CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT
falling
ster's Office,
made ast. rete blooks, and people call
Th the
it
at once stepped rgo boat and ran ashore. My
the waye turned i
ree or four times boat away from the blocks, know how long the boat is. The ding position outwards into low water at the time. I it inside the line of the om up, and it was towed away It was not damaged. The de- ased both arms when she rowed. I do not know whether she was crippled.
probab
gges
be 1
to the
13tr
goods to
oh an ac
Witness
section
ident
hole
will not occur agair may or may not There were no signs of this and we never anticipated it. thing, was settling as gradually as it' ossibly could. I never dreant of such a thing.
The
But about precantions for the future. accident has happened once and it may happen again?—The boat people find it more convenient to get behind the blocks, a as they form a nice shelter for the sampans. There were at the time of the accident two of my men on the blocks and when the subsidence took place they went to the other end.
His Worship said he would have these men called to-day..
This cond
advised the was by drowning, looks, and tha quite competen
boats should not be allowed near as such accidents were very would be interfered with he did the jury would consider such
The jury returned the following Death by drowning caused of 960 feet of the Praya Reclar attach no blame
added.
anybody
INDIAN FAMINE RELIEF FUND.
the Indian acknowledge
Indian Constable 693 said-On Sunday after- noon, about 5.40, I was on duty in Winglok Street. I saw a big crowd of Chinese on the Witness-The only objection to keeping Praya and I went to see what was the matter.away the sampans is that we do not want to I saw that a number of concrete blocks had interfere with the traffic. I have never in- fallen. I recovered the body of the deceased terfered with the boat people or made any from the water and reported the matter to the suggestion to the Government that they should Police Station. I do not know which way the be kept away, because I did not wish to in-receipt of the undernoted subsc blocks fell. - The body was between the blocks terfere with the traffic of the port. There and the Praya.
are three notices in Chinese posted up warning the sampan people.
ܪ܂
Inspector Kemp here told the Magistrate that the first witness's boat was 15 feet 9 inches long.
There are three notices ?-Yes; they were put up by the overseers.
There are three notices in Chinese P~~~Yos, : I think so.
Warning people to keep_dway ?—Yes, but we have never interfered with them except when the work was going on.
Dr. Renny, whose evidence was taken at the hospital, said that the death of the woman was due to asphyxia caused by drowning. The right upper arm of the deceased was broken, and the injury was inflicted by either a blow or crush.
His Worship here adjourned the inquest until 11.30 next morning.
The inquest was resumed by Commander Hastings on the 9th March.
Mr. E. Bowdler said—I am the engineer in charge of the Praya Reclamation works and have been since the commencement of the works in 1889. I know where the accident happened. The subsidence took place about 300 feet on the western side of the Harbour Office in section No. 4. I visited the spot at 7.15 p.m. on Sun. day afternoon. It was not dead low water at that time. The length of the subsidence was 36 feet and there has been a gradual subaidence over a length of 326 feet. No blocks have fallen over. They went down perfectly, level in the centre. On the western side they went over one inch to the foot towards the sea and on the eastern side in 16 feet the subsidence was 4 feet 6 inches to seaward. The weighting blocks coming from the westward extended to about 150 feet of the length of the subsidence. The weighting blocks are 22 tons to the lineal foot and they were 44 feet high. The rubble stone founda- tion has gone down to about 60 feet below datum on a line of 100 feet wide, or 72 feet below the coping. Some of the blocks have been John Minhinnett, overseer in the Public there five or six week; a few of them perhaps Works Department and employed on the Praya longer. Some were placed there on Sunday. Reclamation, said-I left the scene of the ac- The eastern ones were those most recentlycident about a quarter of an hour before it hap- placed.
pened. There had up to that time been no unusual settling down of the blocks. About 350 feet which had been weighted had settled down about 2 feet, the estimate we allowed. A sea wall is being at present being built on section 3. We try to keep the boats away as much as we can.
His Worship-To what do you attribute the subsidence !
Witness I presume there was an old nullah full of mud under the hard crust we had bored down to, and the extra weight coming on this caused it to give way and squeezed the mud out. That is only supposition. The object of the weighting is to consolidate the foundation, and to find the weak places.
This kind of thing has happened before ? No, nothing like this
Leung Sing, a sailor on the steam crane used in connection with the Praya works, said he was on the blocks when they commenced to more. He was frightened, but he could not run away and he remained where he was until the movement ceased, when he ran westward. The crane was outside the blocks. He did not see any boats capsized.
1 is Worship-Ou what section is there a notice ?
Inspector Hanson-There is a regulation in regard to No. 2 section prohibiting boats from going in a defined area.
The Magistrate-What is the reason of that, do you know?
Witness-That is a mistake, I think section 2 is all built on.. Outside the Hongkong Hotel there is a notice prohibiting people from going near certain places.
There was something like it before ?-On a former occasion when we weighted, the founda- tion gave way in just the same sort of way, but it had not had time to consolidate, as it had only been in two or three weeks. The mud was something like ten feet deeper than in the present instance. That was at the corner What is the reason of that notive P-I do not of Winglok Street. The stones in this case know; it has nothing to do with the works. I -have been down a year and nine months.
put three notices there some-time agʊ in Chi- Works. What do you mean, that nothing like thisnese by order of the Director of Public has happened before Nothing of the The notices have reference to sections 6 and 7. same nature; there were different conditions The subsidence has caused a silt of black mud
ad it was on a smaller scale...
outside the wall of a depth of 8 or 9 feet. The blocks Previously there was only sand. fell staight down, the greatest depth being from 37 to 40 feet.
።
•
Did the blocks go straight down in that case Yos The foundation had only recently been laid and when the weight was put on the ation slipped and went down about est and eastward about 15 feet.
do you suggest in case of a further pans should be allowed nnot tell whether there nce. If we prevent raffle would We do they do not to drive
the
spoke to finding the deceased's boat. A piece of Sergeant Withers, of the Water Police, the gunwale at the stern had been knocked off and the seams were opened.
His Worship here read Government Notifica- tion 181 published in the Government Gazette on the 16th May, 1896, as follows" Notice is hereby given that no steam launches, junks, sam- pans, or other oraft, except engaged on the "Praya Reclamation Works, are allowed to enter
the area south of the line of the New wall between Pottinger Street and Toe House
The Honorary Tr Famine Relief Fund begs
•
Major General Wilsone Black, C.B Mrs. McNair
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Bombastes Difference in Hongkong Indian Oflo
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