, 2
*
March 24, 1902.] 2,616; while the number of floors cleansed was 4,031.
· MORTALITY STATISTICS.
The mortality statistics showed that for the week ended 22nd February the death-rate was 14.8 per 1,000 of the population per annum, as compared with 13.0 in the previous week and 23.6 in the corresponding week of the previous
year.
LIME-WASHING.
A return was submitted showing that the number of houses lime-washed during the fort. night ended 15th March was 1,944 in the Eastern and 87 in the Central District.
88
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
Dr. CLARK-In this case, as in former cages, I recommend the Board to require the com- mittee to provide their own well and pump the water to a tank at the top of the building in order to supply all these closets, the well to With that be not less than 10 feet deep. stipulation, I move that the application be granted.
The PRESIDENT seconded, and the motion was agreed to.
PROVISION OF A BIČKYARD. An application was submitted relative to the provision of a backyard for the house to be erected on Inland Lot No. 247B.
*
The Medical Officer of Health minuted URINAL IN ICE HOUSE ROAD.
"The kitchen should not extend across more The SECRETARY laid on the table the follow-
The ing letter from Mr. W. A. Kublee, Consul than half of the width of the building. General for the U.S.A. :-"I have the honour floor of the houses in Lascar Row frontages to enquire if the erection of a public urinal in may not be occupied without a special permis- Ice House Road directly opposite the building sion of the Board, which will be granted for in which the offices of this Consulate-General | sach numbers of persons as the Board may see are located has been definitely decided upon. fit to allow, after the building has been completed. I am interested so far my office is On these conditions I am perpared to recom. concerned, because I should be compelled to mend the exemption."
Dr. CLARK-This house extends through from seek another location. Ice House Road is a narrow thoroughfare, and a urinal in the place Upper to Lower Lascar Row. There is a main proposed would create an intolerable steuch street at the back and at the front, and the besides making the access to my office extremely architects therefore ask for an exemption from unpleasant. I cannot expect that the local providing a backyard. I have to recommend authorities will take my interests into considera-that the exemption be granted provided that tion in locating public urinals, but I beg to the kitchen does not extend over more than state the fact that it will make my present half of the building. At present on the plans office, into which I have recently moved, unten- it extends over about two-thirds.
After an examination of the plans had been able, and that it will be a bardship to seek other offices since I have signed a lease for the present made, Dr. Clark's recommendation was adopted.
`rooms."
Hon. W. CHATHAM-With regard to that matter, Sir, I may explain that after a leng thened period and much trouble, a contract had been entered into for the construction of the place of public convenience referred to by the American Consul in his letter. The intention for providing this urinal was to permit of the removal of the one which has for so long formed a source of public annoyance and complaint in Battery Path. I do not know of any place myself where it can be otherwise arranged and therefore-it may cause the American Consul inconvenience, and I am sorry that it should be so I think the only thing is to adhere to the proposal and go on with the erection of this place, Otherwise, of course, it will be necessary to find a site somewhere else, which would be attended with the same difficulty in the case of some other member of the public, and the Government will have to sacrifice a considerable sum of money in getting rid of the contract into which they have entered.
Dr. CLARK-I think we might reassure Mr. Rublee that the Board have every reason to believe that the offence will not be so great as he anticipates. Offensiveness or otherwise of an urinal depends entirely upon its construc- tion. Plans have been submitted to render this urinal inoffensive. It will not be such a structure as now exists in Battery l'ath, There will be room to turn round, and there will be room for an attendant to be constantly and unless we unfortunately have another severe drought there in every reason to beliers that the urinal will be inoffensive. I think that might reassure him to some extent.
It was agreed to reply to the Consul's letter
there;
in the terms indicated.
RATS DESTROYED,
A return was laid on the table showing that the number of rats destroyed during the week ended 10th March was 2,930 in Victoria and 1,332 in Kowloon, as compared with 2,583 and 1,777 respectively in the previous week.
HONGKONG CLUB APPLICATION.
The committee of the Hongkong Club asked permission to erect six water-closets and an urinal at the annexe to the Club Lot No. 1,536 Reclamation. The capacity of the storage cistern for supplying water to the closets was 800 gallons.
The Sanitary Surveyor, Mr. J. J. Bryan, reported that the only objection he knew of, to allowing these W.C.'s to be fixed, was the one of water supply. A slight saving could be made by fixing an one-gallon flushing tank to the urinal instead of a two-gallon. The probable quantity of water required then would be about 300 gallons a day. Could this extra amount be spared, or could it be obtained by sinking a well P
SHANGHAI DECLARED INFECTED. Mr. Osborne-If I am in order. beg to move that the Government be asked to apply medical inspection to vessels arriving from Shanghai. I think that is a desirable step, having in view the large amount of scarlet fever and other infectious complaints that are now troubling the Shanghai people.
The PRESIDENT-It is necessary for the Board to declare Shanghai infected if medical inspection is to be imposed.
