Sessional_Paper_1906 — Page 669

544

The metallic circuiting of the following sections of the Government Telephone System was completed during the year :-

North Point to Shaukiwan.

Shaukiwan to Stanley.

Central Police Station to Victoria Gap.

Do.

do. to Des Voeux Road.

Do.

do.

to Government Offices.

Do.

do.

to No. 7 Police Station.

With regard to the last-mentioned section, as the old route by Des Voeux Road was incapable of accommodating the additional wires rendered necessary by the adoption of metallic circuiting, a new and additional route by way of Caine and Hospital Roads and Second Street had to be constructed.

The cable to Gap Rock Lighthouse became defective about the end of June and broke close to Gap Rock in the beginning of August. Temporary repairs were executed depart- mentally as the services of a cable ship were not available at the time. Towards the end of August, the cable ship "Store Nordiske", which was repairing one of the Great North- ern Co.'s cables in the vicinity of Hongkong, was chartered to lay a new shore end to replace the part which had given way, and this was successfully accomplished on the 24th August. Unfortunately, the cable was again broken during the typhoon of the 30th August and communication was once more interrupted. Repeated attempts were made to effect further repairs departmentally but, on account of the rough seas prevailing, it was not until the 14th December that they were successful, communication being restored on that date. possible protection to the cable, where it comes in contact with the rock, is being arranged for to obviate a repetition of the occurrence.

All

30. Maintenance of Telegraphs, New Territory.-The re-construction of the telephone line between Tai Po and Sheung Shui with iron poles in place of wooden ones was undertaken, but had not reached completion at the close of the year. In carrying out the work, arrangements were made for leading the lines to Au Tau and Ping Shau by this route, thus abolishing the line through the Lam Tsun Valley. Though somewhat longer. maintenance will be facilitated by this arrangement and the additional poles required by the present independent route will be saved. Many of the timber poles throughout the New Territory were found to be decayed and were replaced by iron poles, 84 of which were fixed.

31. Maintenance of Pruya Wall and Piers.-One of the principal works undertaken under this heading was the extension and repair of the masonry pier opposite the end of Obser- vation Place, Praya East, which is a somewhat important one as it is mest conveniently situated for parties landing from ships to go to Happy Valley. Owing to the shallowness of the water alongside and the damages caused by storins, the pier had become of very little service: An extension of 75 feet, bringing its total length up to 155 feet, was carried out, the old concrete blocks left over from the Praya Reclamation Works being utilized for the purpose, and the old portion of the pier was thoroughly repaired. Some dredging was also done in the neighbourhood of the pier to improve the depth of water.

The Police Pier at Tsim Sha Tsui Point was extensively repaired and put in good order, all decayed timbers being removed and replaced by new ones.

Some necessary repairs were executed at some of the other public piers but these were not extensive. Kowloon City Pier is in a very dilapidated condition but, as it is intended to reconstruct it in ferro-concrete at an early date, repairs were confined to rendering the deck safe for passengers.

The following were the principal items of expenditure :—

Tsim Sha Tsui Pier-Repairs,

$4,853

Observation Place Pier-Extension and Repairs, Temporary Pier adjoining Telegraph Office-General

4,695

inaintenance,.....

742

Blake Pier-Repairs,

675