[
    {
        "id": 210348,
        "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-1984",
        "page_number": 319,
        "title": "RAS-1984",
        "content_text": "298\n\nWONG TAK YAN\n\nSlaking\n\nThe shell powder from the kiln is heaped up into a pile and water is mixed with it. Smoke appears and the shell powder is converted to lime.\n\nSieving\n\nA further day after the addition of water, the by now already slaked lime is sieved with a copper mesh sieve. The lumps of waste residue after sieving are thrown into the sea to reclaim it.\n\nBagging\n\nThe finished lime is bagged in hemp or grass-cloth sacks of about 100 cattys weight, and is then shipped on small boats to the buyers.\n\nMy family involvement in lime making\n\nThe San Shing Lei (新盛利) lime kiln factory operated by the Wong (黃) family has enjoyed a relatively lengthy history and occupied a distinguished place in the local lime kiln industry. Five generations of the family were involved in it, for more than one hundred years. The Wong family came originally from Chung Shan (中山) county, and our ancestor first came to Hong Kong shortly after Hong Kong was established, to operate a lime kiln in the Western part of the city (西區). Later, at various times, the kiln moved. This was because, as the area became prosperous and developed, so the kiln had to move away to quiet and undeveloped areas near the sea to carry on business. Lime burning is an offensive trade because of the large quantity of lime dust emitted, and also because of the heavy pall of smoke blown about in the first hour after the kiln is lit, while the dry grass is burning. In fact, during lime-burning, local residents and passers-by would all run away to try to avoid this smoke. However, the kiln is not dangerous to health — in fact, kiln workers all enjoy excellent health. The Wong family factory moved to several places: from Western District to Tsimshatsui (near the present railway station area), then to Tai Kok Tsui (near Fuk Wing Street), then to Shamshuipo.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 210349,
        "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-1984",
        "page_number": 320,
        "title": "RAS-1984",
        "content_text": "299\n\n(at the corner of Hoi Tan Street and Pei Ho Street) and finally to Tsing Yi Island.\n\nIn those days security was a matter of self-defence. The factory in consequence kept swords, rattan shields, and six handguns as weapons for defence against bandits.\n\nThe San Shing Lei kiln moved to Tsing Yi in 1915, buying the land to build the factory, and preparing the site by levelling it and reclaiming the sea frontage. It was the first factory to invest and set up there. The factory occupied about 150,000 square feet and had eight kilns for lime burning, and a good number of shelters and other buildings. Every month it could produce 10,000 piculs of lime.\n\nAt that time Tsing Yi was very remote, with only a few residents. Following the establishment of the kiln, this immediately encouraged the development and prosperity of the area. Since the kiln required to buy huge quantities of dried grass from the villagers, and employed more than one hundred workers to operate the kilns, crush the shells and to act as general coolies (most of these workers were Hoi Luk Fung people), and since many of the workers, for their convenience in getting to work, started to live near the factory, so shops could set up nearby and hope for business. Moreover, the pier built by the factory as its private pier was available for general use. Because of this the area around the factory became steadily more prosperous, and outsiders started to invest there, building houses and factories, until the area became a regular market.\n\nIn 1959 the Government built a pier near this market, with ferries to and from Tsuen Wan, Tsing Yi and Hong Kong, thus making it much easier for factories and shops on the island to transport goods, and for residents to travel backwards and forwards.\n\nWhy the Industry declined\n\nIn the 1950s the property industry in Hong Kong began to be very prosperous. Lime was supplied not only to the local industry",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 210350,
        "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-1984",
        "page_number": 321,
        "title": "RAS-1984",
        "content_text": "300\n\nWONG TAK YAN\n\nbut also abroad as far away as Borneo. Raw materials for the kilns were not in short supply. Business was booming.\n\nUnfortunately, despite the good prospects, after several years, lime began to be imported into Hong Kong from both China and Japan. Because of the cheapness of labour in China and the highly mechanised nature of the industry in Japan, the price of the imported product was very low... furthermore, the Government normally insisted on the use of Japanese lime in its public works. As a result, the business of Hong Kong lime kilns had to face very severe competition, and they were unable to keep going. San Shing Lei Lime Kiln Factory closed in the early 1960s, and this historic industry came to a close.\n\nSince then, investment in Hong Kong has continued to grow. Under the influence of the development of the construction industry, land all along the coast has become valuable, and so, one after another, the lime kilns have closed until the industry has become no more than a feature of history.\n\nNOTES\n\nThis note was written in Chinese by Mr. Wong Tak-yan, Chairman, Tsing Yi Trade Association Ltd and President (1984-85) of the Rotary Club of the New Territories, following a lunch speech to the Club by Dr. J.W. Hayes in which he urged members of the Club with interesting family histories relating to the development of the New Territories to commit their memories to writing. The note was translated by the Editor.\n\n2 Plate 42.\n\n3 Plate 43.\n\n4 Plate 44.\n\n5\n\nPlate 45.\n\nPlate 46.\n\nPlate 47.\n\nOne small lime kiln still remains in business at Lau Fau Shan (editor).",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 210351,
        "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-1984",
        "page_number": 322,
        "title": "RAS-1984",
        "content_text": "最氏白\n\n西\n\n利成新\n\n42. San Shing Lei Lime Kiln Factory in the 1950s, \n\nwith the factory's private pier. \n\n43. A mountainous heap of shells from seabed shellfish grounds, waiting to be processed into lime. \n\n301",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572",
        "rank": 0
    }
]