January 12, 1903.]
CHINA OVERLAND TRADE REPORT.
were
o'clock, when it was quite dark, and all three who were also buried in the d bris boats were rowed to the rice-junk, which was extricated by the police, and ware not lying at anchor. Nine men boarded her, and seriously injured, There were two theories three, including witness, remained behind to to account for the collapse, both by inter- look after the three boats, one man occupyingested parties and both conflicting. One would each. Witness was not sure whether or not the be supported by the owner of No. 12 aud the first defendant boarded the rios-junk, as he was other by the contractor. One of these theories in another boat, but the second defendant was that the alterations to No 14 were not was in the same boat with witness, and carried out with sufficient care and skill, and, boarded the rice-junk. On her deck witness that in consequence the party wall between saw an Englishman, and the second defen- Nos, 12 and 14, being disturbed by the building dant went up to him and shot him in operatious, fell, and in falling brought down the thigh with a revolver. He fell, and the the two houses. The other theory probably! second defendant took away from him a long would be that the first floor of No. 12, which was firearm he was holding, and also his watch. supported by a double set of joists, was very His Wo:ship-You saw this with your own heavily laden at the time of the accident. This eyes?
floor was used practically as a godown by the occupier, and there was no doubt that at the time of the accident there was a large quantity of various goods stored there, and it might be that the weight was excessive and the floor not sufficiently strong to support it, causing it to give way and thus bringing on the collapse. It would be for the jury to decide whether the accident was due to the breaking of the floor or to the fall of the party wall. The taking down of the wall of No. 14, the jury would see, was i risky operation which must necessarily endanger the stability of the house, and unless proper ca e and skill hal been exercised in the operation it would be for the jury to find that the persons responsible were negligent, and that their negligence brought about the accident.
Witness replied in the affirmative, and said that the robbers then proceeded to ransack the junk, the or w running down below in fear. | The booty from the junk was placed on the three boats and they were rowed back to Tai Sha, where the loot was divided; witness's share was $15 and some clothing. The first defen- dant get clothing, a firearm, and about $10, and the second defendant the Englishman's watch, some clothing, and also about $10 in money. After the division of the loot all three boats re'urned to Shek Tong Sha, wh rs they sepe. rated, wi'ness returning in his boat to Taiping and afterwards going to Canton. In his boat, when they went to commit the robber, the were four firearms, and the other boats hid one firearm to each man.
Mr. Looker said the jury had not to find out This was the only evidence taken, and the whether any blame attached to any one, but case was adjourned.
ENQUIRIES INTO COLLAPSES OF BUILDINGS.
1
TUNG LOI LANE.
Au enquiry was opened on the 7th
ins'.
simply whether ther had been any criminal negligence. There was a deal of difference between criminal negligeno and blame.
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before the accident. He examined the party wall between Nos. 12 and 14, and worked out in figures the weight the prps had to support.
had been in the scaffolding business ever since In answer to Mr. Looker, witness said he
he was ten years old, and, as before stated, had been a master for about ten years, during which time he had put up a gr at quantity of shoting in the Colony. Not once had a wall which he bad shored up collapsed, and in those cases he carried out the work in the same way as in the present instance.
Further examined by Mr. Bowley, he said the godown there, were 50 per cent. stronger the props against the wall of No. 14, because of
than those now s'arding a rainst No. 126,
Pui Po, master of the Wing Sing shop, he made a contract for the pulling down was the next witness. Last year, he raid, and rebuilding of the ten houses in Wing Lok Street and Tang Loi Lane. prepared by Mr. Mullau, architect, who left the The plans were Colony about three months after the work startel, and were afterwards amended by Mr.
(range.
with the owner in respect of the later plan; No new contract was entered into
charged as extra. any additional work under it was simply to be Mr. Orange frequently English foreman engaged by him went down to visited the work during its progress, and the the job sometimes once and sometimes twice a day. Witness went over details connected with the shoring, and said he had no idea as to what caused the collapse.
The enquiry was adjourned.
The enquiry was resumed on the 9th inst, The jurors were-Messrs. W. Goldenberg, C. H. Blason, and E. W. Terrey.
Pun Po, Master of the Wing Sing contract-
His Worship agreed that the wo d" blame was a little wide, and sail he would make the matter clear to the jury when they had hear.l the ovidence and before they gave their verdict.
Formal evidence having been taken. Tiking shop, was examined by Mr. Looker, the
Foo Mau, manager of a Chinese mercantil firm occupying, before the collaps, promises at
Crown Solicitor first asking his Worship not to allow any leading questions, as his friend
before Mr. F. A. Haz land and a common jury, \ 124. Wing Lok Street and 12 Tong Loi Lane, appeared on behalf of the witness. Mr. Looker
into the circumstances attending the fatal collapse of two houses in Tung Loi Line (near the Harbour Office) on 12th November last. Mr. F. B. L. Bowley, Crown Solicitor, appeared on bɔha'f of the Crown, and Mr. H. W. Looker on behalf of the contractors and shorers, the Wing Sing firm, and the architects, Messrs, Leigh and Orange,
The jurors wera-Messrs. W. Goldenberg, C. H. Blason, and E. W. Terrey.
