Sessional_Paper_1891 — Page 194

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NEW WING To Government House.

23. The new wing which includes a ball room 60 feet by 40 feet, supper, card and billiard rooms and other accessories is situated at the eastern end of Government House. The contract is dated 15th April last. The work has been pushed on with much energy, and but little remains to be done to complete the work.

QUARTERS FOR SUPERINTENDENT, BOTANICAL DEPARTMENT.

24. Working drawings have been prepared and tenders obtained, and it is proposed to commence these buildings forthwith.

NEW PIER KOWLOON POINT.

25. During the early part of the year the old pier was removed and a new and improved pier of hardwood was constructed to take its place.

NEW PIER FOR Powder MAGAZINE-STONE CUTTERS' Island.

26. The old pier which was in the last stage of decay has been removed and the construction of a new timber pier of hardwood 176 feet long and 10 feet wide was commenced on 25th November last.

REPAIRS TO DAMAGE DONE BY THE GREAT STORM OF 29TH AND 30th May, 1889.

27. These repairs were finally completed in August last at a cost of $106,899; my estimate sent in shortly after the storm occurred having amounted to $112,783.

III.-PUBLIC WORKS RECURRENT,

REPAIRS TO GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.

28. Besides ordinary repairs to the Government buildings generally, Government House has been thoroughly overhauled and repainted externally and internally. The Government Offices, the Supreme Court, the Central Police Station, and the Civil Hospital have also been painted externally. As the flat roof of the great central hall of the Victoria College leaked badly, it was found necessary to remove the lead covering and relay it. This has been done with satisfactory results. The Light- houses have been thoroughly repaired and the landings and approaches at Green Island and Cape D'Aguilar have been greatly improved.

REPAIRS TO ROADS.

29. The roads within the City have been maintained in good condition except in places where the extensive operations of the Water and Drainage Department have rendered it necessary to break up the surface. As almost every street in the City will in the immediate future have to be opened up twice, once for water, and once for drains, it is evident that for some time to come the maintenance of a fairly good surface must prove a work of no small difficulty.

30. Of the district roads outside the City, the carriage road from West Point to Aberdeen has been metalled throughout. All the roads on Hongkong Island have been maintained in good con- dition, with the exception of the bridle road from Aberdeen via Stanley to Shaukiwan, and the pathway from Shaukiwan to Cape D'Aguilar. I have recently gone over the road from Aberdeen to Stanley and thence to Shaukiwan with a view to its repair. This road about 12 miles in length which was originally well laid out has been neglected for many years. The Police Inspector at Stanley told me that the portion from thence to Aberdeen had not been repaired since 1874. The traffic on this road is at present very small, but as it may be expected to increase in future, I hope to be able to arrange shortly to put it into an efficient state of repair. With regard to the track from Shaukiwan to Cape D'Aguilar, as the communication with the Lighthouse is carried on by water, and this part of the Island is almost uninhabited, any considerable outlay on this track would, I think, under present circumstances be hardly justifiable.

31. The roads and streets in the Kowloon Peninsula have been greatly improved and are now in good repair throughout. A new road called Chater Road is being formed by heavy cutting at the back of the Tsimshatsui Police Station. This will materially shorten the approach to the steam ferry from the eastern side of Kowloon. The road from Yaumati and Tsimshatsui to Hung Hom which was previously only a track across the sands, almost impracticable after heavy rain, has been formed along the shore of Hung Hom Bay for a distance of about a mile-thus bringing the thriving industrial village of Hung Hom into direct communication with the western part of the Peninsula and the Kowloon ferry. No sooner was the new road sufficiently advanced for the purpose than public jinrickshas, which had hitherto not existed in Kowloon, were introduced, and are now plying regularly for hire,