THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
|August 26,1809. and unperiority over dynamite powerfully conduced to the suburban expansion and popular streets of the city as if by a
The inventor stated that of cities and therefore to the healthier and pesutential wind. (8.) Young men and largely and successfully cheaper housing of the people. It is obri. women are demoralised by their evil
and Indian mines ously impossible for many classes of the popu boisterous surroundings, They nvention would|lation to live at any distance from their work and often led astray and ruined. of blasting. A unless they are provided, with frequent, rapid, accountants, boys, coolien, eta,
placed at | and soonomical means of transit,
astray, and ruined. The a experiments. Hongkong certainly is in urgent need of some enjoyments of these demoralisin of the Larry || sort of eficient and obesp locomotion and anthem forget their duty tition that they electric tramway will answer the purpose ad- employers, and they are ten with amall
mirably well ; and it will be to all appearazons and gamble in order to buy the that ther
succom from a financial point of view as well. mistress or to continue their giddy life. If the promoters are doubtful of success let the Most of the houses on the best street Government step in and grant à small subsidy colony, Queen's Road Central and the under certain restrictions in the event of its pro- excepted, are, at present, occupied by public and wing an unprofitable speculation, Without quen- aly brothels of various nationalities, and tion, it will prevent over-crowding to a degree in such close contact with the business which is the order of the day in the colony. the colony it is easy to guess the The central portion has become a bee hive of results. (6.) This state of affaire, ini cogestion. Rentals, not only of well-built, injurious to the property of the busi substantial, and costly structures (for in of the colony. (7.) The easy and their case there is some justification), but of earning money throughly brothela of tatterdentalion Mand jerry ketonements alluring that hundreds of ignorant but res have gone up to an abnormal pitch. Over able country women from the mainland. crowding renders sanitary reforms hard to be even women from wealthy families, have been introduced and inflicts permanent injury on the enticed to the colony to earn the filthy lucre. colony in more ways than one.
blast in
the
of his financial
our axperime
our comp
did not
(claimed for
ontor
and Ines gle
which was identical m a chemical ösive was nothing else but apowder diluted with such of iron, and the presence excluded the possibility of its keless or non-productive of noxions However, it proved a diffoult matter inventor's and his supporters' belief their explosive, and even after they had ad- mitted that it was neither smokeless nor more sowerful than dynamite, nor fameless, they stuck to its at least being flameless and re pre-eminently suitable for work in coal They either would not or could not see which appeared each time the explo fred in an atmosphere of coaldust. lant sodeavour to convince them; „we "explode a charge at night in a bore- mpad with coal dust. We did so and compensated for our trouble by the sight eautiful bonfire which socompanied the sion. The claim for famelessness Was lectively exploded and the inventor and porter were at last convinced. Ridea! myself did not stop to listen to the volley ascomplimentory remarks let off at the head as discomfited inventor by the representative firm and by dint of hard driving catch the night express to town. I card-and and remain, Sir, Tours
8 G. R.
Hnogkong, 19th August, 1899.
ELECTRICAL TRACTION ON THE OVERHEAD SYSTEM.
"THE EDITOR OF THE. " DAILY PR 283. BIB
Whilst the air is thickly charged with the rumour of an electric tramway in Hongkong not be out of place to bring before the of the public some of the advantages of over horse traction enumerated by Managing Director of the Bombay Tram- Company in a letter addressed to the Muni.
Commissioner of Bombay :-
-Increased regularity, speed, and comfort
[nch reduced congestion of traffle in the space occupied by the horses
cleanliness of the streets.
lety, owing to the cars being fect mechanical control, and
more enicient tønders or wheel
ible with horse cars.
lexibility as a motive-power
increased capacity to meet fluctuating traffic (such as
of the auperiorities which traction by the overhead proved to possess, with the er it has been introduced, its classes has become rapidly
inhed.
|
4 propos of this subject, it will not be out of place to mention that it is a matter of surprise, thickly populated as the central portion is, that our Government do not take any measures to remove from under our very noses innumerable houses of ill fame that have sprung up in our midst, the moral ulcers and soars of the colony, to a distant and secluded locality.— Yours truly,
R. M. MEHTA.
Hongkong, 21st August, 1898.
DISORDERLY HOUSES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE
DAILY PRESS.'
