Directory_and_Chronicle_1934 — Page 947

HONGKONG

ia

A531

April, 1872, Sir Arthur Kennedy arrived and assumed the reins of Govern- ment, which he held with such tact and dexterity that he acquired the title of "Good Sir Arthur," and bronze statue of him was erected in the Public Gardens. Under his administration the Colony prospered, but the year 1874 was made memorable in Colonial annals by one of the most destructive typhoons, causing enormous damage and great loss of life. The peaceful reign of Sir Arthur Kennedy was fol- lowed by the stormy administration of Sir John Pope Hennessy, who arrived in April, 1877, and left in March, 1882. In this interval the trade of the Colony increased greatly and Governor Hennessy accumulated a large sur- plus, but public works made little progress, the Breakwater at Causeway Bay being the principal work completed during his administration, while the Observatory was projected. On Christmas Day, 1878, a fire broke out in the Central District of Victoria which destroyed 368 houses and entailed enormous loss on the community. On Sir John's departure Sir William (then Mr.) Marsh, the Colonial Secretary, assumed the Government, and affairs proceeded placidly until the arrival, in March, 1883, of Sir George Bowen. His advent was the signal for great activity in the prosecution of public works, amongst others being the Tytam Waterworks, the Victoria College, the Luna- tic Asylum, the Observatory, and the enlargement of the Government Civil Hospital. He was also the means of securing to the residents the privilege of nominating two of the unofficial members of the Legislative Council. Sir George Bowen left Hongkong on the 19th December, 1885, and another inter- regnum followed. Mr. Marsh administered the Government until April, 1887, when he retired from the service, and Major-General Cameron assumed the reins until the arrival of Governor Sir William G. Des Voeux in October of the same year. The Colony steadily progressed, though naturally with some fluctuations in its prosperity, until in 1889, when, writing to the Secre- tary of State on its condition and prospects, Sir William Des Voeux was able to remark, with obvious satisfaction:-"It may be doubted whether the evid- ences of material and moral achievement, presented as it were in a focus, make anywhere a more forcible appeal to eye and imagination, and whether any other spot on the earth is thus more likely to excite, or much more fully justifies, pride in the name of Englishman." After that date a period of deep depression, arising partly from the fluctuations of exchange, partly from over-speculation, and partly from other causes, was experienced, and continued for five years. Sir William Des Voeux resigned the Governorship on the 7th May, 1891, and, in the absence of the Colonial Secretary, Major- General Digby Barker was sworn

sworn in as

as Acting Governor. Sir William Robinson was appointed Governor and arrived in the Colony on the 10th December, 1891. A petition addressed to the House of Commons at this time in favour of Constitutional Reform resulted, in 1894, in the addition of a second Chinese member to the Legislative Council, in return for an increase in the Official element by the inclusion of the General Officer Commanding the Troops, and the introduction of two nominated Unofficial members into the Executive Council. The year 1894 will be memorable, also in the annals of the Colony as the most disastrous year of the plague. The Colony was declared infected on the 10th May, and the mortality rapidly increased until at one time it reached more than a hundred a day. Energetic measures were taken to cope with the disease, a system of house to house visitation being established by means of which all cases were promptly discovered and at once removed to hospital or, where death had already taken place, buried, and every house in the Chinese quarters was whitewashed and fumigated. Special hospitals were erected and the medical staff was augmented by additions from the Army and Navy and the Coast Forts. Amongst other measures taken to combat the disease, a portion of the Taipingshan district, where the cases were most numerous, was cleared of its inhabitants, for whom accommodation was provided elsewhere, and the property in the condemned area was sub- sequently resumed by the Crown, the intention being that it should be reconstructed in accordance with sanitary requirements. The disease reached