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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND | authorities are going to build another plague hospital. On the question of expense, the Board has the Acting D. P. W on its side. As to the erection of a new plague hospital by the Tung Wa Hospital, Dr. HARTIGAN'S question as to the position of the Sanitary Board is admirably pertinent. If such matters as the locations of new hospitals of all sorts are beyond the Board's province, what is its object in meeting? What locus
vinces, who must still be dealt with. But the state of half-
cognised war against the Imperial Government will end. The "Im- perial Government” he
here must be the Em. peror himself. It is only too plain that the Dowager still inspires the edicts and rules what the Emperor must say. This must stop henceforward. The refugees have in deed gone beyond the reach of the allied arms, but they are not any longer beyond the power of persuasion, backed as it is bystandi, in fact, has it in this Colony? the imminence of starvation.
ADMIRAL SEYMOUR'S
SUCCESSOR.
-
DRESS IN WAR.
i.
(Daily Press, 6th October.) Although war has been the normal condi- tion of humanity since first, a naked savage, than walked over the face of the earth; there seems to be nothing so much under the influence of the fashion of the hour as the art of fighting. Each conqueror has intro- duced a new science, and for a time every one has been content to follow his lead down to the most minute detail, utterly regardless of the altered conditions of the case. When CYRUS overcame the Babylonian empire, he introduced several new ideas into Lailitary style, and for a long time Persian costume, and Persian tactics were considered the correct thing in the field of battle. Un- luckily a couple of hundred years later, his successors were in turn overcome by the
care that they the
[October
But
with a spike ing to the new the secret of his again the German troops did not wear scar let; and perhaps, the Horse Guards began to think, after all, that is the reason the Germans won the day at Worth, and com pelled the surrender of Paris. The troops in India had been doing a little fighting on the North-west frontier; and khaki, the colour of the deserts of Scinde, had been found a good rig, as it rendered the troops less conspicuous to the Pathan sharpshooters. For once the British Foreign Office acted on its own experience, and when the forces, were sent to South Africa to fight on the colourless veldt the colour that had proved so suitable in Afghanistan was adopted. It is to the credit of the Horse Guards that the innovation proved a perfect success, and that almost for the first time in history, a British force took the field in a get-up suitable to the work required. But because khaki has proved a success in the veldt, it by no means follows that khaki has shown itself an universal wear; and yet there are signs that we are on the threshold of an age of khaki as ridiculous as the past era of spiked helmets. There is no greater con- trast anywhere than exists between China
(Daily Press, 11th October.) Vice-Admiral SEYMOUR's successor in the command of H.B.M.'s squadron on the China station, as announced by telegraph, is Rear-Admiral Sir Harry HoldsWORTH RAWSON, K.C.B. Some months ago, our readers may remember, the home papers were discussing the chances of Admirals COMPTON E. DOMVILE, Sir CYPRIAN BRIDGE, H. H. HARRIS, and A. K. WILSON. Cir- cumstances, however, have changed since then, and we now get the Commander of the Channel Squadron. Admiral RAWSON has had a distinguished career, and more- over was out in China in 1858 and 1860. He was at Alexandria in 1882, won the
der of the Brilliant Star at Zanzibar, | Greek ALEXANDER, and plumed helmets, and and the South African veldt. The veldt;
after becoming Commander-in-Chief of Cape of Good Hope and West African Squadron in 1895, commanded the expedi. tion against Benin at the beginning of 1897, capturing Eenin city itself on the 18th February. Among his decorations are the Osmanich, 3rd Class; Order of the Hamon- dieh; and the 2nd Class Civic Cross of Bel- giuni. Admiral RAWSON was born in 1813 and was educated at Marlborough College. He succeeds to what promises to be an arduous post for some time to come, but his record is one to inspire confidence.
the
THE POSITION OF THE SANITARY BOARD.
buskins, and phalanxes, and long spears, and all that sort of thing were held to be the proper rig in a fight; and if the cut of a man's himation or the weight of his spearhead differed, however little, from that brought into fashion by the conqueror of DARIUS, it stood to reason that he must necessarily be unsuccessful. All this was very well, till unfortunately the Romans came on the scene, and had the bad taste to fight in a different way altogether, and, notwithstand- ing this crime against the fundamentals, to upset all the warlike arrangements of the Seleucids; so for a time all that a general had to do was to dress his soldiers exactly as did JULIUS CEASAR, and make them keep exactly the same step and formation. But (Daily Press, 12th October.)
