CEMETERIES (Continuation)
G.T.- "I was informed some years ago by one of the Sanitary Inspectors in charge of cemeteries that the Hongkong Electric Co.'s old Power Station in Wanchai stood on the site of the original cemetery and that the tombstones were moved to Happy Valley and placed, many of them at least, in the section just inside the gate of the Protestant Cemetery between the central path and the office.
"As regards old disused cemeteries, what about that at Stanley?
Of late, quite a number of the foreign population have been cremated after death: a Japanese crematorium has been in existence for some years, while the Hindu and Sikh community have necessarily the means of cremation at their disposal. Yet, if the old chronicles are to be believed, it was not until thirty-three years after the Colony was founded that the first cremation took place. The following is taken from the Hongkong Times of March 19, 1874:
* As the first local occurrence of the sort within our knowledge, we may note that the body of Sikh Constable Nasaki Singh, who committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver, underwent the process of cremation last evening. We are informed that the ceremony took place at the Happy Valley, just beyond the eastern gate annexed to the Roman Catholic Cemetery. The body was placed on the top of some bundles of firewood saturated with oil, tar, etc. The whole heap was set on fire, and a volume of smoke, visible at some distance, signalled the fact that the remains had been consumed.
It is possible, of course, that cremations took place even before then, for we know that Sikhs had come to the Colony as early as the Sixties.
CEMETERIES ( Continuation )
G. T.- " I was informed some years ago by one of the Sanitary Inspectors in charge of cemeteries that the Hongkong Electric Co's old Power Station in Wanchai stood on the site of the original cemetery and that the tomb stones were moved to Happy Valley and placed many of them at least, in the section just inside the gate of the Protestant Cemetery between the central path and the office.
" As regards old disused cemeteries, what about that at Stanley ?
Of late quite a number of the foreign population have been cremated after death : a Japanese crematorium has been in existence fro someyears, while the Hindu and Sikh community have necessarily the means of cremation at their disposal. Yet if the old chronicles are to be belie- ved it was not until thirty-three years after the Colony was founded that the first cremation took place. The following is taken from the Hongkong Times of March 19, 1874:.
* As the first local occurrence of the sort with- in our knowledge, we may note that the body of Sikh Cons- table Nasaki Singh, who committed suicide by shooting himself with a revolver, underwent the process of crema- tion last evening. We are informed that the ceremony took place at the Happy Valley just beyond the eastern gate annexed to the Roman Catholic Cemetery. The body was placed on the top of some bundles of firewood satu- rated with oil, tar, etc., The whole heap was set on fire and a volume of smoke, visible at some distance, signalled the fact that the remains had been consumed.
It is possible, of course, that cremations took place even before then, for we know that Shikhs had come to the Colony as early as the Sixties.
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