Old Hong Kong-3 — Page 8

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JARDINE MATHESON & CO. (cont.)

584

And if anyone doubts that the sea once lapped alongside, where a side wall of the compound now runs, let him cast his eyes on the rusty iron boat davits still projecting over the waste land which the East Point reclamation (dated 1873) has left in place of those old wharves; where, we like to think, the famous Cutty Sark which was once upon a time under charter to Jardine's berthed.

But even there the tale of romance has not ended, for amid the seeming chaos of a seafront goods-yard we find the very gun which to-day, and every day, announces the hour of noon. How many readers know that the noon gun is fired from East Point, and by Jardine's? And how many more know of the legends attached to that fact, some fanciful, some very near the truth? The gun, about three feet in length, is of the vintage of the Sixties by all appearance, but that it fires off well, and makes a great roar that tells the hour of noontime to all who hearken, proves its fashioners to have been good craftsmen. A chronometer nearby enables the exact moment to be checked, and the old gun tells the world, ashore and afloat, that Jardine's are keeping to their trust.

Details are lacking, but the most authentic story attaching to this daily duty is as follows. It appears that once upon a time, in the somewhat free and easy Fifties, or it may have been in the sonorous Sixties, Sir Robert Jardine was returning to the Colony after a sojourn in the homeland. Such an auspicious occasion called for special recognition, and his associates decided to fire a salute from their guns at East Point. So the head of the illustrious Hong enter-ed the harbour to the sound of gunfire, and if he counted the salvoes he may, or may not, have been surprised to find that he had been accorded twenty-one guns!

But there were others who had counted them—the Admiral and the General, and other officials; and it may be that the Admiral in pithy nautical language, wanted to know all about it. There was a bit of a pother, we know, and the truly royal salute had to be explained. We assume that much of the explanation was accomplished in the good old way, on either side of a table on which there was something other than pens and ink and official foolscap. In the end, by arrangement with the authorities (it may have been the General, or the Admiral, or the Governor, or all of them) the firm of Jardine, Matheson and Co. undertook to fire the noon gun, in penance, in perpetuity.

We can assume that it was an amende honourable that satisfied all parties, for the firm to-day look upon the duty as a privilege; and those of us who set some store by history and tradition, will hope that the custom may continue so long as Hongkong lasts.

There is also a Chinese equivalent in this directory for each Hong name, and in view of the fact, mentioned yesterday, that the name of Ewo for Jardine's was used long after the firm was founded, it is interesting to find the Chinese rendering of the name, as late as 1860, given as Cha-teen, an obvious phonetic translation. The names of the principals at that time are given as Joseph Jardine, Robert Jardine, Alexander Perceval, John Charles Bowring (a son of the Governor, Sir John Bowring), James Macandrew and M. A. Macleod. At that time the firm was represented in Japan by William Keswick, and one of the Hongkong assistants was Herbert St. L. Magniac, a son, presumably, of one of the founders of the firm which William Jardine, James Matheson and Hollingworth Magniac had opened in Macao in the eighteen-twenties (see yesterday's article).

Reference to the race course at Happy Valley (see 31-7-33) conjures up visions of olden-time race meetings, when the gentlemen and their ladies drove down to the valley in victorias drawn by a pair of horses, and the excitement of backers and followers of "form" could not have been any less intense than it is to-day. Through the courtesy of Mr. John Keswick, of Jardine's—a grandson of the William Keswick, a principal of the firm in the Sixties, mentioned earlier in this article—I am permitted to reproduce the following interesting extract from a letter written by his grandfather in 1856. Mr. William Keswick arrived in Hongkong on January 30, 1856, aboard the s.s. Indus. He writes thus of the premises of Jardine, Matheson & Co., whose offices were then at East Point, and mentions the races at Happy Valley:

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JARDINE MATHESON & CO. (cont.) 584 7. And if anyone doubts that the sea once lapped alongside, where a side wall of the compound now runs, let him cast his eyes on the rusty iron boat davits still projecting over the waste land which the East Point reclamation (dated 1873) has left in place of those old wharves; where, we like to think, the famous Cutty Sark which was once upon a time under charter to Jardine's berthed. But even there the tale of romance has not ended, for amid the seeming chaos of a seafront goods-yard we find the very gun which to-day, and every day, announces the hour of noon. How many readers know that the noon gun is fired from East Point, and by Jardine's? And how many more know of the legends attached to that fact, some fanciful, some very near the truth? The gun, about three feet in length, is of the vintage of the Sixties by all appearance, but that it fires off well, and makes a great roar that tells the hour of noontime to all who hearken, proves its fashioners to have been good craftsmen. A chronometer nearby enables the exact moment to be checked, and the old gun tells the world, ashore and afloat, that Jardine's are keeping to their trust. Details are lacking, but the most authentic story attaching to this daily duty is as follows. It appears that once upon a time, in the somewhat free and easy Fifties, or it may have been in the sonorous Sixties, Sir Robert Jardine was returning to the Colony after a sojourn in the homeland. Such an auspicious occasion called for special recognition, and his associates decided to fire a salute from their guns at East Point. So the head of the illustrious Hong enter-ed the harbour to the sound of gunfire, and if he counted the salvoes he may, or may not, have been surprised to find that he had been accorded twenty-one guns! But there were others who had counted them—the Admiral and the General, and other officials; and it may be that the Admiral in pithy nautical language, wanted to know all about it. There was a bit of a pother, we know, and the truly royal salute had to be explained. We assume that much of the explanation was accomplished in the good old way, on either side of a table on which there was something other than pens and ink and official foolscap. In the end, by arrangement with the authorities (it may have been the General, or the Admiral, or the Governor, or all of them) the firm of Jardine, Matheson and Co. undertook to fire the noon gun, in penance, in perpetuity. We can assume that it was an amende honourable that satisfied all parties, for the firm to-day look upon the duty as a privilege; and those of us who set some store by history and tradition, will hope that the custom may continue so long as Hongkong lasts. There is also a Chinese equivalent in this directory for each Hong name, and in view of the fact, mentioned yesterday, that the name of Ewo for Jardine's was used long after the firm was founded, it is interesting to find the Chinese rendering of the name, as late as 1860, given as Cha-teen, an obvious phonetic translation. The names of the principals at that time are given as Joseph Jardine, Robert Jardine, Alexander Perceval, John Charles Bowring (a son of the Governor, Sir John Bowring), James Macandrew and M. A. Macleod. At that time the firm was represented in Japan by William Keswick, and one of the Hongkong assistants was Herbert St. L. Magniac, a son, presumably, of one of the founders of the firm which William Jardine, James Matheson and Hollingworth Magniac had opened in Macao in the eighteen-twenties (see yesterday's article). Reference to the race course at Happy Valley (see 31-7-33) conjures up visions of olden-time race meetings, when the gentlemen and their ladies drove down to the valley in victorias drawn by a pair of horses, and the excitement of backers and followers of "form" could not have been any less intense than it is to-day. Through the courtesy of Mr. John Keswick, of Jardine's—a grandson of the William Keswick, a principal of the firm in the Sixties, mentioned earlier in this article—I am permitted to reproduce the following interesting extract from a letter written by his grandfather in 1856. Mr. William Keswick arrived in Hongkong on January 30, 1856, aboard the s.s. Indus. He writes thus of the premises of Jardine, Matheson & Co., whose offices were then at East Point, and mentions the races at Happy Valley:

