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complimented for his straightforwardness in accepting the sole responsibility, and I feel sure that he will not be caught napping again; anyone is liable to be victimised in their first essay at horse-buying. Of course the difference in quality of the last lot will not have appealed so strongly to Mr. Master as tc. some other subscribers, as he was so extremely fortunate as to draw some of the best ponies.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
-who receive such fabulons incomes-will have in future to pay fifteen cents for a five-cent fare. There are no ships' officers or tourist members of the clubs, but that is another question.
One must sympathise with the Star Ferry Co., Ld., for it has the public spirit to charge only fifteen cents for a five-cnt fare. But it is not the only company whose philantrophy has been imposed upon. Even in London, that My reason for hiding my identity under a place of purity, there was once a scoundrel who nom de plume is that, being an utterly unim travelled on the " Underground" 2nd class with portant person in the Colony, I felt certain that a 3rd/class ticket. He was caught, and the had my letter appeared under my own name it, whole country breathed freer to think that so would have minimised its effect, and the pro- vile a criminal was no longer at large. Shock- bability is that the information contained thereining therefore as the recent cases have been, would not have been appreciated as apparently it has been.
Mr. Master is in error when he says that I might be able to supply some more valuable information if I would come from under the cover of my nom de plume; all the information I have to give is contained in my first letter and may be summarised thus-When you want a good article go to the best people.-Yours, etc.,
(LATE) KOCK-OWNER.
VICTORIA GAP TERMINUS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS.
Hongkong, 26th February. SIE,-As a constant traveller by the Peak Tramway, I should like to know when the management propose to render the station at the upper terminus a reasonable shelter from the elements. At present.it is open to the sky, and persons using the tram have to get wet in getting in and out. This does not matter dur- ing the light rains of winter, but when the summer torrents come it is quite another story. Then passengers can easily get seriously wet and uncomfortable, and the platform is a most miserable place on which to pass a five or ten minates wait, with the rain beating in and rendering the sents unusable. It is expecially distressing for ladies clad in summer costume. They may reach the station dry and trim and natty in their chairs, but five minutes on that dreary platform and a dash through a descend- ing shower into the tram reduce them to a bedraggled condition most mortifying when, as is invariably the case with the fair sex, they wish to meet people below in neat and taking costumes. I hope, therefore, the General Managers will lose no time in getting this urgently needed improvement in the Victoria Gap station effected. If commenced at once the station might be roofed over before the summer rains set in, and all Peak residents, and particularly the ladies, would be most grateful for the shelter. The question of cost need not be considered, The company are doing so well and are now so prosperous that they can easily afford to cater a little for the comfort of the passengers who pro- vide the good dividends now paid.-Yours, etc.,
PEAKITE.
THE HONGKONG-KOWLOON FERRY.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS,' Hongkong, 26th February. SIR,-In one of the evening papers I read the other day a paragraph headed" Genteel Swindlers," which reveals a depth of depravity previously unheard of in this sweet. Hongkong of ours. It seems that there exist villains who believe that five cents is enough for the. føre between Hongkong and Kowloon. These rascals have evidently travelled and noticed that about a penny is the usual thing for such a ride in other places possessing a similar degree of civilisation, and have by iniquitous methods been getting across the harbour for this sum.. That the Star Ferry Co., Ld., should be swind led by such scoundrels is enough to make one shrink with horror from the contemplation thereof. That a company which only pays 12 per cent. dividends, and charges fifteen cents for a five-cout fare, is cheated simply because its own employees do not look sharply enough after their business, is really distressful. But the management know some of the offenders, so no doubt they will punish them by raising the fare to the public to twenty cents!
And those wretched clubs--they also used to cheat, and therefore the public must pay fifteen cents for a five-cent fare. The clubs got what 'they deserved, and as may be read in the report of the company's general meeting, ship's officers
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Hongkong has the poor satisfaction of knowing that she is not alone iu her humiliation.
Now, what is to be done for the Star Ferry Co., Ld. ? To protect itself, the fare should certainly be raised to twenty cents. Will any public-minded shareholder call a meeting and ask the Directorate to adopt this course ? Meanwhile the public can go on paying fifteen cents for a five-cert fare.-Yours, etc.,
SIC TRANSIT,-
HONGKONG AND WHAMPOA DOCK CO., LD.
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[March 1, 1902.
to meet it by exercising all reasonable economies in administration and management. With re- gard to the several docks, Aberdeen has established a record in one month's earn- |ings. Should the surplus tonnage continue, it may be desirable to add some new plant at this Dock. The Cosmopolitan Dock is making use of electric plant for lighting the Dock and for the use of electric motors on a few machines at night. The Kowloon Dockyard differs from the rest of your property. From its site it has been singled out for great developments in the past and in the future. It has been, and still is, in course of development, ie, in a transition state. In order to complete the transfer of the old engine works to the new quarters and to set up a power station, provide engines, boilers, dynamos, electric motors, dock and shop-light. ing, &c., &c., a further large expenditure may shortly have to be undertaken. Other develop- ments involving purchase of property on the north side are a part of the scheme. I do not include in these remarks the project for a new dock, which will have to be taken as a separate scheme when the site for the dock is secured. The present No. 1 Dock is the largest graving dock in the East. The proposed new dock is designed for larger vessels. If docks take yours to negotiate they also take years to
have Already we The ordinary half-yearly meeting of sbare- make.
