December 15, 1902.1
trading to the port and cot allow dangerous ob- | structions to be placed in the w y unnecessarily.
THEZAIRE."
The gunboat Zaire leave for India on Sunday, 14th inst.
COREA.
(FROM A JAPANESE CORRESPONDENT.]
Mokpo, 25th November.
JAPAN'S MISSION.
The student of Eastern history knows the Coreans as a valiant people, strong in their determination to resist foreign invasion; uot, jas now, as a pu-illanimons nation. Yet eren to-day the flower of the Corean( youth, when unaffected by the national v ces, is at ouce clever and of noble character. Speaking from an experience of many Coreau pupils I am glad to acknowledge that they are no lors intelligent then the Japanes, and I am firmly convinced that the Coreans would not have been the people they now are had they not becu crushed down- by misgovernment and official corruption. A reform of Corean nation 1 life, in every depart ment, is a matter of pressing importance. At present, even to take a boy through school to university requires some fifteen years and nearly $2,000. It will be seen that to educate the ten millions of Coreaus, so that they may become reliable neighbours and a nation strong in themselves, will require many years aud a great deal of money. The mission must be the work of Japan, Corea's older sister. To educate the young men, to lend the necessary capital, to construct railways, to open mines, to improve the state of agriculture, etc., these are the duty of the Japanese. The grout blunder of some opinionated diplomatists in the past has been that they attempted to gain the Corean court and officials by intrigue aud stratagem.
1
WEIHAIWEI.
MINING OPERATIONS. Ever since the British authorities took over Weihaiwei from the Japanese, gold-bearing deposits have been known to exist. Several local syndicates sout prospectors to locate claims, and various mining engineers with American and Australian experiencs reported most favourably on certain properties. Whilst the territory remained under military rule, mining if not actually discouraged was certainly not encouraged by the authorities, but in spite of this several companies continued their investigations, and at considerable expense and trouble acquired mining and prospecting rights over the most promising areas. Since Mr. Lockhart's appointment 25 Commissioner things have moved rapidly, and mining regula- tions have now been drawn up based on those in use in the British Colonies. During the past two years of forced inactivity a number of engineers have been investigating the various mines, sampling them, and lying outlins for their fatare development, We understand that an amalgamation of interests h s been arranged batween two of the companies most largely interested and that mining operations will be commenced early next year.-Shanghai Mercury.
CORRESPONDENCE.
[We do not hold ourselves responsible for the opinions expressed by our correspondents.]
!
THE RIDER-MAIN SYSTEM.
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
feel obliged if you will kindly allow me space in the columns of your next issue.
RXTRACT FROM KEPORT AND DIAGRAM
461
issue, which is free, unchecked water to the Chinese.
It is advocated in the interests
+
of owners of Chinese tenements whose tenants 40. The following arrangement would greatly demand water without metering
and improve matters. At present house-servic s if this ri ler-main system is orried ont Hong- aro connec ed directly to the street mains. Ikong will soon be known throughout the East suggest that subsidiary mains, wrought iron as the town of the six-months' water-supply pipes, of small diameter, should be laid parall Ihat does not appear to be a cheerful prospect to the pricipal maius (rider-mains) on both for investors.
How many years will it sides of the street, thus:
take to complete this gigantic sheme and how abut the pestilence which is likely to follow this sweeping disruption of the streets, to sɩy nothing of the block and congestion of traffic?'
TO THE EDITOR OF THE "DAILY PRESS." Hongkong, 8th December. Sia, I have read with keen interest the letter which appeared in your issue of Friday morning last under the heading of The Rider main Danger" and signed “Aquarius." Your correspondent very rightly introdures the sub- ject as one of vital interest to the inhabitants of this Colony, and, as he appears to be very sincere in his dealing I think it is only right to place before him, and the public, the facts respecting the claims of this rider-main system as given in Mr. Chadwick's I'reliminary Report on the Sanitation of Hougkong published in the Government Gazette of the lith of April last, pages 570 and 571. With this object I shou'd
HOUSE-SERVICES.
RIDER-MAIN,
PRINCIPAL MA N.
RIDER-MAIN,
HOUSE-SERVICES.
B
The house servic s should be discounacted
from the principal main, and connected to the rider-mains. In this way, the town would be divided into blocks of couvenient size, the water supply to which could be turned on and off, independently, and in rotation. The wa'er could be then turn d on to, aud shut off from, a large roup of blocks in rotation. No. 1 block would recoiv. water from 3 'a m, to 4 a.m, No. 2, 4 to 3, and
80 (11. In
short, the town would be supplied just as London was, when the intermittent system was in force. The principal maius would always be charged, under full pressure. No pollution could enter through open bail-hydrants rather an important point, at the present moment especially.