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JARDINE MATHESON & CO. (cont.) 584 7. And if anyone doubts that the sea once lapped alongside, where a side wall of the compound now runs, let him cast his eyes on the rusty iron boat davits still projecting over the waste land which the East Point reclamation (dated 1873) has left in place of those old wharves; where, we like to think, the famous Cutty Sark which was once upon a time under charter to Jardine's berthed. V had But even there the tale of romance has not ended, for amid the seeming chaos of a seafront goods-yard we find the very gun which to-day, and every day, anno- unces the hour of noon. How many readers know that the noon gun is fired from East Point, and by Jardine's? And how many more know of the legends attached to that fact, some fanciful, some very near the truth? The gun, about three feet in length, is of the vintage of the Sixties by all appearance, but that it fires off well, and makes a great roar that tells the hour of noontime to all who hearken, proves its fashioners to have been good craftsmen. A chronometer nearby enables the exact moment to be checked, and the old gun tells the world, ashore and afloat, that Jardine's are keeping to their trust. ་ Details are lacking, but the most authentic story attaching to this daily duty is as follows. It appears that once upon a time, in the somewhat free and easy Fifties, or it may have been in the sonorous Sixties, Sir Robert Jardine was returning to the Colony after a sojourn in the homeland. Such an auspicious occasion called for special recognition, and his associates decided to fire a salute from their guns at East Point. So the head of the illustrious Hong enter- ød the harbour to the sound of gunfire, and if he counted the salvoes he may, or may not, have been surprised to find that he had been accorded twenty-one guns! the Admiral and the General, and w But there were others who had counted them other officials; and it may be that the Admiral in pithy nautical language, wanted to know all about it. There was a bit of a pother, we know, and the truly royal salute had to be explained. We assume that much of the explanation was accomplished in the good old way, on either side of a table on which there was something other than pens and ink and official foolscap. In the end, by arrange- ment with the authorities (it may have been the General, or the Admiral, or the Governor, or all of them) the firm of Jardine, Matheson and Co. undertook to fire the noon gun, in penance, in perpetuity. We can assume that it was an amende honourable that satisfied all parties, for the firm to-day look upon the duty as privilege; and those of us who set some store by history and tradition, will hope that the custom may continue so long as Hongkong lasts. * There is also a Chinese equivalent in this directory for each Hong name, and in view of the fact, mentioned yesterday, that the name of Ewo for Jardine's was used long after the firm was founded, it is interesting to find the Chinese rendering of the name, as late as 1860, given as Cha-teen, an obvious phonetic translation. The names of the principals at that time are given as Joseph Jardine, Robert Jardine, Alexander Perceval, John Charles Bowring (a son of the Governor, Sir John Bowring), James Macandrew and M. A. Macleod. At that time the firm was represented in Japan by William Keswick, and one of the Hongkong assistants was Herbert St. L. Magniac, a son, presumably, of one of the founders of the firm which William Jardine, James Matheson and Hollingworth Magniac had opened in Macao in the eighteen-twenties (see yesterday's article). * + Reference to the race course at Happy Valley (see 31-7-33) conjures up visions of olden-time race meetings, when the gentlemen and their ladies drove down to the valley in victorias drawn by a pair of horses, and the excitement of backers and followers of "form" could not have been any less intense than it is to-day. Through the courtesy of Mr. John Keswick, of Jardine's : a grand- son of the William Keswick, a principal of the firm in the Sixties, mentioned earlier in this article I am permitted to reproduce the following interesting extract from a letter written by his grandfather in 1856. Mr. William Keswick arrived in Hongkong on January 30, 1856, aboard the s.s. Indus. He writes thus of the premises of Jardine, Matheson & Co., whose offices were then at East Point, and mentions the races at Happy Valley:

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JARDINE MATHESON & CO. (cont.)

584

had

But even there the tale of romance has not ended, for amid the seeming chaos of a seafront goods-yard we find the very gun which to-day, and every day, anno- unces the hour of noon. How many readers know that the noon gun is fired from East Point, and by Jardine's? And how many more know of the legends attached to that fact, some fanciful, some very near the truth? The gun, about three feet in length, is of the vintage of the Sixties by all appearance, but that it fires off well, and makes a great roar that tells the hour of noontime to all who hearken, proves its fashioners to have been good craftsmen. A chronometer nearby enables the exact moment to be checked, and the old gun tells the world, ashore and afloat, that Jardine's are keeping to their trust.

་

Details are lacking, but the most authentic story attaching to this daily duty is as follows. It appears that once upon a time, in the somewhat free and easy Fifties, or it may have been in the sonorous Sixties, Sir Robert Jardine was returning to the Colony after a sojourn in the homeland. Such an auspicious occasion called for special recognition, and his associates decided to fire a salute from their guns at East Point. So the head of the illustrious Hong enter- ød the harbour to the sound of gunfire, and if he counted the salvoes he may, or may not, have been surprised to find that he had been accorded twenty-one guns!

the Admiral and the General, and

But there were others who had counted them other officials; and it may be that the Admiral in pithy nautical language, wanted to know all about it. There was a bit of a pother, we know, and the truly royal salute had to be explained. We assume that much of the explanation was accomplished in the good old way, on either side of a table on which there was something other than pens and ink and official foolscap. In the end, by arrange- ment with the authorities (it may have been the General, or the Admiral, or the Governor, or all of them) the firm of Jardine, Matheson and Co. undertook to fire the noon gun, in penance, in perpetuity.

We can assume that it was an amende honourable that satisfied all parties, for the firm to-day look upon the duty as privilege; and those of us who set some store by history and tradition, will hope that the custom may continue so long as Hongkong lasts.

Reference to the race course at Happy Valley (see 31-7-33) conjures up visions of olden-time race meetings, when the gentlemen and their ladies drove down to the valley in victorias drawn by a pair of horses, and the excitement of backers and followers of "form" could not have been any less intense than it is to-day. Through the courtesy of Mr. John Keswick, of Jardine's : a grand- son of the William Keswick, a principal of the firm in the Sixties, mentioned earlier in this article I am permitted to reproduce the following interesting extract from a letter written by his grandfather in 1856. Mr. William Keswick arrived in Hongkong on January 30, 1856, aboard the s.s. Indus. He writes thus of the premises of Jardine, Matheson & Co., whose offices were then at East Point, and mentions the races at Happy Valley:

Old Hong Kong-3 — Page 8

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