been confronted holders in the above Company was held on the with a ship of war of too great beam 24th ult. at the offices, Queen's Buildings.
to enter No. 1 Dock with safety. Several Mr. R. Shewan (chairman), presided, and the ships are built, and probably in the next others present were-Mr. W. B. Dixon (chief decade many more ships will be built, of manager), Hon. C. P. Chater, Hon. J. J. Bell-dimensions too great to enter the No. 1 Dock Irving, and Messrs. A. Haupt, D. E. Brown, E. t Kowloon. The tendency of modern ship- Goetz, H. P. White, G. H. Medhurst, T. I. building for the mercantile marine is all that Rose (secretary), J. Anderson, A. Babington, way. On the other hand, it must be noted T. H. Reid, D. E. Brown, Major H. H. Brown, that for English ships of war a provision is R.A.M.C., K. A. Chinoy, J. A. Chinoy, G. H. being made in Hongkong, by the new Admir- Dann, A. Denison, A. R. Ezekiel, J. McG, alty Dock now in course of construction, and Forbes. E. J. Grist. D. Haskell, J. Hastings, another large dock is being constructed by our Ho Fook, J. L Houston, H. Humphreys, Ho neighbours Messrs. Butterfield & Swire besides Kom Toug, E. H. Hinds, S. A. Joseph, E. S. other docks in the East. Foreign ships of war Joseph, J. J. Leiria, Lo Cheung Shin, S. H. muster here in considerable numbers, as our Michael, J. R. Michael, S. J. Michael, R. figures show, and, despite the Admiralty Dock, Mitchell, H. M. H. Nemazee, P. C. Potts, W. we may expect to get some, though fewer H. Purcell, J. F. Reece, E. W. Rutter, M. English and more foreign, ships of war to the W. Slade, F. Smyth, T. S. Takawanagi, A. Docks in the future. With regard to ship. Tillett, P. Witkowski, C. N. Young, etc. building, if undertaken on a large scale, it Te notice convening the meeting having could only be made more profitable when run been read.
as a distinct department with the staff and plant set apart exclusively. Hitherto the new work has had to be taken along with the repair work, which cannot under any circumstances be allowed to wait. When labour, plant, and materials are urgently required, and limited, the margin of each, required for or engaged upon new work is frequently, as occasion requires, taken away to some breakdown or damaged vessel. This is unprofitable. With regard to the current year, apart from the question of the new dock, we are still considering the scheme for a power station, with boilers, dynamos, and motors, which would, if completed, undoubtedly effect large savings in coal, and what is perhaps equally important, in water, and also in labour required for driving the machinery at Kowloon. outlay' will, however, be considerable, say $300,000. The keel has been laid of a new and powerful steam tag with twin screws, for our own use in transporting, and also for towing ships to sea.
This appeared a necessary step to take, looking at the age and comparatively small size of the Fame in con- junction with the rapidly increasing size of ships. Now that the Spanish-America war and the business accrued theroby has passed, and also much of the business occasioned by the disturbance in North China, must look to the development of trade generally in the East to make up for any falling off in that respect. The probabilities of such development are very great, but I need not enlarge upon them now. The powers of Europe, the United States and others, are pressing for admission to the trade of China, and whatever the result may be politically, the effect, so far as this Company is concerned, must be to bring more business our way. I refer chiefly to docking and repair work, which is undoubtedly more profitable to us than new. During the past half-year we have had to deplore the loss of our late manager, Mr. Cooke, who had served the Company off and on for twenty-two years. Mr. Cooke was not only an old and greatly valued servant of the Company, but a man who
The CHAIRMAN said-Gentlemen, the report and statement of accounts having been in your hands for some time past, we will, with your permission, take them as read. It once more affords your Directors much satisfaction to be able to lay before you the best record for any corresponding period. The amount available for appropriation, including $459,695.15 brought forward from last half year, is $1,94,895.02, and the Board recommends this amount to be distributed as follows: That a dividend of 10 per cent. and a bonus of 8 per cent. absorbing $450,000 be paid to shareholders, a bonus of $20,000 to contributing shareholders, and one of $25,000 to the European staff; that $155,988.36 be written off the value of Kowloon Docks, $23,787.07 from the Cosmo- politan Dock, and the balance, $420,119.59, to be carried to the new account. The expenditure on capital account, new building and new machinery during the past half-year has been over $300,000, so, as we only write off about $180,000 out of the profits, wo are, so far as our cash is concerned, some $120,000 more in debt, and in spite of all our writing off, the book value of the Docks at Kowloon will still stand at $1,800,000 as against $1,700,000 this time last year. Allusion has been made in the report to the tonnage figures of ships docked during the past half-year, which show increase of 5 per cent. on corresponding period of 1900. This increase, however, is entirely due to the dockings of heavy war-vessels. The total: tonnage of merchant vessels docked here during the past six months shews a decline of 4 per cent. as compared with a similar period of 1930. As it is understood that there is an actual increase of tonnage entering the port (though the figures are not yet published) it may be taken that we are beginning to feel the competition of other dockyards in the East. Whether that is so or not can only be ascertained by a longer experience, but it may serve as a reminder that we may not un- likely feel competition more than we have hitherto done and that we should be prepared
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