472
British Consulate, Canton, 2nd June, 1899.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
Sir, In reply to your letter of yesterday on the subject of the re-establishment of the farm for the collection of likin and Tsoli ou kerosene in this province, I beg to state that on the ap. pearance in the Native Press of the proclama lion establishing the farm I at once telegraphed the fact to Her Majesty's Chargé d'Affaires, and have already written strongly protesting against it to the Viceroy.
I fully recognise the evils which would result were this farin allowed to carry out its opera- tions, and you may rely on me to do all in my power to have it abolished. While using every effort locally in this direction, I am forwarding copy of letter to Her Majesty's Minister,
your so that, if necessary, bis iufluence may be brought to bear upon the Tsung-li Yamen.
It may be of interest to you to know that, from inquiries I have made, it appears that the Farmer, both in the present instance and in the former case of the Chap Yik Fong, are Chinese merchants at Hongkong. Their names are kept in the background, but I believe you will find this to be the case.-I am, sir, your obedient servant,
a
(signed) R. W. MANSFIELD
Consul. P.8.-The translation of the proclamatiou sent by you is extremely inaccurate. The Chairman, Hongkong General Chamber
of Commerce.
HONGKONG SANITARY BOARD.
were also
On Thursday afternoon the usual fortnightly meeting of the Hongkong Sanitary Board was held. The chair was occupied by the President (Dr. J. Atkinson, Principal Civil Medical Officer), and there present the Vice-President (the Hon. F. H. May, Captain Superiutendent of Police) the Hón. R. D. Ormsby (Director of Public Works), Mr. A. W. Brown (Acting Registrar- General), Mr. E. Osborne, Dr. Clark (Medical Officer of Health), and Mr. C. W. Duggan (Se. oretary, Dr. Jordan and Mr. J. R. Crook also attended, the former to answer any questions as Lo sanitary inspection regulations under the Merchant Shipping Ordinance, and the latter to answer any questions arising on his report as to refuse destructors.
THE OLD TUNG WA MORTUARY.
The suggestion that the Sanitary Board should acquire the old Tung Wa Mortuary at Kennedytown came up for cousideration.
The PRESIDENT said the Government had asked the Board three questions. The first was, what did the Board-suggest should be done with the building, if not utilised as sug- gested by Dr. Clark; the second was as to the aluation of the building; and the third was whether the mortuary could not be used for isolating cattle infected with 'disease. The Director of Public Works valued the place at $2,100.
The VICE PRESIDENT-What do they ask
for it?
Mr. OSBORNE-$4,000, is it not?
Dr. CLARK mored that the Board recom- mend the Government to offer the Tung Wa Hospital authorities a site at Saudy Bay in ex- change for the site at Kennedytown and also offer them the sum of $2,100 for the building now standing thereou, as the Board proposed to use it for isolation lairs for sick cattle.
This was seconded.
Mr. OSBORNE said that one point in connec- tion with this matter which should be brought to the notice of the Government was that the mortuary was built a long time ago-long be- fore the slaughterhouses were built. He an- derstood that the mortuary became a nuisauce because of the close proximity to the slaughterhouses and inspectors" quarters. The old mortuary, he understood, cost about $3,700 and the new one would cost about $6,000, so that whatever the Government allowed the Tang Wa Hospital authorities for the present mortuary those anthorities would still have to make up a deficiency. If the Government allowed them $2,100 there would be a deficiency of $3,900 to be made up. Considering that this mortuary was built with the approval of the Government for the time being and that the Sanitary Board had ordered
its removal, and that through no fault of the Tang Wa Hospital authorities it is now being removed, and considering also that the Tung Wa Hospital was a charitable institution, he should like to add a rider to the effect that the Government be asked to take this into consideration and meet the Tung Wa Hospital authorities in a liberal spirit. He proposed that this be added to the motion.
The PRESIDENT-Would it meet your views if we mentioned your proposal in a covering letter.
Mr. OSBORNE-Yes. The motion was carried.
THE WATER-CLOSĘT QUESTION, The application of Messrs. Leigh and Orange, on behalf of the Hon. C. P. Chater, C.M.G., for permission to erect water and trough closets for the new block now being erected to the south of Queen's Buildings, again came up for consideration
The following minutes were upponded to the papers on the subject :-
Mr. E. Osborne-" The hotel trough closets are used by nearly 300 employees of the hotel and a large number of outside people who hap pon to have business on the hotel premises. I should say that not less than 400 people make use of them daily, so that the M. O. H.'s com. parison is not a fair one if the number of people using the closets be taken into consideration. I am in favour of granting the application."
Dr. Clark Comparing Mr. Osborne's water figures with the figures given by the D. P. W at last board meeting, it will be seen that a five-seat trongh closet consumes more than three times as much water as eight pedestal water closets. There are 60 Europeans, Ameri. cans, and Eurasians to use the trough closets. (ride Leigh and Orange's application). I re- commend refusal of the trough closets. Why cunuot these people who have large blocks of offices on the Prays be made to pump up sea-water for their water trough closets?
The Hon. F. H. May-"I advice refusal. It was never intended to allow w. c.'s for Chinese use. The less water-closets the better."
