Sessional_Paper_1902 — Page 251

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stone.

This granite we are using is what is known as telepathic granite, and in rainy weather it breaks up and forms into mud, and in dry weather becomes dust. We have tried to use a harder stone which is composed to a large extent of Hornblende.

We have a good deal of that stone in the Island, and we tried it, but the result was bad. The roads having no foundation and the traffic being light, of the ricksha type, the stone did not wear evenly. The soft part of the road wore away and left the hard part sticking up. The road having no bottom, the traffic pressed the stone down in one place and caused it to work up in another. Consequently a sort of knobby surface was formed which was very uncomfortable to travel over. When the road was widened in Queen's Road, between Murray Barracks and the City Hall, we took the opportunity of putting in a better foundation, and we hand-pitched the road on the South side with nine inches of stone.

Q-What do you mean by hand-pitched?

A--Hand-packed. We put in 9 inches deep of hand-packed stone forming a rough arch under the road which is the proper way to make macadam roads. Secondly, we put hard stone on top of that, and that has never turned into a knobby surface. Conse- quently, when the rest of Queen's Road was almost impassable the other day owing to mud, this part was dry and hard. The complaints I have heard about the roads have been principally during the past twelve months. These complaints were due to the plague during the summer months. When the plague epidemic was on, all the best coolies left and we could not get any to work on the roads except very inferior workmen whom the contractor engaged. These men did not know anything about road-making, and the consequence was that the roads got into a very bad state for want of attention, and, when they did get into bad repair, it meant considerable difficulty to get them put right again. It has only been during the past three months, since the coolies came back again, that we could get the roads properly repaired. The labour we get here, too, is very inferior, and they don't understand road-making as roadmen in England do, and it is difficult to teach them, and then, when you do teach them, they go away elsewhere. We are continually getting in new men, and it is the same thing over again.

proper

Q -It has been a very common subject of comment that the roads of to-day con- trast very unfavourably with the roads that existed formerly. What is the reason of that? You have told us that the first reason is that none of the roads have foundations, and that they do not afford the means of being made good roads, but the fact remains that they were more satisfactory to the public before, without the foundations, than they are to-day.

A--The ricksha traffic is much heavier to-day than it used to be, and truck traffic has increased very much. It is only in the City lower levels that I have heard coin- plaints. Outside of Victoria, I have heard it remarked that the roads are much better than they used to be.

Q--Having discovered that a good road can be made by giving it a proper foundation, why have steps not been taken to adopt this system generally?

A-It would be an enormous expense to do it right away to all the roads in Hongkong.

Q-I have noticed, for instance, that in Queen's Road, from the Barracks right along to the Race Course, you have been repairing the roads for months, I should

say,

and you seem to have covered it with several layers of stone.

One layer is put down, the steam roller is brought along, and some bits are taken up again and other layers put down. Will you kindly let us know your method?

A-That road was one of the roads that got into bad repair in the summer, and the Naval authorities had it opened for the diversion of the nullah close to Murray

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