237
"It is, therefore, most important that the work of surveying vessels should be carried on as expeditiously as possible, and the importance of these surveys renders it imperative "that the examination should be thorough; in order to insure these conditions it is neces- "sary that there should be an adequate and efficient staff. It will be seen from the report "of Mr. Dixon attached hereto that the survey of a vessel for Passenger Certificate occupies "himself and his Assistant eight hours, spread over a number of visits, about four. The time consumed, however, on this work is often considerably in excess of this eight hours, as the "ship may be anywhere between the Hunghom Docks and Aberdeen. Other surveys "though not occupying so much time, in each case, are made under somewhat similar "circumstances.
"There are four local Marine Surveyors carrying on business in Hongkong; in addition "to these, some of the Steamship Companies employ special surveyors for their vessels. "The Government Marine Surveyors practically do a very large proportion of the amalga- "mated work of all these, having at the same time to so arrange that if possible there should "be no delay or inconvenience to any one. No easy matter in a place where, as may be "expected, each owner or agent considers his own interest as paramount."
In the same report (1894) I compared the work done at Hongkong by two men with the work done at Liverpool by cleven men and at Cardiff by six men, and I showed that at Liverpool there were about 40 vessels of 92,000 tons per surveyor and at Cardiff 27 vessels of 53,000 tons, while at Hongkong with all its disadvantages of climate, &c., we had 56 vessels of over 100,000 tons to each surveyor.
Once more I must dwell on this subject; the amount of work performed by our surveyors con- tinues to increase and, that it becomes necessary for me to draw attention to it is, I think, ample testi- mony that it is satisfactorily performed, for we all know that public duties ill performed soon declare themselves.
During the eleven months January-November, 1898, the tonnage surveyed at Liverpool was 967,762 tons, in Hongkong during the year 324,610 tons were surveyed, this gives 100,454 tons per surveyor at Liverpool and 162,305 tons per surveyor at Hongkong.
The Revenue derived by the Colony from the work performed by the Marine Surveyors has increased from $10,055.87 in 1890 to $12,634.05 in 1898, the "overtime" fees alone in 1898 amounting to $570.
The Government Marine Surveyors are again presenting a respectful petition asking for a con- sideration of their position and an augmentation of their pay, and this I sincerely trust will meet with the success which, I think, it deserves.
LIGHTHOUSES.
22. The amount of Light Dues collected was as follows :-
CLASS OF VESSELS.
RATE No. OF PER TON. SHIPS.
TONNAGE.
TOTAL FEES |COLLECTED.
$
c.
Ocean Vessels,
Do.,
Steam Launches,
2 cents. 1 cent. do.
58 3,388
62,786 1,569.66
4,787,316
47,873.16
135
4,911
19.11
River Steamers (night-boats),
cent.
4
Do.
do. ),.
do.
827
6,536 624,826
43.57
2,082.96
Launches plying exclusively to
Macao and West River by
night,
do.
River Steamers (day-boats),
Free.
155 1,144
7,998 1,137,127
26.69
Launches plying to Macao and
West River by day,
do.
314
15,516
TOTAL,...
6,025 6,647,016
51,645.15
Telegraphic and telephonic communication has been kept up with the Gap Rock and Cape D'Aguilar during the year. From the former station 829 vessels have been reported as passing, and in addition 215 messages were received and 3,402 sent, including the daily weather report for the Observatory.
From Cape D'Aguilar 1,269 vessels were reported, and in addition 1,829 messages were sent and 24 received.
35 hours and 10 minutes of fog were reported from Gap Rock during the year, and the fog signal gun was fired 223 times. On three occasions the fortnightly relief could not be effected owing to the rough sea.
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