February 19, 1898.).
TORPEDO BOATS AND THE DOCK COMPANY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.” SIE-Referring to the remarks which have several times appeared lately in your columns strongly advocating that the Admiralty be urged to let our Dock Company try their hand at turning out torpedo-boats and other engines of defence may I suggest that an unusually good opportunity now presents itself for bringing this important question before the home naval authorities. Admiral Buller, who will shortly be with us on his way to England, knows the needs of Hongkong well. Who so likely to secure the attention of the Admiralty as Admiral Buller ? And who so able to enlist the interest of Admiral Buller as our worthy Commodore ?
Yours truly.
¡
DEFENCE,
Hongkong, 14th February, 1898.
BICYCLING ON BOWEN ROAD. -
TO THE EDITOR OF. THE
you
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
THE FOOTBALL SHIELD COMPETITION.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE “DAILY PRESS,"
SIE-I would suggest a change in the Hongkong Football Club's team as follows:
Goal.-Pinckney, Backs.-C. T. Kew, May- son.-Halves. Slade, Looker, F. H. Kew. For- wards.-Mackay, Danby, Anton, Noble, Moberly. The above will strengthen the team con- siderably and I would commend it to the captain. If they play the present combination predict an early defeat in the Shield tie.--- Yours faithfully,
Hongkong, 16th February, 1898.
181
THE GREAT FIRE AT MANILA;
The Comercio publishes the following state- ment of the lines the respective Insurance Com panies had on the property destroyed in the
recent fire at Manila :- Union Assurance Society Compania Magdeburg
19
Royal
Northern
North British London Assurance
.$200,000%
60,000 55,000
.... 55,000
55,000
29,000
Manchester...
59,000
Hongkong Fire
24,000
Emprest
8,000
CLUB.
Acheny Munich
50,000
China Fire
!!
45,000
Royal Exchange
85,000
Baloise...
44,000
"}
Imperial
4
39,000
Commercial Union
??
39,000
South British
"
6,000
London & Lancashire...
19
35,000
Atlas
11
18,000
Hamburg Bremen
15,000
Netherlands...
18,000
Total
..$889,000
THE STRANDING OF THE "ALGERINE."
SERIOUS DAMAGES. H.M.S. Algerine, which arrived at Shang. hai from Tinghai on the 6th February. went into 'DAILY PRESS.”
Tunkadoo, Dock fof over. SIR-Referring to
baul, having recently been ashore near and your your correspond- ent's remarks in this morning's issue respecting Chusan, Captain Corrie, of the Pique, presiding, Ningpo. A naval court-martial was held at the danger attending rapid bicycling on the Bowen Road, I am sure many will be truly glad that
to enquire into the stranding of H.B.M,'s have taken the matter up. It has been of late Algerine at the Seven Sisters. The commander, an increasing source of alarm to ladies, some of Captain Domville, was severely reprimanded, whom have been deterred thereby from walking while the navigating lieutenant was also re- on that road. It stands to reason that a bicyclist primanded. coming rapidly from behind upon-several ladies walking together where Bowen Road is narrow, orossing a deep ravine, may cause sudden fright, which might well lead to very serious results. Hoping something will be done.-Yours truly,
CAUTION.
Hongkong, 14th February, 1898.
"
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
SIE,-I am one of the many riders who for economy use a "by c," instead of a pony; and I thank you for your impartial article hereon of yesterday. Something is to be said on our side. The Queen's Road and the Praya Central are alike impossible on account of the crowds. Where then are we to go! We have not yet got our road to Aberdeen. Little Hongkong, Stanley and Shaukiwan. When we have we will wil lingly relinquish the use of the hill roads, which involve much inconvenience. But until the road round the island is made I think that the Bowen and Kennedy roads should be open to those who will use them with discretion.- Yours truly,
"
JEHU.
22
As previously briefly mentioned H.M.S. Al gerine is now in the dry dock at Tungkadoo. undergoing the repairs rendered necessary by her two recent accidents, and as she lies there, the erstwhile trim and shipshape little craft presents a forlorn and battered appearance in- deed. Her topmasts and yards have been sent down, some of her boats are ashore repairing, others are lying smashed on deck, while sad havoc wrought to her bulwarks, close by the break of the quarterdeck on the port side, shows the force of her impact with the junk with which she recently collided. But, bad as the state of affairs appears from the edge of the dock, it is nothing to what presents itself to the visitor on his decending and going underneath the vessel. Her starboard bilge keel has com- pletely vanished, a long line of splintered wood- work, with projecting rivets and jagged and it once was. torn edges of copper sheathing, marking where Her false keel has also disappeared, only some four or five feet of it just abaft the forefoot remaining. Her port bilge keel has also been wrenched out of shape, while all the copper sheathing amidships in stripped off and twisted about all over the place. The repairs must necessarily occupy weeks, if not months, and will, we understand, cost at least £3,000, It appears that after leaving Shanghai on Jan. 23rd, and while nearing Tinghai at a little after 3 a.m. the following morning, she suddenly went ashore. The boats were at once swung out, the watertight doors closed and ammunition hoisted up, and after bumping and banging about for about three quarters of an hour she managed to get off and proceeded on her way to Tinghai. On her arrival there a Court of Inquiry was held at once, followed by a Court Martial at which both the Captain and Navigating Lieutenant were re- primanded. The Algerine was built at Devon- port, and this, her first commission, bas proved terribly unfortunate so far. She commissioned on February 11th, 1897. When she started for the Far East she experienced a very bad time of it, taking eight days to make Gibraltar from Plymouth, losing one boat and smashing some others. Arrived at Malta the missing boat was replaced by the one just smashed by the bows of the Ningpo junk. Her troubles commenced out here with the sad suicide of one of her officers.