Addressing the jury, Mr. Bowley said the object of their being there was to enquire into the causes of the deaths of two Chinese labourers, one of whom was killed at the time of the collapse and the other of whom died in hospital on the same evening from injuries occasioned by the collapse. It would be the daty of the jury to enquire into the causes of the deaths of these two men and to ascertain whether, in their opinion, blame attached to anyone. Evidence would be adduced to show that a number of houses in Wing Lok Street, beginning at No. 128 and eading at No. 136. were in process of being rebuilt, and the most of the old houses had been pulled down. The houses in Wing Lok S.reet were back to back with those in Tung Loi Lane, and the party wall separating No. 126 from No. 128, Wing Lok Street had to be pullel down and rebuilt. At the time of the collapse the adjoining houses had been in great part pulled down, but a portion in Tung Loi Lane was standing as high as the level of the first floor-about 14 feet. The party wall between Nos. 12 and 14, Tang Loi Lane collapsed right down to the first floor level, and that necessarily involved the falling-in of the two upper floors and the roofs of each of these two houses; a great portion of the first floor also gave way. The collapse occurred about two o'clock in the day, and at the time there were two bricklayers at work in the kitchen on the third floor of No. 12. One of these men escaped in time, but the other went down with the house and sustained injuries, from which he died that evening in the Government Civil Hospital. Neither of these two men had anything to do with the building operations; they were simply doing some small repairs for the owner of No. 12 At the same time a number of bricklayers who were engaged on the building work were stacking bricks, and one of them was killed. Four other bricklayers
said that at the time of the collapse, on the first floor of No. 12, there were 49 bags of papper, 50 bags of sago flour, and 10 cases of tobicco, the total weight of which was about 81⁄2 tons. When the firm rented the premises this floor was strengthened by the placing of five bams under it.
The hearing was afterwards adjourned.
The enquiry was resumed on the 8th inst. The jurors were— Messrs. W. Goldenberg, C. H. Blason, and E. W. Terrey.
Evidence by Chinese witnesses constituted the afternoon's proceedings, Yik Foo Man, the last witness examined on the previous day, being recalled by Mr. Looker and questioned as to the weight, 8 tons, ou the first floor of No. 12, Tang Loi Lane at the time of the colla 80. He admitted that he had not visited the floor referred to on the day of the collapse, and had no personal knowledge of the weight of the goods stored there. He was quite sure, however, that there was nothing whatever on the ground and first floors of No. 14, Tang Loi Lane at the time of the accident, not even a quantity of old copper.
Photographs of the collapsed houses were put in by Mr. Bowley, who explained that they had been taken by Mr. Crisp, Inspector of Buildings, Public Works Departments. No particular point hinged on the photographs, the Crown Solicitor said in reply to Mr. Looker; they simply might be useful in helping the jury to follow the evidence.
Leung Yai Tai, the master of the Wo Hop scaffolding shop, Wauchai Road, which put Up the shorings to the houses, said he had been in business for himself for ten odd years, and kuew all about scaffolding. He had been to the Colonial Exhibition in London in 1886, and put up some soffoldings there He detailed the work he bad done in connection with the ten houses in Wing Lok Street and Tung Loi Lane which were being pulled down and rebuilt Vertical props were first put up, and these were succeeded by slo ing props a the work of demolie tion progressed. Five groups of hores, at intervals of ten feet, were put up againit No. 14, Tung Loi Lane (one of the two collapsed houses, of which the other was No. 12). The work on these props was finished about three weeks
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replied that if the Crown Solicitor objected to th form of any of his questions he bad only to mention it and their form would be altered.
Pua Po said he was fully satisfied with the shoring that was put up by the Wo Hop scaffolding-shop, which had done work for him for a number of years. Witness had had ten old years' experience in palling down build- ings in this Colony, and in cases where the con- ditions had been similar to those obtaining in Tung Loi Lane the horing was carried out in the same way, with the result that there had never been a collapse. Witness said he visited the collapse on the afternoon it occurred, and saw amongst the debris some boxes and old copper; he did not know where the stuff came from.
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James Orange, of the firm of Messrs. Leigh & Orange, civil engineer, and architects, was called and examined by Mr. Looker. He stated that in his opinion nothing more than the m.a- sures adopted could reasonably have been done to render the shoring of the party wall between Nos. 13 and 14, Tung Loi Lane safer or more secure. From his 13 years' experience in this Colony, he believed that the work of Chinese scaffolding firms was to be relied on.
In answer to Mr. Bowley, ho said he had formed no idea at all as to why the houses collapsed.
Robert Hemmings, au outdoor assistant employed by Messrs. Leigh & Orange, said, in reply to Mr. Looker, that it was part of his duty to look after the rebuilding of the five houses in Wing Lok Street and Tung Loi Lane, As far as he could see the shoring appeared to be all right, and as to the work of pulling down the houses, for a week before the collapse practi- oslly nothing was done in the demolishing the party wall between Nos. 12 and way of
14, Tung Loi Lane.
Examined by Mr. Bowley, witness said he* visited the works every day except Sunday, and waited sometimes for twenty minutes, some- times for an hour,
Hugh Pollock Tooker, executive engineer, ablic Works Department, examined by Mr. Bowley, said that when he went to the collapsed houses on the afternoon of the accident he saw at one portion that the first floor of No. 12, used as a godown, had been supported by a double set of joists, and from other signs he- came to the conclusion that the whole floo, had
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