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Mr. Charles Osmund, clerk in the Registrar- General's office, said a register for common Lodging house keepers in the colony had been since 1st January, bat not a single keeper had as yet registered.
FC Poon Cheung, 202, spoke to visiting the defendant's house on three occasions-10th Ja. noary, 10th March, and 20th March. He saw men in the house who worked cargo on teamers. He also saw implements in the house ad tubs containing rice, and on one occasion cht or nine men surrounded a table and were esting rice in the sitting room.
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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
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choose to disregard the by-laws. There | this state of affairs, and with creditable promp- will be no quarter shown, as it is only by dealtitude an armed picket of European, Indian, ing with the keepers in a firm minner they can and Chinese police marched down with a view be taught that they cannot continue to break the to checking any acts of violence or Oases provisions of the Ordinance with impunity. of intimidation that might arise. The pre- The case in which the defendant appeared- senc› of a strong body of police evidently and his name was not in the summons-was in took the coolies by surprise, for they very quickly reageot of the San Chau coolie house, situated altered their determination to intimidate others on the second floor of 15, Li Un Street East and soon dispersed in various directions. One Mr. Johnson, Crown solicitor, appeared for the coolie, however, more daring than the rest, ven- prosecution and Mr. Dennys appeared for the tured to introduce the subject of striking to defendant.
some of the coolies on the Canton steamer, and he was promptly collared and marched off to the police station. Since then there has been no attempt to create a disturbance.
Yesterday morning a large number of coolies at Wanchai left of working at eleven o'clock and when asked for the reason of the stoppage they either replied This blong Sunday or "Master ne got; bab gone.” It is not at all certain whether the Wanchai batch setailly did gồ on strike; it is thought that the more probable explanation is that the lodging house keepers in that part have, in many instances, left the colony for Kowloon | City, and that the coolies left work because of the uneartainty of getting paid. In the afternoon further detachment of coolies in the western district decided to join the ranks of the idlers and these included a large number of rice pounders This increase of the strikers caused a stoppage of work on likb
one of the steamers. l'ermits under the Sunday Cargo Work ing Ordinance had been granted by the Har- bour Master to the captains of three German steamers to unload yesterday, but owing to the dearth of coolies one of them had to remain unloaded. Naturally every one is concerned more particularly with to-day's developments. Yester pay every district was quiet enough, and there were no signs whatever of a strike, but its effects can only be judged on a general working day. It is of course most probable that the ranks of the strikers will be materially increased to-day, but The following is the Bill passed at the meeting it is not thought that the strike will last long or of the Legislative Council on the 26th inst. to that there will be any rioting. The police patrol send the Public Health Ordinance, 1887, in re-along the 'raya has been doubled, in case of Intion to Common Lodging Ho-ises :-
and the police pianaces carry an 1.This Ordinance shall be construed and read one with the Public Health Ordinance, 1837, amended by Ordinance No. 26 of 1890, and all -laws heretofore made thereander shall be deemed to be made under the Public Health Ordinanes, 1887, as horoby further amended.
In answer to Mr. Dennys witness said the sitting room contained blackwood furniture of the ordinary Chinese style. Behind this room as an accountant's room, and behind that thers was a small bed room in which the cook and boy slept. The house was not fitted up in any way for sleeping socommodation and was not like the usual coolie house.
Mr. Johnson said the eviden :e of the constable did not go so far as he thought and he must leave the case in his Worship's hands.
Mr. Dennys submitted that there was abso- lately no evidence that the house was a coolie house.
The summons was dismissed.
The twenty-six remaining summonses were then called on, but as no one appeared in answer to them they were dismissed.
The Public Health Ordinance, 1837, section 3, sub-section 4 (a), (b), is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof the following sub-section is substituted :=
Common Lodging Houses.
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emergency,
extra body of men to protect the interests of the shipowners. It is only by maintaining a firm stand that the coolies can be controlled, and at present it loks as if the authorities were deter- mined this time not to be ruled by the threaten ing attitude of misguided coolies.
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HE, the Governor has arranged for five bundred men of the Rifle Brigade to work cargo for shippers if desired. Shippers will of course have to pay the men. Applications should be addressed to His Excellency's Private Secretary.
26th March.
(a) Any house or part thereof where
usually male persons only are housed-
Yesterday the ranks of the coolies who on Sa. not being members of the same family
turday sought
period of self-imposed idleness to the number of ten persons and upwards were considerably increased, as the whole of (b) Any permanent structure in which the coaling coolies refused to continue work. employers of labour lodge their employés The consequence was that the shipowners wore other than domestic servants or shopmen." | unable to obtain the services of a single coolie on —If any person, who opens or keeps open the steamers in the harbour, and the work of coal- any common lodging house contrary to the pre-ing, loading, and unloading was with two excep visions of section 73 of the Public Health tious carried on by the ships' crows.
The situs Ordinance, 1857, cannot be found, or if the tion is of course rather a serious one for the keeper of any common lodging house which is shipowners, as it is now only possible to proceed opened or kept open contrary to the provisions with the work at half the customary speed; storesaid is absent from the colony, the house.
but notwithstanding this inconvenience they Bolder as defined by the Public Health Ordin- sincerely trust that the Government will anes, 1837, shall be deemed to be the person who remain firm aud give no quarter to the opeus or keeps opạn such house and shall be lodging house Keepers. A representative of liable accordingly.
the Daily Press interviewed a member of one yesterday, and
COOLIE STRIKE.
