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before I handed him over to the Police: thus I was able to show that on balance Government had in the end not lost a single cent. Both shroffs were arrested and sentenced later. I then spent a good deal of time, especially on voyages to the islands, drawing up rules for the financial guidance of my successors, but Mr. Wynne Jones, who took over from me in late 1926, thought them too cumbrous, and discarded them.
One of the subjects which used to excite much feeling in the Chinese countryside was the disturbance of graves. In 1930 this occurred at Tai Wan in Lamma, on the big sand bank later excavated by Father Finn, once a leading local centre of Bronze Age culture. The sand diggers had cut away so much sand that coffins buried 2 feet deep in the bank were sticking out, and their contents could be seen. I at once ordered digging to stop till the coffins could be properly disposed of. Enquiries in the village showed that the villagers were not interested; so it was clear no local cemetery had been violated, and the persons buried had most likely been boat people. I believe the sand contractors got the Tung Wa Hospital authorities to remove the coffins: certainly there was no trouble with any local people. The high level and good preservation of these coffins showed that their burial took place long after the Bronze Age.
One troublesome class of case was the 'fung shui' difficulty caused by digging a new grave on a hill ridge not far above an older one. If the family owning the latter lost a child or two by smallpox or other complaint, they would conclude that their ancestor was displeased with them for letting a deceased stranger ‘ride' his grave, and so hinder the good influences of the site reaching him. Such cases might have to be settled by removal of the later grave, or by some compensation to the aggrieved family.
One crime that often came before my court in the office was stealing sand for building. Sand collecting was regulated by a system of permits, allowing junk masters to collect sand at selected beaches, each junk having its own collecting beach. Sand shortage was serious from 1924 to 1926, when concrete was coming into fashion for building, and between the demands of builders, and the interests of New Territory cultivators of land behind the sand banks, there was acute conflict, which sometimes grew into a shooting match. One such conflict took place at Sha Lo Wan in Northwest Lantau; this village was very jealous of the fine sandbank protecting its fields, and had licensed gun owners; so the junk
154
W. SCHOFIELD
before I handed him over to the Police: thus I was able to show that on balance Government had in the end not lost a single cent. Both shroffs were arrested and sentenced later. I then spent a good deal of time, especially on voyages to the islands, drawing up rules for the financial guidance of my successors. but Mr. Wynne Jones, who took over from me in late 1926, thought them too cumbrous, and discarded them.
One of the subjects which used to excite much feeling in the Chinese countryside was the disturbance of graves. In 1930 this occurred at Tai Wan in Lamma, on the big sand bank later excavat- ed by Father Finn, once a leading local centre of Bronze Age culture. The sand diggers had cut away so much sand that coffins buried 2 feet deep in the bank were sticking out, and their contents could be seen. I at once ordered digging to stop till the coffins could be properly disposed of. Enquiries in the village showed that the villagers were not interested; so it was clear no local cemetery had been violated, and the persons buried had most likely been boat people. I believe the sand contractors got the Tung Wa Hospital authorities to remove the coffins: certainly there was no trouble with any local people. The high level and good preservation of these coffins showed that their burial took place long after the Bronze Age. One troublesome class of case was the 'fung shui' difficulty caused by digging a new grave on a hill ridge not far above an older one. If the family owning the latter lost a child or two by smallpox or other complaint, they would conclude that their ancestor was displeased with them for letting a deceased stranger ‘ride' his grave, and so hinder the good influences of the site reach- ing him. Such cases might have to be settled by removal of the later grave, or by some compensation to the aggrieved family.
One crime that often came before my court in the office was stealing sand for building. Sand collecting was regulated by a system of permits, allowing junk masters to collect sand at selected beaches, each junk having its own collecting beach. Sand shortage was serious from 1924 to 1926, when concrete was coming into fashion for building, and between the demands of builders, and the interests of New Territory cultivators of land behind the sand banks, there was acute conflict, which sometimes grew into a shoot- ing match. One such conflict took place at Sha Lo Wan in North- west Lantau; this village was very jealous of the fine sandbank protecting its fields, and had licensed gun owners; so the junk
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