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a specialist winemaker, and a dogmeat seller. There were several sweet sellers, although details of only one have been remembered. A cattle dealer not only sold and brokered animals, driving them to his clients' homes in the villages on demand, but also slaughtered cattle as needed. Two carpenters and five or six blacksmiths mended the farm implements and made new ones - the carpenters also made furniture and coffins, and sawed planks for various uses. Also working in the timber trade was the boatyard at Sha Lan Ha, as well as building and repairing boats, this establishment made oars and other wooden equipment used on the boats.69 Three tailors and cloth dealers (plus, probably, a number of seamstresses working in their own homes to sew up clothes for them), and a cobbler, made clothes and shoes for the local residents. A pawnshop supplied credit and storage services; this establishment occupied the lower floors of the western gun-tower and the adjacent premises, since the pawn business required secure and strong buildings to store the deposited goods in. On the outskirts of the town were a couple of lime-kilns. Services were provided by a letter-writer, four paper-offerings sellers, a barber, nine doctors and a dentist. Visitors and entertainment seekers were serviced by two tobacco and opium sellers, an opium divan, three restaurants, a gambling house, four or five guesthouses, and ten or twelve prostitutes. Fuel, vegetables, poultry, and certain sorts of handicraft and cooked food were sold by hawkers in the streets. Salt was sold directly from the saltworks.
This breakdown of trades is not markedly dissimilar to those found elsewhere in the area. Most local markets were dominated by "general stores" of various sorts, and most had a surprisingly high number of doctors. Even in 1853, the Basel missionaries noted that, of the 50 shops then in the town, six were "pharmacies", and that most of the major shops were then general stores or wholesalers, probably, in the latter case, fishmongers. The Basel missionaries also mention or imply carpenters, pig slaughterers, and at least one guesthouse (1859). They also refer to a noodle-seller (1882). They noted that some of the larger general stores dealt with traders in Hong Kong. All in all it would seem that the mix of trades in Sha Tau Kok in the 1850s was similar to that 50 years later. At both dates the town had a generally similar mix to other small towns in the region, apart from its entertainment specialities, and the salt, rice, and fish carrying trades. Sha Tau Kok is, however, the only small town in the area known to have had prostitutes - apart from Sha Tau Kok, prostitutes were only found in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Sham Chun and Cheung Chau.
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a specialist winemaker, and a dogmeat seller There were several sweet sellers, although details of only one have been remembered. A cattle dealer not only sold and brokered animals, driving them to his clients' homes in the villages on demand, but also slaughtered cattle as needed. Two carpenters and five or six blacksmiths mended the farm implements and made new ones - the carpenters also made furniture and coffins, and sawed planks for various uses. Also working in the timber trade was the boatyard at Sha Lan Ha, as well as building and repairing boats, this establishment made oars and other wooden equipment used on the boats.69 Three tailors and cloth dealers (plus, probably, a number of seamstresses working in their own homes to sew up clothes for them), and a cobbler, made clothes and shoes for the local residents. A pawnshop supplied credit and storage services; this establishment occupied the lower floors of the western gun-tower and the adjacent premises, since the pawn business required secure and strong buildings to store the deposited goods in On the outskirts of the town were a couple of lime-kilns. Services were provided by a letter-writer, four paper-offerings sellers, a barber, nine doctors and a dentist, Visitors and entertainment seekers were serviced by two tobacco and opium sellers, an opium divan, tree restaurants, a gambling house, four or five guesthouses, and ten or twelve prostitutes, Fuel, vegetables, poultry, and certain sorts of handicraft and cooked food were sold by hawkers in the sticets Salt was sold directly from the saltworks.
This breakdown of trades is not markedly dissimilar to those found elsewhere in the area. Most local markets were dominated by "general stores” of various sorts, and most had a surprisingly high number of doctors. Even in 1853, the Basel missionaries noted that, of the 50 shops then in the town, six were "pharmacies", and that most of the major shops were then general stores or wholesalers, probably, in the latter case, fishmongers," The Basel missionaries also mention or imply carpenters, pig slaughterers, and at least one guesthouse (1859). They also refer to a noodle-seller (1882). They noted that some of the larger general stores dealt with traders in Hong Kong. All in all it would seem that the mix of trades in Sha Tau Kok in the 1850s was similar to that 50 years later. At both dates the town had a generally similar mix to other small towns in the region, apart from its entertainment specialities, and the salt, rice, and fish carrying trades. Sha Tau Kok is, however, the only small town in the area known to have had prostitutes - apart from Sha Tau Kok, prostitutes were only found in Hong Kong, Kowloon, Sham Chun and Cheung Chau,
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