Rome tumbled in her day, and the barbarian It was a very real complaint which Dr. conquerors brought in quite a different HARTIGAN put forward at the meeting of method of doing the business, and of course, the Sanitary Board yesterday afternoon, if anyone wanted to be a great general, and it is certainly a question requiring an why, all he needed was to dress like, and answer what is the precise locus standi of talk like, the latest fighter of the day. After the Board in this Colony. In the matter the wars with NAPOLEON were finished, and of the selection of Inspector's quarters at the Duke of WELLINGTON stood out as the Kennedytown, the facts of the case, briefly soldier of the day, naturally the British stated, are these. A sub-comm
was army gave the fashion. Waterloo was won, appointed by the Sanitary Board report everybody knew, because the soldiers wore on the erection of new quarters for the stiff leather stocks and belts, and contees so Inspector. The committee recommended tight that it was the labour of hours to get the erection of a two-storeyed building to into them. Pipeclay, it was also evident, had the north or north-west of Inland Lot 1,082, much to do with the success of that event- fronting the
sen, adding that to do this ful day; so if any general wished to become it would be necessary to reclaim a small area as great and successful as " The DUKE" it of the foreshore." This they reported after was above all essential that his troops should searching the neighbourhood and failing to be perfect in their get up; a soldier was see any site which they thought would cost not intended to think how he shot or how less. As to the comparative cost, they have he handled his weapons
as was a matter of the support of the Acting Director of quite secondary consideration; the great Public Works, who told them that the point was that he was dressed, and in order outlay on the reclamation would not be a to accomplish this he was to be reduced as large one; and indeed actually recommended much as possible to the status of a tailor's the proposed site. But on submitting lay figure. After forty years of this came their recommendation to the Government, the Crimean war, and the British War the Board received a reply from the Colonial | Office was
상
is a bare country, where little rain falls, raised a couple of thousand feet above the sca, and broken everywhere by kopjes and boulders affording abundance of shelter from rifle fire. It is eminently unfavourable for the evolutions of any large bodies. men, especially cavalry. There are no trees and practically no cultivation. These con- ditions gave the work of the troops in the Boer districts a special character. The Buers never appeared in the open, but shot at the troops individually while themselves under shelter. Concealment and cover were absolutely necessary for a successful attack.. China offers conditions the reverse for the most part; the climate is generally damp, the country is low and open. It is besides universally cultivated, and offers, little natural shelter. There are great extremes of temperature between Winter and Summer, and cotton clothes, such as were worn in the Transvaal, are dangerous for Europeans. The country, though largely denuded of its natural forests, is rich in colour, there are few opportunities for exercising the tactics of the Boers, and operations would of equal necessity be in
the - open. - Concealment, except for troops specially told off, would be rather a disadvantage than otherwise. In fact it might be said that of all wear khaki was the very worst. Yet such is the strength of the imitative faculty that not only the British troops, but all French, German, and American lave adopted the new dress, and khaki is literally the only
" wear. Long experience, except partially in the South, has taught the European re- sident to clothe himself, Summer and Winter alike, from head to foot in woollens, and yet the foreign governments in sending out their troops have persisted in following fashion introduced in a climate entirely dif- ferent, and under circumstances in not one respect alike. Whatever
olour should be
Secretary, stating that "the Government did not tucandalised that the lay figures decided on, and it does not appear that
out conquering heroes, but had lers the site selected by the sub-to walk, and march, and eat, and drink, and e for the erection of new quarters even get sick, like ordinary men. It was a ctor at Kennedytown to be most wonderful revelation, but pipeclay died
The
given are, firstly, hard, and peace was made before his final and, secondly, the fact that the decease. Then came the Franco-German is in close proximity. the war; and if this proved anything, Was: t Plague Hospital and still closer that success consisted in having ugly in the site on which the Tung Wa Hospital convenient belmets, but above all in taking
colour is of itself a matter of moment, should be such as to distinguish the nation- ality of the troops, and not to conceal it and for a good lasting colour suitable conditions - there- probably than the old Briting scar
useful
of the ordinary worst possible, but
all
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