177
On the 31st December, 1902, there remained as follows:-
No.of Cases. Approximate
Weight.
lbs.
Gunpowder, privately owned,
Do.. Government owned,
Cartridges, privately owned,
6,144 245
137,544
4,270
2,552
318,962
Do., Government owned,
17
1,615
Explosive Compounds, privately owned,
44
1,335
Do.,
Government owned,
434
80,300
Non-explosives, privately owned,
600
Do., Government owned,
Total,...
9,440
544,626
GENERAL.
23. This is probably the last Annual Report of this Departinent which will be signed by me, and being so, I should like to be allowed to make herein a few remarks on the subject of the Bridge across the Harbour which I advocated in the Annual Report for 1901.
I have been favoured with information concerning a bridge about to be built across Sydney Harbour, which is to be 3,000 feet long, and 170 feet above water level. This height is necessary to allow of the passage of ships under the bridge, a require- ment not called for in our case, owing to our good fortune in having an entrance at each end of the Harbour.
The Sydney bridge crosses a portion of the Harbour where the depths are from 6 to 12 fathoms, and is to carry two lines of railway, two roadways of 30 feet each, and two footways of 12 feet each, so that the deck cannot be less than 120 feet wide, 45 feet wider than our new Praya. Tenders have been called for, and so far as my information on that point goes, it seems that those received vary between 14 and 1 millions Sterling.
Hongkong's need for easy communication between the two sides of the Har- bour is, in my opinion, very great, probably greater than that of Sydney. Shipping has increased steadily during the last 20 years from 13 million tons to 21 million tons, entered and cleared. In 20 years also (1881–1901, the population has increased from 160,402 to 283,975. During the last 10 years (the period during which the statis- ties have been kept in the Harbour Department) Cargo, landed and shipped, has increased from 6 million tons to 84 million tons, and the local passenger traffic in Junks and Launches has risen from 44 million to 74 million.
The cry is for more room. Both for inhabitants and for shipping. From a sanitary, economical, and commercial point of view, it is desired. More room for shipping can only be obtained by dredging some of the shallower parts of the Harbour, more room for the inhabitants is already at hand on the Kowloon side of the water; I think it would be well if, instead of providing further space for the increasing population by means of reclamations from the water area, already insufficient for the needs of shipping, all reclamation at or about the harbour frontage was prohibited, and Kowloon and the New Territory utilized and developed, a course which cannot be thoroughly carried out until communication is made easy.
Hongkong has arrived at its present state of prosperity principally by reasou of its natural advantages, first, its geographical position, and, secondly, its excellent harbour. Nothing we can do or leave undone can destroy the former of these advantages, it behoves us, however, to see that it is not rendered ineffective by reason of our reducing the capability of the latter to accommodate the ever-increas- ing amount of shipping, which has been frequently and truly referred to as "the life-blood of the Colony."
Taking Sydney as a rough guide, I suggest that the cost of such a bridge as I advocate will be amply provided for with $9,000,000.
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