The President-" For the purpose of cleanli- ness and convenience I recommend that this application be granted. I agree with the
M. O. H. that it is desirable that sea-water be used as a flushing agent."
The Hon. R. Ď. Örmsby—“ I am in favour From Mr. of allowing these trough closets. Osborne's figures 400 persons would use about 400,000 gallons a year, or 1,000 gallons each person, or say three gallons a day. We count on each inhabitant of Victoria using about 16 gallous a day. If the cistern was constructed to contain 4,000 gallons instead of 400, and to catch all the rainfall from the roof for six months of no drain on the year there would be little or our water supply. There should be littl. difficulty in constructing such a cistern-15 feet by 15 feet by 3 feet-would hold over 4,000 gallons Allowing three gallons a head per diem the 60 Chinese would use 180 gallons a day and the cisterns would hold 22 days' supply, replenished by every rain shower. would be much cheaper and simpler thau pump ing up sea water.”
This
(June 10, 1899.
The
adopt Chinese methods of sanitation ? two chief objections advanced to granting applications for water closets in houses were the scarcity of water and the pollution of the harbour. He maintained that no weight at- tached to either. The average annual rainfall of Hongkong was three times as great as that of England, and yet water carriage of sewage was universal now in almost every large town in Great Britain. The area of the Island of Hongkong was 18,560 acres. Taking the aver age rainfall at 90 inchos the euormons quantity of 167,040,000 tons or 37,416,960,000 gallons fell in the colony aunually. But this was of course beside the point. It was not what fell op the island but what they could store up which was important. He only mentioned it to show what a very trifling fraction of the rainfall they now stored up. They could hold up now in the three main reservoirs upwards of 500,000,000 of gallous, while the streams running into these reservoirs seldom yielded less than -1,000,000 gallons a day! He found there were now 122 water closets in use in the city by about 80 persons and requiring for flushing about 3793 gallons daily, and ten trough closets, the flushing all of which daily consumed about 19,000 gallons of water, the trough closets being thus more others. In a few cases water closets caused up demand on the water supply in the sammer months, as they were flushed from cisterns on the roofs of buildings filled by every shower of rain; but assuming they were solely flushed from the main he calculated that the consumption for the half year was only 3,600,000 gallons during the time that water had to be economised, or a little over one day's Was not this a consumption of the city,
wasteful than the
rifling matter when compared with the clean- liness and comfort secured ? It was not usually remembered that during the five months from June to October inclusive water was running to waste everywhere, and might as well be utilised in flashing water-closets as not. As long
as the reservoirs were full in November, at the commencement of the dry season, it mattered not what was done with the superabundance of water during the preceding five months. It was necessary, therefore, to consider if they could afford the amount of water required for flushing the closets between November and May. Why were people so con- tent to leave things as they were and to oppose the introduction of more water-closeta ? It was because the European community had made their houses, their clubs, their hotels, and offices comfortable in this respect, and could therefore selfishly deny to others what they had allowed" themselves. What an outery there would be now if the Hongkong Hotel, the Club, the Go- vernment offices, the Sanitary Board offices were deprived of their water carriage system and thrown back on the Chinese bucket and pail? As to the bugbear of the pollution of the harbour, he thought he need not again speak
He had shown before that the entrance of one large ship into the harbour would make more difference in this respect than all the water-closets in the colony, and he had also shown, and it had been proved by experiment, The Hou. R. D. ORMBBY, in proposing that that the action of the tides was sufficient to the application be granted, said his opinion on keep the harbour as clean and sweet as any this subject had been so often mistaken if nof harbour of such importance and aving a float- misrepresented by the press that with the Pre-ing population of 30,000 could be. In conclu- sion he thought they might with perfect safety, sident's permission he wished now to make a few remarks and give a few figures. He had never
both to the water supply and the sanitation of advocated, and was afraid never could advocate the colony, continue to sanction the few applica- tions which came before them for closets in the general introduction in the city of Victoria
What he had done and would European houses. of water-closets. continue to do was to recommend the Board to sa- ction the use in houses such as hotels, clubs, and offices occupied by Europeans this much more cleanly, convenient, and healthy system of removal of nightsoil. Europeans who were obliged to reside in this colony, or selected it to reside in, should not be compelled to adopt Chi- nese customs in this or any other respect. In spite of Chinese pride and conceit European considered-and rightly so that they were more advanced in eivilisation and in knowledge than the inhabitants of China, especially in They did not expect an matters of sanitation.
оц arrival here to discard Englishman
of the use knives, forks, and spoons and use chop sticks, to shave his head and wear 'a queue, then why should they compel him to
Mr. OSBORNE, in secouding, said he thought that as they had gone so far and sanctioned these trough closets in the existing buildings on the Praya it would be ridiculons to go back now and say that two or three more such build- ings should not have them.
Dr. CLARK proposed as an amendment that the application be granted as regarded the water-closets but refused as regarded the trough closets. Trough closets had during the last few years been an experiment, and in his opin- ion they were an experiment which should not be extended any further. The figures given in the circulating cover showed that for the Closets used same number of people trough close three times as much water as water closets. As the Vice-President said, it was never intended
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