[ { "id": 215559, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 336, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "286\n\nof gravity of the tower low and to afford the minimum resistance to wind and wave. This lighthouse became superfluous and stopped operating in 1896 after Waglan lighthouse came into operation in 1893.\n\nSeveral considerations\n\nIn building Hong Kong's first lighthouse many factors were considered, such as need, finance, location, the apparatus to be installed and the staff.\n\nIn the beginning of the 1870s the need to erect lighthouses was envisaged by the Western mercantile community. In fact, in 1872, the combined tonnage, outwards and inwards, amounted to about six million. The need to provide navigational aids for the heavy sea traffic was thus obvious. The revenue raised by levying vessels entering Victoria Harbour would be able to support the running costs of lighthouses.12\n\nSurveys were conducted to look for suitable sites on which to erect lighthouses to light the approaches to Hong Kong harbour. The three best sites were considered to be,\n\n• Waglan, an island off the south-eastern extremity of Hong Kong,\n\n• The North East head of Lema Island, and\n\n• Gap Rock, 26 miles southward of Hong Kong.\n\nHowever, all these three were then under Chinese jurisdiction. Negotiations with the Chinese Government did not reach satisfactory conclusions for both parties. This was because the Chinese Government would not cede or lease any island for such purposes and the British Government did not wish to spend money on projects not under its direct control.\n\nThe second-best sites, all within the jurisdiction of Hong Kong, were considered to be Cape D'Aguilar, Green Island and Cape Collinson, as reported by the Harbour Master, H.G. Thomsett in March 1873. Lighthouses in these places would cover the eastern entrance and the western entrance to Hong Kong harbour. Eventually, this is", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215560, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 337, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "287\n\nwhere the first three lighthouses were built.\n\nTo manage the new lighthouses a 30-year-old man from the county of Surrey, Mr. Archibald Baird, was recruited in England. He received training at Trinity House in London,13 for a fortnight, to gain experience with various Dioptric Lamps and their management.14 He also stayed with Messrs. Chance Brothers, the manufacturer of the apparatus, for another fortnight to acquire further working knowledge.15 He arrived in Hong Kong in 1874 in the capacity of Principal Light Keeper for Cape D'Aguilar. He was also responsible for the supervision of the lights at Cape Collinson and Green Island, although all these lighthouses were not yet in operation.\n\nGreen Island Lighthouse\n\nGreen Island Lighthouse started to operate on 1st July 1875, about three months after Cape D'Aguilar Lighthouse was set up. The illuminating apparatus was fixed dioptic of the fourth Order showing a red light on the bearings from N. 16 E. to S. 18 E. (146 degrees). From N. 16 E. to N. 44 W. (60 degrees) and from S. 18 E. to S. 25 W. (43 degrees) it showed a green light. The focal plane of the light is 95 feet above mean sea level and in clear weather it should be seen at a distance of 14 miles.16\n\nThe small round Green Island lighthouse tower is constructed of granite and is about 12 metres high. Its arched doorway is decorated with granite blocks with a cross-shaped opening above. In comparison to Cape D'Aguilar, Green Island Lighthouse cost much less, about one sixth of the cost for the Cape D'Aguilar lighthouse.17\n\nWhen the Cape D'Aguilar Light became obsolete after the construction of Waglan Island Lighthouse, in 1893, Governor Henry Blake later proposed to move the lantern of Cape D'Aguilar to Green Island.18 In 1905 a higher and larger tower to accommodate the Cape D'Aguilar Light was completed and the new lighthouse on Green Island came into operation the following year. It has a round tower, is 17.6 metres high and is constructed of granite and concrete with a spiral staircase. The steel lantern on top of the tower is painted white.19", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215561, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 338, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "288\n\nCape Collinson Lighthouse\n\nThe light at Cape Collinson was established on 1st March 1876, the year following the other two lighthouses. The reason for being later was that its apparatus was mistakenly sent to the Cape of Good Hope. The illuminating apparatus was fixed Dioptric of the Sixth Order. The focal plane of the light was 200 feet above mean sea level, and in clear weather it could be seen for a distance of eight miles. This lighthouse showed a white light on the bearings from N. 22 W. by East to S. 22 E. Ships heading for Victoria Harbour from the North and the Eastward were thus able to avoid Bokhara and Tathong Rocks, also the rocks outlying Sy Wan Bay by keeping the white light in sight. It also showed a red light from S. 22 E. by West to N. 22 W.20\n\nWhen all three lighthouses were first in operation, vessels entering Hong Kong harbour were adequately provided with navigational aids. Gradually, as time passed, lighthouses were required to display their own distinguishing characteristics and to repeat these at shorter intervals for more frequent observation as the speeds of steamships increased. In the beginning of the 20th century an 18-knot ship could travel over a quarter of a mile every minute. The older optics that revolved at the speed of four minutes per revolution were replaced by new ones revolving at 15 or 20 seconds. This was made possible by floating the lantern in a mercury bath causing it to revolve with minimum friction. This new technique was installed in lighthouses built in the 1890s.