[
    {
        "id": 204409,
        "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-1962",
        "page_number": 41,
        "title": "RAS-1962",
        "content_text": "32\n\nG. FINDLAY ANDREW\n\ntravelling for some days over the broad plains of the Kokonor and the first trade centre we reached was the small market town of Tangar. We both had to replenish our cash supply but unfortunately the smallest piece of silver the Scot had was an ingot of some ten taels weight. I took the problem along to the blacksmith smithy in the east gate of the small city. The smith took the ingot and nonchalantly tossed it on to the fire. When sufficiently heated he took it from the fire and laid it on the anvil and commenced to chisel off the required piece of about three taels weight. When old Jock saw the sparks begin to fly he got very excited and jumped in all directions trying to catch them under the firm impression that his precious silver was being dissipated before his very eyes. Of course in the large cities the cash shops had their own silver shears and it was only in the smaller centres that the blacksmith was called upon to act as the travellers' friend in such exchange transactions.\n\nIn the former Tibetan province of Amdo, on the Kansu Tibetan border lies the large lamasery of Labrang. In the days of which I write, the Living Buddha who presided over the destinies of this very large lamasery was Kia Muh Yang. He was reputed to be the owner of a mountain of silver which had been created by the molten silver offerings of the faithful being poured into one solid lump. Thus when the Buddha set off on one of his periodic journeys, all he had to do was to load pack animals with pieces hacked out from the side of his mountain and his finance problems were solved! In another connection, the same practice obtained in the neighbouring lamasery of Kumbum where the gold offerings were melted and poured down the roof of the temple that housed the sacred figure of Tsong Kaaba, the reformer of Lamaism whose birth-place the shrine marks. I wonder whether either the Silver Mountain or the Golden Roof exist to-day?\n\nThe handling of sycee had its own particular problems, perhaps the main one being the assessment of the standard of purity on which subsidiary currency exchange rates were fixed. I shall never forget my feelings when on a certain occasion I opened the boxes of a large consignment of silver which I had received from a Moslem war-lord. Inside was the queerest mixture imaginable of everything approximating to silver either in the form of ornaments or coins. There were bracelets, rings,",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1962.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/9s166f47f",
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    },
    {
        "id": 210087,
        "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": 58,
        "title": "RAS-1984",
        "content_text": "37\n\nSample No. 5 (B-54)\n\nAn unusual type of oracle is found in the temple of Wong Tai Sin (\"the great immortal Huang\") in Kowloon, Hong Kong. This temple attracts great crowds of worshippers but especially devotees concerned with some aspects of their future. The open temple courtyard is often filled to capacity with people shaking small bamboo tubes of oracle slips, available for rent. In the neighbourhood of the temple is a covered hangar, crammed with small stands of diviners. An extremely picturesque scene!\n\n枝上\n\n枝壇普儕壇黄大仙靈第\n\n懺求得虎渡姜龍虎風雲際會時一旦凌霄揚自樂任君來往赴瑶池此仙得家風地耍註」周朝機仙文本快孕家功方周如生宅龍子隆逐求財豐百亦『可則如到龍國若婚病病求姻即財榮天太盡行喬六亨人有音樂枝通至功吉任龍問問問問問問古名出交天自遺風行易時身尖水來風龍意矣。飛功望同愈豐此到是上枝華上發達揚名也之快當時1.徙到豐四即發來處於季得貴皆有又俱兼合喜可平原丁心色喜安物財池臣姜太公上天去揚簽者定百事如意真第一枝上簽也求瑤龍得池虎之象也求快樂即瑶池",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1984.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/5h73wh572",
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    },
    {
        "id": 214062,
        "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-1997",
        "page_number": 130,
        "title": "RAS-1997",
        "content_text": "In order to deliver fresh water to the public. It is interesting to note that, in order to conserve fresh water, a salt-water mains system for flushing was investigated in 1921 and again in 1927 but was not pursued at that time.\n\nAirfields\n\nThe original aerodrome was formed on a wedge of land comprising some 10 hectares (350m long by 275m wide) which had been reclaimed from the shallow waters of Kowloon Bay by a private housing development company established by Sir Kai Ho Kai and Mr Au Tak and bounded on the east and west by large open nullahs, with the first plane taking off in 1924. The reclamation then came under the control of Government in 1927 after the company failed. Government subsequently arranged for the airfield to be extended in 1929 and 1931 to some 83 hectares, partly using as a filling material hydraulic fill, obtained by dredging from the harbour, which was then covered with about a metre of decomposed granite and contained by a concrete blockwork seawall extending some 1.2 kilometres. The three open nullahs crossing the airport field were all covered by 1930, the concrete slab decks being propped by central piers.\n\nA short 457m-long tarmac runway, primarily for civilian use on an east-south-east/west-north-west alignment, together with hardstandings, jetty, control building, offices and a new piled civil hangar near the south-western extremity of the airport were completed in the later thirties which enabled Kai Tak to become viable, not only for flying club and military purposes, but more importantly for scheduled commercial operations which began in 1936 at a time when mail took precedence to passengers. One significant improvement noted at that time was the provision of a concrete slipway for seaplanes to replace the old tedious method of lifting them ashore with a steam-operated crane.\n\nReports that three Royal Air Force squadrons were being sent out to reinforce Hong Kong's defences shortly before the Pacific war prompted planning of a second airport, at a site near Pat Heung (Shek Kong). In 1938 the ground was levelled and grassed over but the scheme was abandoned in early 1940 with the realisation that it would be within range of Japanese artillery following their invasion of Guangdong.",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579",