}}
THE WOOSUNG RAILWAY.
PROGRESS REPORTED. To those sceptical persons, who, not without reason, predicted the completion of the Shang- hai-Woosung Railway somewhere about the Greek Kalends, it may come as a surprise to learn that before the close of the coming sum- mer a railway journey to Woosung will be a possibility. The line would have been completed ore this, but for the short-sighted policy of the Viceroy Chang Chihtung, who insisted on Hanyang-made rails being laid. It was found, as we predicted a year ago, that this arrange- ment was utterly impracticable. This proved. to be true, and in the end the Sociéte Cockerill, of Liége, supplied the rails, together with Eng- lish-made fastenings and sleepers. The three American locomotives have long since arrived, but remain packed. They will not take long, however, to erect. One half of the rails required are now en route from Europe, and are expected
to arrive here by the end of this month. The remainder are due in Shanghai about the end of next month.
The three stations of Shanghai, Kongwan, and Woosung are already completed, save such small details as door fastenings, interior paint. ing, varnishing, etc. The Shanghai Station, situated just off the end of North Honan Road, is a rather pretty building, closely resembling the German country Bahnhof. Kongwan and Woosung Stations are also very well built and have some claims to architectural elegance, At Woosung are a large goods shed and locomotive house. These are ready for immediate ocon. pation. From Woosung Station the track is ballasted for nearly a mile to the first bridge, and ballast has been laid down some dis- tance from Kongwan towards Shanghai. The track now only requires ballasting the whole way, but this has been deferred until the arrival of the rails, when the locomotives can be got to work conveying ballast along the line.
Hongkong, 16th February, 1898.
STENCH ALONG THE PRAYA EAST TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS.
SIB. Whether it is owing to the state of the atmosphere or the tides just now I am not prepared to say, but the ever existing stench along the Praya East is at present simply in- sufferable; and on behalf of the miserables who find it necessary to reside in that locality I implore the Government to try and remedy it. Last evening about 9.30, on turning the corner from Arsenal Street to the Praya, we were met by a stench so frightful that a lady of the party was so upset that she is now quite ill. It was difficult to avoid vomiting before getting out of its influence. A few hundred yards further on, opposite Ship Street, another similiar effluvia greeted us; and all night between these two points it is hardly an exaggeration to say that it could be cut with a knife. Some other system ought to be devised of shipping away the nightsoil from the jetties. It is not enough that one cannot sit on the verandahs during the evenings, but most of the day these Then on November 3rd she got so far aground |-operation it is well worth seeing. The
"foul smelling boats lie in the neighbourhood waiting for their cargoes, and at night during the hot weather windows have to be closed or we should be poisoned On this particular occasion I believe it is the drains in addition, besides the mud which of late years has accumulated until now it is exposed to the atmosphere at low water. If we could afford it we would run away, go and live on the Peak or at Kowloon, but as we cannot we must beg the authorities to fameliorate our condition, for we are always in dread of
TYPHOID FEVER. Hongkong, 16th February, 1898.
on the Shanghai flats that at low tide her bows were only in three feet of water, and remained practically high and dry for some hours. Next came her two recent accidents, so that she can hardly be called a fortunate ship. A trim little craft, speedy, of light draught, and just the thing for these waters, it will be a pity if her ship's company do not discover the Jonah in their midst and drop him comfortably overboard as soon as found.-Mercury.
From the Shanghai Daily Press we learn that Captain Domville, of the Algerine, left Shang hai on the 9th February on board the storeship Humber for Hongkong en route for home.
There are in all six large bridges, but in- numerable culverts and pipes for the free passage of water for irrigation purposes. The bridges have been made in Germany, and two of them spanning creeks, of considerable width are already completed, and three others will be ready in a few days. The last bridge is situated just off the old Rifle Range, and foundations are now being put in. The pile-driving gear has been supplied by the Shanghai Engineer- ing, Shipbuilding and Dock, Ltd., and when
are from 24 to 26 ft. in length and are driven in to within two feet of the top. By the plant referred to the piles are driven to the required depth in 4 minutes, a great im- provement over the old method when more than as many hours and from ten to twenty men were required to do the work. The road-bed has been formed for some time. -
Mr. P. Hildebrand is the engineer at present in charge of the line, and he has done remark. ably well when the many difficulties he has had to contend with are taken count of.
The fact that it will be possible to take a ran down to Woosung and get a sight of the open
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