THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 27TH SEPTEMBER, 1890. 933
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT,
HONGKONG, 23rd July, 1888.
SIE, In accordance with the instructions received from the Government, I have the honour to report that I have carefully studied the question of the main-drainage of the city of Victoria and now beg to submit the following observa- tions.
Since my arrival in the Colony early in January I have been making myself acquainted with the existing main- drains and I have at length obtained the necessary local information to enable me to lay before you a complete scheme of sewerage and sewage disposal. Accompanying this Report I forward:
1. Diagrams showing the Hongkong rain-fall.
2. Plans showing the tidal currents in the harbour as indicated by oat experiments.
3. Plans showing the existing drains.
4. Plans of the City-Sheets I, II, III, showing the proposed works.
5. Sections along the proposed lines of main sewers.
TOPOGRAPHICAL,
The city of Victoria as will be seen from the Ordnance Survey lies on the northern slope of the range of hills running from east to west across the Island, and extends from North Point on the east to the Sulphur Channel on the west, the harbour forming the northern, and the 400-foot contour line above sea level, the southern boundary of the city. With the exception of the level portion of the lower town between Queen's Road, and the Praya, and of the Wantsai district, the whole of the ground has a steep declivity towards the harbour.
The level portions, to a very large extent, have been reclaimed from the sea and consequently the buildings have heen erected upon made ground of a more or less porous character. The rest of the city is built on disintegrated granite in various stages of decomposition. In some parts the soil is what is locally known as red earth, in others there is a large proportion of hard rock immediately underlying the surface. On studying the levels it will be observed that the city is naturally divided into several distinct drainage areas, the principal water partings running nearly north and south, or at right angles to the line of Praya.
The method of house construction and the habits of the Chinese are subjects which have been dealt with by Mr. CHADWICK, in his exhaustive Report on the Sanitary Condition of Hongkong, as recently as 1882, and as in that Report Mr. CHADWICK enters very fully into native local habits and customs so far as they come within the scope of the Sanitarian I propose here only to add a few supplementary remarks with reference to the growth of the city of Victoria since Mr. CHADWICK's Report was written and to the probable still further extension of the city.
Since 1882 sea reclamations at Kennedytown and Slaughter-house Point on the west and at Causeway Bay on the east, have been carried out by the Government, and the two first of these reclamations are to a considerable extent already built over.
The Causeway Bay reclamation has not yet been utilized for buildings but a few houses have been erected on, the Shaukiwán carriage road a little further to the castward. In the upper town new sites have been opened further up the hillsides above the level of the Bonham and Caine Roads. Many houses in the Chinese quarter have been rebuilt in a better style and increased in height with a view to affording further accommodation.
The population of Victoria in 1882, was 163,000 it is now 180,000.
The western district of the town situated below the level of the Pokfulam Road, High Street and Bonham Road as far eastward as Ladder Street is almost entirely occupied by Chinese tenements with the exception of the Gas Works, the Sailors' Home, the Government Civil Hospital Buildings and some large Godowns or ware-houses along the Praya.
On that portion of the Western District situated above the level of the Pokfulam Road, High Street and Bonham Road no Chinese houses are allowed, a recent local enactment entitled The European District Reservation Ordinance (16 of 1888,) making it illegal to build any but European houses above such levels.
This higher portion of the Western District is at present only partially built over. The line of water conduit from Pokfulam practically bounds the probable future extension southward of building operations in the Western and Central Districts.
The Central District situated between Ladder Street on the west and Garden Road on the east, is occupied below the levels of Gough Street, Gage Street, Lyndhurst Terrace, Wellington Street, and Ice House Lane, mainly by Chinese houses. Along each side of Queen's Road are to be found the better class of Chinese shops, there are however situated along Queen's Road and the Praya, several European shops and most of the mercantile hongs, this being the European business part of the city. The upper portion of the Central District is occupied by European residences and public buildings including Government House, the Government Offices and the Gaol. The Botanical Gardens are also situated in this district. The portion above the Caine Road is only partially built on.
The next division between Garden Road on the west to Arsenal Road on the cast is occupied almost entirely by the Naval and Military buildings. Eastward of Arsenal Road, follows ths thickly populated Chinese district of Wantsai. The buildings along the Eastern Praya are principally ware-houses, there are also, however, some European tenements
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.