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and at six o'clock on December 1st, 1890, 50 electric lights were switched on in Queen's Road Central, Battery Path, and Upper Albert Road. All testing had been done in secret so nothing would mar the excitement of that first night. On the second night a fault put the electric lights out and sceptics were saying, 'I told you so!' A week later, during rain, the lights went out again, and they were not restored for two days. There were no more breakdowns from then on for 26 years.
Later, all streets west as far as Bonham Strand and Caine Road at Mid-Levels, and, later still, along Queen's Road East and Wanchai Road to Mission Hospital Hill (the present site of Ruttonjee Sanitorium) were lit. Hong Kong and Shanghai were the first two Asian cities to have a public electricity supply, and Hong Kong Electric is the only surviving company of the many that pioneered electric power throughout the Far East. It is one of the oldest suppliers of electricity in the world.
Of the three chief men who pioneered the Hong Kong Electric venture, Bendyshe Layton is credited with providing the momentum, and Sir Paul Chater, who was a director for 37 years, was responsible for finance. Capital amounted to $300,000, divided into 30,000 shares of which half were offered to the public. The third person was William Wickham the electrical engineer. He designed and supervised the building of the first power station and remained as manager of the company until 1910.
Interest in electricity soon developed, and, in the 1890s, the first private homes were wired up and electric fans began to replace punkas. Also, by 1898, the first substation was constructed to service the new tall buildings, which had electric lifts (elevators), along the newly reclaimed waterfront. By 1905 the company was supplying power for 15 lifts, hundreds of fans, the equivalent of 34,500 lamps and street lighting. The Royal Naval Dockyard, near where Queensway now runs, was a blaze of light.
Power was later extended, underground, to West Point, then the centre of the colony's busy night life. Subsequently electricity reached the Peak and Shau Kei Wan, and, by 1916, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau were supplied. Gradually large organisations like Dairy Farm, Taikoo Docks, the Peak Tram and the University, which had been
249
and at six o'clock on December 1st, 1890, 50 electric lights were switched on in Queen's Road Central, Battery Path, and Upper Albert Road. All testing had been done in secret so nothing would mar the excitement of that first night. On the second night a fault put the electric lights out and sceptics were saying, 'I told you so!' A week later, during rain, the lights went out again, and they were not restored for two days. There were no more breakdowns from then on for 26 years.
Later, all streets west as far as Bonham Strand and Caine Road at Mid-Levels, and, later still, along Queen's Road East and Wanchai Road to Mission Hospital Hill (the present site of Ruttonjee Sanitorium) were lit. Hong Kong and Shanghai were the first two Asian cities to have a public electricity supply, and Hong Kong Electric is the only surviving company of the many that pioneered electric power throughout the Far East. It is one of the oldest suppliers of electricity in the world.
Of the three chief men who pioneered the Hong Kong Electric venture, Bendyshe Layton is credited with providing the momentum, and Sir Paul Chater, who was a director for 37 years, was responsible for finance. Capital amounted to $300,000, divided into 30,000 shares of which half were offered to the public. The third person was William Wickham the electrical engineer. He designed and supervised the building of the first power station and remained as manager of the company until 1910.
Interest in electricity soon developed, and, in the 1890s, the first private homes were wired up and electric fans began to replace punkas. Also, by 1898, the first substation was constructed to service the new tall buildings, which had electric lifts (elevators), along the newly reclaimed waterfront. By 1905 the company was supplying power for 15 lifts, hundreds of fans, the equivalent of 34,500 lamps and street lighting. The Royal Naval Dockyard, near where Queensway now runs, was a blaze of light.
Power was later extended, underground, to West Point, then the centre of the colony's busy night life. Subsequently electricity reached the Peak and Shau Kei Wan, and, by 1916, Aberdeen and Ap Lei Chau were supplied. Gradually large organisations like Dairy Farm, Taikoo Docks, the Peak Tram and the University, which had been
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