Sessional_Paper_1902 — Page 346

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Q-For new buildings?

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A-For new buildings and new works in the City, and Kowloon and the Peak. Q-Are inspections made as you report them?

A-Yes, they are made pretty promptly as a rule. In some cases where they are long distances away they write to us: "This will take a man an afternoon or most of the day," probably to inspect a very small thing and "would we mind if they would inspect it at their convenience. In these cases they say "you can occupy the buildings on the understanding that any slight alterations will be made." It is only in cases of works or buildings in the City that we get inspection carried out fairly promptly.

By Mr. Master.-Do you think the Director of Public Works himself has time to attend to the manifold duties he is supposed to undertake ?

A-Yes, I think so.

Q-You don't think he has got more to do than he can do properly?

A-No, I don't think so. His staff may,

but I don't see how the Director of Public Works himself can be overworked. It is a matter of administration.

By Mr. Shewan.-You mean to say that he can delegate the work to his subordinates?

A-Yes.

By Mr. Thurburn.-Do your plans come back within ten days?

A-As a rule.

By the Chairman.-With regard to the roads have you had any experience of road-making?

A-I was at Bridlington for two years where I made roads on a large estate where roads were necessary.

Q-What is your opinion regarding the Hongkong roads? A-I think they are bad.

Q--What reason can you give, speaking from your experience, why they are bad?

A—I think one reason is that the material of which they are composed does not contain either clay or lime, and I think clay or lime is necessary in making good maca- damised roads. Another thing is that they put down too thick a surface at one time. They put down a layer of six or eight inches of clean broken stone and they spread a lot of sand or gravel on the top and roll it, and the fine material has no chance of getting into this layer of loose stones, and, when a heavy load passes along, the road is not strong enough and the stones all move; that is the cause of the holes in the road.

Q-What remedy would you suggest ?

stone.

A-I would suggest that the roads be laid in finer layers, say a couple of inches of Of course, if you were to carry a certain quantity of mud from Canton, I think you would improve the roads a good deal by mixing it up with the sand. I think that is the reason why they have got good roads in Macao. Their sand contains a certain amount of clay, in fact, the soil of Macao is composed of clay and sand.

Q-Take Shanghai, for instance, the roads there seem very good?

A-Shanghai certainly is a mud country. It is nearly all mud.

Q-And you think the roads here could be improved by making the layer not so thick, and by introducing clay into the binding?

A-Yes, clay.