Directory_and_Chronicle_1941 — Page 722

A478

HONGKONG

Men's Association. Government House occupies a commanding situation, in picturesque grounds pleasingly laid out, a little above the European business centre, Victoria Gaol is a large structure, with its main entrance from Arbuthnot Road. A branch prison was opened at Lai-chi-kok, Kowloon, in 1920. The Police Barracks and new Central Station adjoin Victoria Gaol, as does the Magistracy, the reconstruction of which was practically completed at the close of 1914. An additional Magistracy was opened at Kowloon in

1924.

The Lunatic Asylum consists of two small buildings, one for Europeans and the other for Chinese, below Bonham Road in the western part of the town. Adjacent is the Government Civil Hospital. The Alice Memorial Hospital is a useful and philanthropic institution; affiliated with it is the Nethersole Hospital on Bonham Road. The Royal Naval Hospital occupies a small eminence near Bowrington, and the Military Hospital, a fine range of buildings, completed in 1907, occupies a commanding site above Bowen Road. The Hongkong Uni- versity, a large and handsome building erected in a commanding position at the west end of the city, was opened in 1912. Queen's College, a commodious structure, which stands on a site having its chief frontage on Hollywood Road is the home of the chief Government educational institution in the Colony. King's College, a fine building accommodating nearly a thousand students was opened in 1926 in Bonham Road. The Belilios Public School for Girls, in Gough Street, is the chief Government centre of female education. Exten- sive new buildings for St. Stephen's Girls' College, however, have been erected on a site between Park Road and Lyttleton Road. The foundation stone was laid by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales during his visit to the Colony in April, 1922, and the building was opened by Lady Stubbs in January, 1924. The Tung Wah Hospital, a Chinese institution, which has been of great utility in the Colony, was considerably enlarged in 1903, and new plague wards were added in 1909. A new wing, to provide accommodation for 120 patients, was com- pleted in 1921. A Tung Wah Eastern Hospital was opened in 1929 by Sir Cecil Clementi at the Caroline Hill Road. A well-designed Plague Hospital for Chinese, situated at Kennedy Town, was also built at the expense of the Chinese community. In April, 1930, Mrs. Southorn (wife of the then Acting Governor, the Hon. Mr. W. T. Southorn) presided at the laying of the founda- tion stone of the Hongkong War Memorial Hospital on Mount Kellet, which was completed in 1932. There is accomodation for about 80 European patients. An up-to-date X Ray department and two excellent operating theatres are features of the new hospital. The Barracks for the garrison are extensive, and the buildings belonging to the Naval Establishment are spacious if not substantial. The chief cantonments lie on both sides of the Queen's Road, between the Cricket Ground and Arsenal Street, Wanchai. Representations have been made to the Imperial authorities to relinquish this area in order that it may be available for the constantly growing needs of the commercial community. Terms for the surrender of the property have been offered to and accepted by the local Government, and it is understood that the new site for the arsenal will be Stonecut- ters' Island. The town has spread to the East on the new Praya, and building deve- lopments are proceeding so rapidly there that it promises to become the most thriving district in the Eastern part of the city. The original scheme, on which work started in 1923, was to level Morrison Hill and build the new reclamation from it, the site of the former hill to have been used as playing fields. As the work progressed, however, the plan altered somewhat. As the core of Morrison Hill was found to be of hard rock, and sufficient earth had been obtained from it already for the reclamation, the base of the hill was left standing and buildings erected on its slopes. The roads on the reclaimed area are de- signed on modern lines, the main thoroughfare being 100 feet and others already for the reclamation, the base of the hill was left standing and build- ings are already being erected on its slopes. The roads on the reclaimed area are designed on modern lines, the main thoroughfare being 100 feet and others 60 feet in width. Godowns and over a thousand Chinese houses of ferro-con- crete have already been built and were scarcely completed before being occupied,