place of worship on the Peninsula a branch of the Union Church, Hongkong-and a site for this has been granted by the Government in the vicinity of the Kowloon Hospital now in course of erection. There are three hotels, and a fourth is now beeing built. The Kowloon British School was erected in 1901 on Robinson Road at the ex- pense of Mr. (now Sir) Robert Ho Tung. The Navy maintains a small_naval_yard, subsidiary to the principal establishment on the Hongkong side. The Royal Obser- vatory is situated on Mount Elgin; and a large and handsome Police Station for the Water Police occupies an eminence just above the Praya. A steam ferry plies regularly between Tsim-tsa Tsui and Victoria; ferry boats also run between Victoria and Sham Shui Po, Mongkok, Yau-ma-Ti and Hunghom, where the principal docks of the Hong- kong and Whampoa Dock Co. are situated. The Cosmopolitan Dock and works, also belonging to the same Company, are situated at Sam Shui Po. At Hok-ün are also situated the extensive works of the Green Island Cement Co., Ltd., and the patent slip and shipbuilding yard of Messrs. W. S. Bailey & Co., Ltd. The Orient Cigar Factory is situated at Yaumati. Another large reclamation scheme has been carried out in Kow- loon Bay, and upon the land recovered a city is being built designed to appeal, as a place of residence, to the wealthy Chinese merchant returning from abroad. At Kowloon Tong a very extensive area has been levelled and is now largely covered with houses for residential purposes.

In 1898 an agreement was entered into whereby China ceded to Great Britain for ninety-nine years the territory behind Kowloon Peninsula up to a line drawn from Mirs Bay to Deep Bay and the adjacent islands, including Lantao, the extent of the New Territory being about 376 square miles, namely, 286 square miles on the mainland and 90 square miles on the islands. The ceremony of formally taking over the terri- tory was fixed for the 17th April, 1899, when the British flag was to have been hoisted at Taipohu, and the day was declared a general holiday. Attacks, however, having been made on the parties engaged on the preliminary arrangements, the mat-sheds erected for the accommodation of the police having been burnt, and other evidences of organised opposition having been given, it was deemed advisable to assume full jurisdiction on the 16th April, on which date the flag was hoisted by the Hon. Mr. (now Sir) J. H. Stewart Lockhart, C.M.G., Colonial Secretary. Military operations were found necessary to overcome the opposition, and on the 18th April the rebels were completely routed in an action fought at Sheung Tsun, their force numbering some 2,600 men. On the British side there were no fatalities and only one or two slight casualties; on the Chinese side a number were killed and wounded, but the exact figures were not ascertained, those who fell being carried away by their friends. In the Convention it was provided that Kowloon City was to remain Chinese, but, it having been established beyond a doubt that the hands of the Chinese officials were by no means clean in respect