        "rank": 0
    },
    {
        "id": 214063,
        "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-1997",
        "page_number": 131,
        "title": "RAS-1997",
        "content_text": "98\n\nprovince.\n\nIn 1941, construction of a 457m-long tarmac-surfaced runway at Kai Tak for military use on an approximate south-east/north-west orientation, which had already necessitated the dismantling of the RAF hangar, was due to start on 8th December 1941, the precise day on which the Japanese invaded the New Territories and attacked Kai Tak airport.\n\nMilitary/Defence Works\n\nPrior to the British administration, there were several forts in the New Territories going back to the early years (17th century) of the Ch'ing Dynasty, the oldest existing fort (1717) probably being that on Tung Lung Chau overlooking the narrow Fat Tong Mun passage in the eastern approaches to the harbour, and the largest still remaining at Tung Chung (60m by 80m) on the northern coast of Lantau, which was completed in 1832. Little remains of the old 4m-high walled Kowloon City, a garrison fort (120m by 230m) with its sturdy granite parapet wall complete with embrasures and watchtowers, which was finished in 1847 soon after the British established themselves on Hong Kong Island.\n\nSubsequently, the British military have been involved in a considerable amount of civil engineering. The Royal Engineers were first involved in 1841 in the early construction of Queen's Road in Victoria. Perhaps their most impressive roadworks over the years, constructed before the Pacific war, have been Jat's Incline, which provides access to the upper levels of the steep hills overlooking Kowloon. Nevertheless, the main military engineering effort was expended on providing defences and back-up facilities (for example, naval dockyards, aviation needs, storage depots, barracks, and hospitals), principally against possible seaborne attack by Russia last century and later against the increasingly land/sea invasion threat by Japan in the 1930s. Novel defence measures included excavation of a cavern at Lei Yue Mun towards the end of the nineteenth century to house the sophisticated Brennan torpedo, which, after launching down a ramp, was controlled from the shore with a wire attached to the rudder.\n\nRegarding defence facilities, at the outbreak of the Pacific war in",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-1997.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/wp98g7579",
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    },
    {
        "id": 215811,
        "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-2002",
        "page_number": 110,
        "title": "RAS-2002",
        "content_text": "43\n\nnot be so kind to either side, though. Most days in Hong Kong during these six months would be too hot, too humid, or both. In fact, it was possible for every day in July and August (62 straight days) to experience temperatures exceeding 80°F (27°C). On some days, the temperature neared the 100°F (38°C) mark. Combine this with a punishing humidity (almost 90 per cent relative humidity from April to August), and the result is a formula for misery.\n\nGround operations may be affected because of the painful effects high temperatures and humidity could have on infantry during the heat of battle. Dehydration and heat stroke, just two of the maladies associated with high temperatures and humidity, don't bear the same negative connotation as malaria, but both were just as effective at putting soldiers out of action. The Allies had already experienced these hazards in the Pacific and Burma, both of which boasted even higher temperatures and humidity than Hong Kong. In many of these campaigns, the conditions brought about by the temperature and humidity, like disease, were even more effective than the Japanese in causing Allied casualties.\n\nOn the logistical front, temperature and humidity also affect machinery, of which the Allies had plenty. The tools of war are always operated more intensely than peacetime machinery, and hence are always in need of maintenance. While it is usually more durable than peacetime machinery, military hardware is also more complex. In addition, due to its constant employment, military hardware inevitably breaks down and undergoes attrition, capture, and destruction. The desire of the Allies to maintain the strength and condition of their war machines at optimum levels was part of the reason why their support personnel well outnumbered fighting personnel, especially in the American ranks.\n\nHaving to service the hardware in a hot and humid environment like Hong Kong would be quite an ordeal for maintenance personnel. Moisture from the humidity accelerates the depreciation of equipment. High temperatures, combined with the high temperatures already generated by machinery being brought in during the heat of battle, only further complicate the maintenance problem. If the machinery cannot be serviced in a relatively cool place like a hangar or a shady spot, then the personnel may have to wait until night time or early in the morning, which would consume valuable time. Due to the wholesale clearing",
        "txt_file_path": "txt/dfo323lmgvd/RAS-2002.txt",
        "external_url": "https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/mp4901278",
        "rank": 0
    }
]