11.
SIBW beg to inform you of the facts concerning sly brothels in this Colony, and hope you will endeavour your utmost to suppress this sovial-evil. The evil should be suppressed at any cost, even at the cost of Government revenue and the handsome rental incomes of landlords drived from increased rents due to the flooding of the colony by these establishments. We are certain the wealthy landlords would not pooket their rents with such pure consciences if they know where they came from. We need not refer to the miserable house sharks who farm out the houses and then double the rents. The law should deal with these men and they should be held responsible for the prevalence of aly brothels in their districts. Sly brothels pay them willingly, and they are not ashamed to rake in the dollars, as their business is to make as much as possible while the sun shines. The law should forbid landlords to farm their houses as it leads to disgraceful abuses.
The closing up of houses as punishment for breaking the new law is no safeguard, because the same houses can be occupied for the same purposes immediately after they have been re- leased. Besides, it encourages conspiracy and bribery and helps to demoralize the police and detective forces of the Colony. And again it must be remembered that decent Chinese dis- like to face the Polios Magistrate, and conse quently will never report a sly brothel caso un- less, their homes, oharacters, or reputations are threatened. Respectable Chinese lone to have their names connected with sly brothel
OREON.
The remedy is a heavy fine. Owners of
pro perty can safeguard themselves by specially instructing their rent collectors to make`en- quiries from the respectable tenants occupying the various fats, who are always too willing to furnish any information which would lead to the expulsion of disreputable women. The rent collectors have ears to hear and eyes to see! It in a simple matter for the rent collectors to find out whether a aly-brothel exists or not, How do the frequenters of such places find
out?
|
It makes one shudder to think of the per- nicious and demoralising effects of the present condition of affairs in this colony. — Yours gratefully,
THE CHINESE COMMUNITY
· Hongkong, 22nd August, 1899,
LOSS OF THE BARQUE “KITIY”
THE CAPTAIN AND HIS WIFE AND FAMILY DROWNED.
to
The British barque Kitty, owned by Messrs. Hopkins, Dunn & Co., of Shanghai, and bound from Newchwang Amoy with beancake foundered about 3 a.m. on Monday 7th August, during the recent typhoon some thirty miles north-east of Amoy The master, Captain James Maher, a well-known coaster, carried his wife and two children. The crew consisted of
foreign mate and nineteen Chinese, and of the ship's company only the boatswain and nine hands are saved. The boatswain's statement of the loss of the Aitty is that on the morifing of the 5th they encountered very bad weather when some eighty li from Amoy, and expeét ing a typhoon. the Captain hove the shipito. At the time the weather was very thick. A terrific sea sprung up and, the ship giving violent lee lurches, the cargo shifted, and, put. the vessel in a perilous condition. In the even- ing the Captain ordered the masts to be out away as the storm was increasing, there was no possibility of trimming the cargo, and the ship was out of command. Unfortunately, when the masts went over the side, they smashed all the boata but one and tore the deck planking, so that the water began to find its way below. All Sunday the ship tumbled about terribly, and the decks, were not approachable, naver- theless hopes were entertained that a coasting steamer would heave in sigh, Nothing was seen however but a native sail or two running for shelter. At 2 a.m. on Monday the notion of the vessel told them that the and was near, sea after ses poured on board, and each left the vessel with less freeboard. An hour afterwards the Captain advised the man to get into or stand by the life boat which was lying on the hatch, bottomless, launching her being out of the question. The captain put his and two children in the stern of the bost almost immediately afterwards the venel
·
one violent lurch and disappeared. of the men were injured and knocked by the in-rush of water. However, -lined boat t got away clear with the bis wife and two children, and
of the Chinese, whilst others clun
life-lines outside. The darknes but by the occasional pho waves other members of the clinging to bits of wreckage. « But unmanageable, the oars had her, and before many minu she got to the trough of the son and turned
stest advantage sccruing E traction is the
The evils and injurious effects of sly brothels the tramway in- re (1) Society is scandalously disturbed (2) which would be | Bents are raised through the monopolising of the best streets of the city by sly brothels, and
spootable families are forced to leave the g
lony or live in dark and «unhealt
alloyways. The
try drive
Chines
about
dropping one or at the first to
and shortly afterward.
aptain! apported by
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