557
A start was made next day to provide quarters for the coolies who were to repair the more permanent ones, and to-day I believe, there were to be sufficient coolies out there to start the heading.
At the South Side no miners' quarters were injured but the roofs were blown partly off a couple of coolie quarters but this did not stop the work as the coolies went to Kowloon and came to the work daily.
Mr. Valpy whose house is at the top of the hill at Sha-tin said his house was greatly protected by the mosquito gauze netting which was all round the verandah and which evidently formed a sort of cushion as he was able to remain in his verandah during the height of the storm.
On the rest of the line the damage by the typhoon was small and not such as to cause any delay to the work. The launch Marlow was driven on shore in Tide Cove and a couple of lighters slightly damaged. Some of the jetties were also damaged but very little material was lost.
The heavy rain previous did more damage really than the typhoon. 124 inches was reported from Taipo in twenty-four hours. This caused a heavy flood in the river that runs through the Causeway at Taipo, the water being three feet higher on the inside than on the ontside.
On the reclamation works at Kowloon work stopped for a considerable time and as none of the contractors' European foremen did much, work was a long time in getting started again.
To the Honourable, The Colonial Secretary.
I have, &c.,
(Signed) G. W. EVES,
Chief Resident Engineer.
Enclosure 8 (1).
REPORT BY DISTRICT OFFICER, TAI PO.
The New Territory N. suffered wonderfully little from the typhoon. Apart from the case of the Ying King on the West, and of one trading junk on the East-No. S. 1,503 H.- I can hear of absolutely no loss of life. The loss from the junk the Police have not been able to ascertain exactly, but even there most of the crew escaped.
At Tai Po and Sha T'in a number of junks were driven ashore and of course damaged -details in the Morning Reports of the two days succeeding the storm; in Plover Cove one junk was sunk; but in none of these cases was there any loss of life. I am leaving the Railway damage out of consideration.
The crops over most of the Territory had been harvested before the typhoon; the wet ten days of July had done a lot of barm, and the people worked hard in the two fine days between the wet weather and the typhoon to get in all they could. The rest was of course further damaged by the typhoon, but was far from being entirely ruined. It was beaten fat quite early and so escaped much shaking, and as it was fit to cut, it has all been taken off the fields since, and there was no need to choose between reaping unripe grain and leaving it a little to ripen at the risk of rotting. The San Tin district alone may have suffered very badly; the flood there is only now subsiding sufficiently to allow of harvesting, and much of the crop not previously reaped will no doubt be rotted. No appeals for special help have however been made, and the Crown Rent in each district seems to be coming in at least as fast, if not rather faster than before.
The barometer at Tai Po read 29.15 at 3 a.m. in the typhoon.
No serious collapses, and practically no important shore damage in the villages.
E. R. HALLIFAX,
District Officer.
2nd August, 1908.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.