Mr. OSBORNE-That is my motion, sir. Hon. A. W. BREWN--Have we any official information on this matter.
Dr. ( LARK-We have the death returns. beg to second the motion.
The motion was carried. This was all the public business.
GUNNERY IN THE CHINA SQUADRON.
I
213
Terribles (one gun's crew), 1 minute 21-1/5 seconds being the Glory's smartest time; and when it is remembered that twenty rounds thrown into the gun represent a weight of about 18 cwt., this task is not so simple as it may appear.
THE KIDNAPPED RAJAH OF
│PATANI.
We take the following from the Straits Times of the 12th inst.:—
His Highness the Rajah of Patani, a friendly and a neighbouring potentate, who was bat recently in Singapore, was kidnapped by a Siamese official on the night of F,bruary 20th. He was taken away in a Siamese gunboat and is now a prisoner. This occurred at Patani. He was lured to the house of a Siamese official, where he was asked to sign and subscribe to a treaty whereby he was to practically abjure the right of governing his own State. On refusing, he was surrounded by a company of about thirty soldiers from the gunboat, who took him away with only three attendants. His Highness was not allowed to send for either his wife or his He was denied the privilege of even taking sleeping clothes.
cash.
Messengers have arrived in this town, appeal. ing for aid, and they describe the indignation of that serious trouble is to be feared from this act, the Malays of Patani as frantic. It is stated and that the trouble will extend to the State of Kelantan.
The rulera; of Kelantan and Patani are near relatives, and apart from that fact they are very friendly, and affectionately disposed towards each other. The abduction occurred on the night of 20th Feburary, when His Majesty the King of Siam was actually on his way to Singapore, and forty-eight hours before his arrival here.
Phya Sri Sahadi is the name of the official He was an who kidnapped His Highness. Under Secretary of sorts in the Siamese Go- vernment, but one of our Patani informants describes him as Vice-Minister for the Interior. As the incident happened late at night there were comparatively few Malays present, and these were driven back by Phya Sri's soldiers when they tried to assist their ruler.
Grave apprehensions exist that an attempt will be made to make Rajah Pitak the Rajah of Patani. In fact he has been appointed Rajah pro tem, by Phya Sri. Such action it is stated will cause intolerable trouble on our border.
The delay in the arrival of the news was caused by the refusal of the telegraph operators in Kelantan and elsewhere to despatch to Sin- gapore any messages concerning the event. that refused the despatch, and the operator It was the Siamese Government telegraphs informed the messenger that he had been ordered to refuse to despatch any message con-
The messengers are now in Singapore. cerning the abduction of the Rajah of Patani.
A novel form of competition has lately been introduced by Flag-Captain Carter among the British squadron in harbour, in the shape of gun-loading competitions between trained guns' crews of different ships. On the 14th inst. one of these competitive performances took place on board the Glory, when two teams-or properly speaking, two guns' crews-from the Terrible were invited to try their skill against the flag- This new drill, which by the way ship's crews. may be said to arouse as much excitement among the onlookers as do sporting contests, besides SUICIDE IN WYNDHAM STREET. tending to promote efficiency in rapid loading of guns, is also a healthy physical exercise, thereby benefitting both the service and the individual. A dummy gun, fitted with a spare breech-block, has been constructed in each ship by order of Admiral Bridge, and although the same movements are employed as are performed when in action, real projectiles are used in the drill, but a wooden drill-cartridge-of the same weight as a proper one-takes the place of the cylinder of cordite.
The result of the competition, which took place in the presence of Flag-Captain Carter and many other officers, proved that guanery is not a monopoly of any one ship, for although the Terribles, who have now for two years been training at this particular drill, produced her best crews, one beat the Glory's crews by two seconds only, while the flagship won by one second on the whole performance, each team having three tries. In each contest or trial- twenty 100lb projectiles are passed through the breech, the drill cartridge having to be entered and withdrawn and the breech itself opened and closed each round; this number of rounds is thus supposed to have been fired by each com- peting team on each try. The best time in doing this was 1 minute 19-1/5th seconds by the
At
a
late hour
inst. on the 20th heard outside Pelhsta revolver-shots were House, Wyndham Street, and on one or two of the residents running out they found a young man lying near the side channel, with blood flowing from a wound in the right temple. By his side was a six-chambered revolver, a cheap-looking weapon, two of the chambers of which had been discharged. One of the Euro. peans on the scene picked up the revolver and foolishly fired it into the roadway twice in suc- cession to see if there was anything left-in it," he told the police afterwards. The uncon scions man was carried into Pelham House, where it was discovered that he resided there. His name was Theodore Weiker, his age 22 years, and he was employed as a clerk at the North German Lloyd shipping office. The police were communicated with, and Weiker was removed to the Government Civil Hospital; where he died on Friday morning. The bullet had entered just below the right temple and tra- versed the frontal bone. Mr. Weiker's case was pronounced bopeless from the start, and he died without regaining consciousness. Before shoot- ing himself it has been ascertained that he dis charged one cartridge, presumably to see if the
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