1
41. I recommend th's arrangement, not merely because it will improve and facilitate the management of an intermittent supply, and mitigate its evils, but also because it will be a permanent improvement. It will facilitate the shutting off of house services, because the valves on the rider-mains may be so arrangel as to be practically inaccessible to unauthorised persons.
Such is not the case with the house-service cocks now in use. It will greatly facilitate the application of the existing law, with regard to the prevention of waste. Arrangements may be made whereby the test meler may easily be applied when required. The detection of waste will also be facilitated. The inspector need only apply the the whole block. If there be no
stethescope to one of the ralres commanding soud of flowing water, be cau pass on to another block, He need only examine house by house if he finds symptoms of leakage within the given block. Lastly, it will be most advantageons, if the
The rider-mains may be laid along the side. streets are asphalted, or otherwise improved. walks, so that if a house-service requires renewal, the street surface need not be disturbed.
these rider-maios are to be of small dimensions It will be plainly seen from the above that and are also to be laid along the side-walks, in which case, beyond the disconnecting of present existing services from the street-main, there need b no disruption of the streets
|
姜求
whatever.
a
manner
It will be seen also that the system in thoroughly simple but practical greatly facilitates the detection of waste, and provides, through the block system, an equal distribution, which if ouly for one hour a day will always be sufficient for the inhabitants. Such a supply could ea-ily be maintained all the year round.
Theu again, the Report states that no pollu- tion whatever can take place through open bil-hydrants-a very important point at the present moment and in epidemic seasons. It also points out that the new system will greatly mitigate the evils attendant on the existing intermittent supply system, and will be a permanent improvement. So much for the opinion of a qualified expert.
From the extracts given above it is quite clear that your correspondent has not taken the trouble to make himself sufficien'ly acquainted with the subject as dealt with in Mr. Chadwick's report beforo writing, as he has done in his lengthy contribution, as all his statements would appear to mi.rep e out the tone facts of the cas
I notice al o, Mr Editor, in your leader of the 6th, that you have quoted from a Report made by Mr. Chadwick so o eight years ago: the well known evils of this vicious system of distribution." The expert was then reporting on the system of that day, which was identically the same as we hare with us bero to-day-the existing intermittent system-when he wrote:
Your correspondent Aquarius" in his letter says: "Io all that has been said or written, no attempt, so far as I am aware, has been made to point out the dangers of the rider-muin scheme which seems likely to be forced upon as. Rider-main is a good word aul seems to have beea lugged in to disguise the real
•
(1) The entrance of foul air, foul liquid and possibly disease germs into the public water. mains. (2) 1 he growth of fungoids and c rro- sion of the pipes. (3) The audae wear and tear of the distribution system. (4) The difficulty of equitable distribution of water throughout the water-works are. (The waste of water. (6) All this, I repeat, was s: il of the then existing The failure to provide efficient fire service.' system which was identical, in every respect, with what we have here to-day.
Now, the riler-main system, according to the first Report quoted from the Government Cazette of the 11th April last, is to dispose of
all these evils.
44
As to the speculative theory in which Aquarius" indulges, when he suggests that Hongkong will soon be known throughout the East as the town of the six-months' water. supply." To scont such an errousons idea, I venture to give another extract from a further Report of Mr. Chadwick dated the 18th April last:-
I find that during the water-year 1901-2 Tytam from April to October inclusive, at the an aver ge daily supply was given from
rate of 2,400,000 gallons per day, under constant supply: for the remainder of
the year. the average rate of supply was 1,500,000 gallons per day-so that about 1,000,000 gallons extra per day would have maintained, the constant supply for the whole year." And he further says:- "Daring the exceptional dronght of 19 1-2 the steam below Tytam yielded at least 45,000 gallons between September and October, which would have ben a valuable addition to the general water supply It will thus be seen that had steps been taken earlier to conserve below the present Tytam dam there was sufficient water to keep up the constant supply, oven during the most excep- tional drought which the Colony has experienc- ed. Et ps are now under way to accomplish this,
19
With the i treduction of the rider-main
system, which is to regulate the supply for at least the one hour per day from block to block of houses in rotation, it is obvious that should another drought overtake us the present storage capacity would prove ample for our needs, and Hongkong would never be known as of the six monti s' water-supply."
"the town
That the riler-main system's not advocated solely for the interests of Chinese landowners, as suggested by "Aquarius," must also be quit, apparent when, for every houre owned, a contribution averaging about $100 for the
stallation of the system will have tɔ be paid down; and the only hope of getting back any of this cash contribution rests on the c'tance of a possible increase of rent, which, at most, will
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not amount to more than from 25 cents to 30 rents pr flat par month. Hero supply and demand comes in; so that thero wil be possibility of landlords not being able to recoup themselves for a long time. The landlords are studying the economic as well as humang sido of the question, and with this disinterested motive, as well as from a sanitary point of view, they think they are serving the best interests of this Colony.
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