Directory_and_Chronicle_1935 — Page 914

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HONGKONG

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pound. Union Church, a rather pleasing edifice in the Italian style of archi- tecture, with a spire, and containing accommodation for about 500 persons, formerly stood in Staunton street, but was rebuilt in 1890, on the plan of the old building, on a new site above the Kennedy Road. This church possesses an organ, and the three rose windows are filled with stained glass. A second Union Church was opened in Kowloon in 1931. A Wesleyan chapel stands at the junction of Queen's Road and Kennedy Road; this was enlarged in 1904. A Wesleyan Sailors Home stands on Praya East next to Sailors' and Soldiers', Home, it is a fine, well planned building and was opened on 30th January, 1929, by Sir Cecil Clementi. The Roman Catholic Cathedral situated in Glenealy, near the Botanic Gardens, is a large structure in the Gothic style;i it was opened for worship in 1888. A campanile tower with a small spire: surmounting it was completed in 1904 to receive a new peal of five bells. St. Joseph's Church, in Garden Road, is a neat edifice erected in 1876 on the site of one destroyed by the great typhoon of 1874; St. Anthony's Church on the Bonham Road, near West Point, is an ugly structure, erected in 1892 by the munificence of a late Portuguese resident; St. Francis' Church, at Wanchai, and the Church of the Sacred Heart, at West Point, are small and unattrac tive structures. St. Margaret's Church, Happy Valley was erected a few years ago in order to meet the growing needs of the Catholic Community. It is a fine handsome building. A new Chinese Church, Church of Christ in China, was opened at the junction of Bonham Road and Caine Road in 1926. The Jewish Synagogue was erected in 1901, and is situated on the northern side of Robinson Road. It is a plain but roomy edifice with two squat towers surmounted by spirets. The entire cost of the Church was borne by Mr. (afterwards Sir) Jacob Sassoon. There are two Mahomedan, Mosques, one in Shelley Street and the other at Kowloon, the latter being for the accommoda- tion of the men of the Indian Mahomedan regiments quartered on the penin- sula. A Sikh temple was, in 1902, erected near the Wanchai Road approach to the Happy Valley. There are also several Protestant mission chapels. A Christian Science Church was built on Macdonnell Road in 1911. St. Joseph's College, a school for boys managed by the Christian Brothers (Roman Catho lic), occupies a large and handsome building on a prominent site below Mac- donnel Road, La Salle College, the biggest educational institution in the Colony was built in 1932. The Italian Convent, in Caine Road, educates a large number, of girls, and brings up many orphans gratuitously. Other denominations likewise support charitable establishments, conspicuous among which are the Diocesan Home and Orphanage, the Baxter Vernacular School, the Victoria Female Home and Orphanage, &c. St. Paul's College, situated between Ped der's Hill and Glenealy Ravine, was erected in 1850, and was originally found ed for the purpose of giving a theological training to young Chinese and others intended for the, ministry of the Anglican Church, but is now an ordinary school. A small chapel is attached.

The Protestant, Roman Catholic, Parsec, Jewish, and Mahomedan Ceme- teries occupy sites in Wong-nei Chung Valley and are kept in good order. The Protestant Cemetery is almost a rival to the Public Gardens, being char- mingly situated and admirably laid out with fountains, flower beds, and ornamental shrubs. The principal Chinese cemetery is on the slopes of Mount Davies, near the Pokfolum Road, and is injudiciously crowded and dismally bare, but it is a Confucian maxim that "places of burial should not be made to resemble pleasure-gardens."

The Hongkong Tramways, Limited, operate electric tramway services in the City of Victoria, the total route length being 104 miles and extends along practically the whole length of the Northern Waterfront of Hongkong, i.e., from Kennedy Town to the village of Shaukiwan as well as Happy Valley.

The first car ran through the City in 1904 amidst great excitement among the Chinese. The fares are at the flat rate of 10 cents first class and 5 cents second class.