25th March.. Up to last night three thousand coolies, it was stimated, had gone on strike. The common Lodging house keepers, objecting to the Saui tary Board by-laws with regard to registration, have induced the coolies to stop work by falsely telling them that registration would mean a poll
But fortunately the strike has not, up to present, led to the least disturbance, and, farias can be ascertained, very little inconveni- has been caused in loading and unloading mela in the harbour. It was on Saturday morn ing, about 11.30, when the first signs of dissatis faction we noticed. A large number of street carrying coolies refused to proceed with their work and then the majority of the coolies west of Canton Wharf joined them. The police at Central Police Station were informed of
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of the leading shipping firm asked his opinion of the strike.
If the Government had stood its ground last year, replied this gentleman, thepresent trouble would not have arisen. The keepers would have submitted, for there is absolutely: nothing in the Ordinance that even the most fastidious can take exception to. As it is, I think the strike will continue for at least a week. Pangs of hunger will then bring about a change in the coolie ideas. But something more ought to be done. For my own part I believe that the keepers and stevedores are fea- thering their own nests. We pay the stevedore so much per ton and he engages the coolies. What the coolies get I do not know, but if, in consequence of the Ordinance, the keepers will be unable to accommodate so many sleepers as hitherto, and if they will lose in their takings. then the shipowners might pay an extra amount for the coolies. But I believe the coolies do not get a proper share of the wages, and I also think
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[March 28, 1895.
that the keepers are not so badly of as they would make out. They are simply raising the present ory in order to better themselves. An extra grant to the stevedores would of course make a very big difference, but I do not think that any of the shipowners would object if it is really the case that the keepers will be obliged to raise their prices in consequence of the reduction in the number of lodgers, and if the coolies are unable to pay the increased demands.”
As we announced yesterday Riflemen and convicts have been engaged on steamers, aud it is most probable that to-day all the shipowners will make application for extra assistance, which of course will have to be paid for. Yesterday s hundred privates of the Rife Brigado were engaged in unloading the Verona. The out- ward bound mail steamer Pekin was coaled by upwards of fifty convicts from the goal, and left port yesterday afternoon. The cargoes of all the other steamers were worked by the crews. A few coolies, in the employ of the Godown Com pany, were protected during the day from the violence of the strikers by a company of the Hongkong regiment.
Up to the present there has fortunately been no disturbance, and perhaps the peaceful attitude of the strikers is due to the special watch which is being kept by the police. Armed pickets and a doubled forca of police on duty have without doubt had a very beneficial effect, as the least sign of rioting by the coelies would be in stantly observed and the disturbance nipped in the bad. These special precautions will be con- tinued until the strike is over.
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The Daily Press reportør saw one of the stevedores yesterday and, in an innocent manner, asked him why the coolies were not working on. the steamers. Ob," was the reply of this. Chinese gentleman, the Government wants to license the coolies.” Liceuse the coolies! why should the coolies be licensed ?" asked the press- man. Well they want to register the keepers." Yes, and what has that to do with the coolies ?” pursued the reporter. The reply was,
"The keepers tell the coolies to go on strike because they will have to pay more money. Why do you want to know pi With a the newspaper man left the shop very grateful for this information.
**chin-chin'
THREATENED TROUBLE AT QUARRY BAY. experienced at Messrs. Butterfield and Swire's Yesterday evening considerable difficulty was Sugar Refinery Works at Quarry Bay in get- ting the men to return to work. Two thou and yesterday sand coolies are employed on the premises afternoon they were thres. tened by scores of belligerent strikers with serious consequences if they resumed work. Matters became 80 alarming that the manager decided to send for police assistance. Mr. F. H. May, Captaiu Superintendent of Police, who has been working exceptionally hard during the trouble with the coolies, visited the premises and promised to send a number of armed men to protect the workmen, The cookies, however, were so frightened by the menaces of the strikers that they would not enter the works until seven o'clock, and it was not until half-past seven that they resumed work. By that time a nam ber of armed goustables had arrived and they stationed themselves at various parts of the pre- mines for the purpose of seeing that the coolle were not interfered with. During the late part of the evening a number of samp-1 containing a large number of the strike, using, seen hovering off he works and they werðake there at a late hour last night. Furto police assistance arrived subsequently and ecof precaution was taken for the protection ofth working coolies.
THE CHARGE OF INTIMIDATION A SALUTAry sentence. At the Police Court yesterday, before Mr. H. E. Wodehouse, Chang I, coblie, was charged with intimidating workmon.
An English constable said that on Saturday morning the prisoner was at Canton Wharf when he met another coolie carrying baskets of salt slung on a bamboo. The accused struck the coolie, knocked the baskets off the pole, and threw the pole away.
Mr. Fl. May, Captaia Superintendent of Police, said he asked for the full penalty. The whole efforts of the police were directed to stop- ping violence of this sort, and if it once permitted no one knew when it would stop,
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