\n\nNew lighthouses\n\nIn 1892 and 1893, after much discussion and negotiation between Hong Kong and China, lighthouses were built on the two best sites initially chosen to light the approaches to Hong Kong: namely on Gap Rock and Waglan.\n\nAs early as 1867, before the building of the first lighthouse in Hong Kong, Commander Reed, a naval surveyor, was instructed to investigate suitable locations for lighthouses to cover the port approaches. He proposed Waglan Island and Gap Rock, small islands to the south of Hong Kong Island en route to Singapore. However, as neither of the proposed locations was within Hong Kong waters, these recommendations were not pursued.21", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215565, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 342, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "292\n\nI am sorry I cannot tell you much about the life of the keepers. If you have not been able to question Charlie Thirlwell (and people like him) then it is likely their story has gone forever. Sad, but so many stories are already lost.\n\nThe good news however is that, over a period spanning approaching half a century, the author has been able to question, off and on, some of Hong Kong's lighthouse keepers, together with seafarers and Government Marine Department staff. Accounts given by them and the life keepers led are detailed in this paper. Much of the material is based on oral history gleaned in discussions with Government Marine Department staff, both serving and retired, as well as other persons. Both authors have made several visits to Hong Kong's lighthouses and have appeared on television programmes about them (Video; 2001).\n\nEmphasis in this paper has been placed on Waglan Lighthouse because, situated approaching five kilometres from and to the south of Cape D'Aguilar, and nearly 13 kilometres from Lei Yue Mun, Waglan is the most isolated lighthouse in the Territory (Banister; 1932, 50) (Lee, HC). Other lighthouses include those at Cape D'Aguilar and Cape Collinson, both on Hong Kong Island. Others at Green Island and Kap Sing lighthouse are both within harbour limits.\n\nClimatic conditions\n\nThe author recalls visiting Waglan Lighthouse with the Royal Asiatic Society (Hong Kong Branch) by boat on a lovely afternoon on Saturday 9th June 1990. Indeed on some days out there in the South China Sea it can be idyllic - a not-to-be-forgotten experience. Terrence Courtney, an Australian who served as Superintendent of Lights in the late 1950s and '60s, used to stay overnight on the island because he found it ‘enchanting.' He slept in an isolated, small, brick building which is still standing.\n\nBut the helipad, constructed in mid-1982, destroyed much of the romance although helicopters do of course provide a vital service - if a keeper fell seriously ill for example. Also, they were useful for getting keepers on and off Waglan in bad weather. Previously, it had sometimes meant their being hauled up or lowered in a basket which served the", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215567, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 344, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "294\n\nwere smashed by the mass of water being blown against them.\n\nThe Royal Observatory reported:\n\nGap Rock is lying very near the track of the worst typhoons that have been felt in the Colony, in an exposed position, and the conformation of the sea bottom, as well as the shape of the rocks causes the sea to be much worse than in other places (Bruce; 1990, 3).\n\nIt was reported in 1984, that the Royal Observatory and the Guangdong Meteorological Bureau had signed an agreement to set up a joint venture automatic weather station on Huang Mao Zhou, about two kilometres from Gap Rock so, presumably, the weather is as interesting today as it was in the 1890s (Bruce; 1990; 3).\n\nIt is obvious that lighthouses have to withstand immense force during bad typhoons. Consequently, they are designed circular on plan so as to offer the least resistance to both wind and sea. Lighthouses are expensive to construct. Nevertheless, like the cast-iron tower at Waglan, they can be reasonably pleasing in appearance.\n\nBefore December 1952, and from 1964 onwards, weather observations on Waglan were taken by Marine Department lighthouse keepers and transmitted by radio (Hong Kong Observatory; 1999). 33 The Observatory staff started taking weather observations on Waglan in 1952 and withdrew from the Island to the meteorological station at Cape Collinson Lighthouse in 1964.\n\nAs Waglan was no longer manned after 1989, the observatory constructed an automated weather station on the Island. The old weather recording station and a small store where equipment was housed were still there when the author visited in 1999, although the latter is no longer used. But the typhoon mast, where signals used to be hoisted, has been taken down.\n\nWater supply\n\nWaglan has no wells or springs. Keepers depended on rainfall for their water supply. Catchment areas consisted of roofs of a clutch", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215571, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 348, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "298\n\nmain lamp in the lighthouse could, allowing for the curvature of the earth, be seen for a distance of about 26 nautical miles (one nautical mile equals 1,852 metres). If because of fog, the light's visibility was reduced to less than two nautical miles, the fog horn system would switch on automatically. It could also be switched on by radio.\n\nAfter World War Two there was a hotline radio link to Cape Collinson, on Hong Kong Island, from where calls could be relayed elsewhere. In the years leading up to automation, in 1989, a direct exchange line telephone was provided in the air-conditioned communications tower to enable staff to keep in touch with their homes. No relatives or friends were allowed on the island. There was also an inter-communication system installed at Waglan so that staff could communicate between buildings on the island.\n\nCreature comforts and sustenance\n\nLike life for the man on the top of a tram in Wanchai, living conditions improved considerably over the years for lighthouse staff. In earlier years staff would stock up larders with enough food to last keepers for a full tour of duty. A few days later food would no longer be fresh. In more recent years they had refrigerators. In the first instance these were powered with kerosene. Electricity had to be used sparingly and was available from dusk to dawn when the beacon light was switched on.\n\n37\n\nStaples were different kinds of noodles, meat, vegetables and fish.3 The last was supplemented by delicious fish which they caught themselves, by line or cage. These were commonly nai mang ue and sek gau kong. It was much tastier than the salted fare which they ate in earlier days.\n\nLittle food was wasted. Waglan was a homely place. They kept pets. The half dozen or so cats finished off leftovers. In addition, some staff with green fingers would grow vegetables and bring shrubs and flowers back to the Island after shore leave, to plant and beautify their surroundings. In the days when the lighthouse was manned there was a bed of red-leaf flowers grown in the shape of 'WL,' standing for Waglan. As Superintendent of Lights, Yip Kin-sang, told the author, lighthouse keepers had a strong sense of belonging.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 }, { "id": 215582, "series_id": 26, "series_slug": "histsyn-rashkb-journal-engine", "series_title": "RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊", "series_use_hku_proxy": false, "document_key": "RAS-2001", "page_number": 359, "title": "RAS-2001", "content_text": "309\n\n19 Antiquities Advisory Board site visit 1996.\n\n20 HKGG 12 February, 1876, p. 87.\n\n21 http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/dept/pressrelease/dec/2912h.html\n\n22 HKPRO HKRS156 1/144 No.49, 1888 May 21.\n\n23 The Hong Kong Chamber of Commerce, on page 330 under the heading Gap Rock Lighthouse.\n\n24 T. Roger Banister (1932). The Coastwise Lights of China, Shanghai: Inspectorate General of Customs, Statistical Department.\n\n25 Patrick Beaver (1973). A History of Lighthouses, Citadel Press, p.5.\n\nPart Two\n\n26 Loran (Long range navigation) is a navigational system operating over long distances. Synchronized pulses are transmitted from widely spaced radio stations to aircraft or shipping, the time of arrival of the pulses being used to determine positions.\n\n27 Tat Hong Lighthouse, on Tung Lung Island, was the last to be manned in Hong Kong. It was manned by two technicians until 1993.\n\n28 [Hon. Editor - Died 27th December 2002. R.I.P.]\n\n29 The author was informed by retired Marine Department staff member, James Deakin, in 1990, that a baby was born in the Cape Collinson Lighthouse at the turn of the century. On reaching maturity, he too became a lighthouse keeper.\n\nAs another aside, in Ma Wan Village, not far from Kap Sing Lighthouse, a large quantity of gold was discovered on Tung Lung Island after World War Two. This was handed over to the government.\n\n30 In the spring of 1999, the dilapidated basket was still kept in a store (which had a telephone when the lighthouse was manned), halfway up the steps to Waglan Lighthouse.", "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2001.txt", "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/zg651950g", "rank": 0 } ]