take the wheel while going out of port. I am never on watch at sea. I was not called at 5.30 | a.m. on the morning of the 1st. You did not tell me to give the men a hand with the boats.
To M. Byrne-I bare never sen you drunk on board, but have seen you take drink. I have never seen the captain drunk. I did not say the captain was as full as an egg, the night Ï went aft for 'letters.
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
expense.
July 15, 1905.
As regards Castle Peak By. With a small reclamation sufficient for wharves and godowns, any home steamers could go alongside, dis- char e their railway mat rial into trucks, which would be conveyed to the forward sections in Iss than an Lour
By this means the Canton-Kowloon line would be in course of construction at many points within a year, and a rapid completion would be the result. The twenty mile Valley line would at least pay all expenses and prove a great boon to the country people.
of the chief mate and they therefore, might be used with great profit for the trans- direct that the master's certificate held by him port of ballast and railway material to a point be suspended for a period of three months from at which the second and third sections meet in this date. The court learns from the evid ncs, the neighbourhood of Sham-chuo. This line with regre, that after the ship stranded, would be about twenty miles in length and, sa, the crew generally appear to have taken au the country is nearly level with few engineer- un'ue advantage of the position the mastering difficulties, could be in working order within was placed in, by consulting their own safety twelve mouths. rather than that of the ship, and that their Mr. Wilkinson, in addressing the court, behaviour as a whole left a good deal to be stated that no e idence had been adduced to desired. The court, therefore, di ects that the prove the captain was gulty of either miscon- members of the crew who brought the charges duct or culpable negligence. If the whole against the master and first mate bear the truth of the matter were made known. very costs of this investigation so far as they possibly the misconduct would be on the part relate to the court. The court also learns from of the men, who devoted the whole of their the evidence, with surprise, that the master was attention to save themselves The infamous expected by the ship's owners to provide the and ridiculous statements made by the boat-charts used on behalf of the vessal at his own swain and the carpenter that the chief officer did express his intention of deliberately scuttling the ship showed that the evidence of the men could not be relied upon. The absurdity of the all-gation was obvious. If the mate had intended to commit such an act. it was highly improbable that he would have informed these two men, and to them not to say anything. In view of the excellent testimonials of the captain and of the evidence of the steward and sailmaker, he would ask the court to find that there was absolutely nothing to show that the captain was on this occasion anything the worse for liquor, and that the charge of misconduct against him was absolutely without foundation. Mr. Hays also addressed the court, and Mr. J. T. Roberts, chief officer of the Travancore in reply to the President, stated that the accusa- tion brought against him was untrue, and that he was not told about it until the vessel anchored in port. He denied the whole charge
THE FINDING,
The curt was cleared while the members considered the evidence, and after about an hour'e consideration the finding was delivered as follows:-
there
We find that the British ship Trarancore, official number 99,769, of Greenock, of which W. C. Chamberlin is master. and of which J. T. Roberts is chief mate, left Hongkong on
r Los Angeles. the 31st May, 1905. bound
The Travancore is a sailing ship of 1,878 net registered tons, and was in ballast when she put to sea. That about 3am. on the following day the ship stranded on Fokal Point, was afoat for about three quarters of an hour on the evening of the 2nd June, and again taking the ground remained until 7.45 A.M. on the 3rd June, when sh was towed off by the steam tug Robert Cooke. It appears from the evidence that when dock at 7.10 am: on the 1st June, the position of the ship in resp ct to Fokai Point allowed him the alternative of weathering the Point by continuing on the same tack, or to pat about. He decided on the later course, and that it should he carried into effeot later ou. The master then retired into his cabin nd, after the lapse of half an hour-during which
the master
came
on
time two reports, were made to hit by the officer of the watch representing the necessity to go about if the intention was persevered in he came on deck too late to admit of the man- ceuvre which he attempted to be safely carried out, and in consequence the ship stranded. Having fully considered the evidence, the court is of opinion that the Travancor. was not navigated with sufficient and reasonable care; that the master was absent from deck when the
safely of the ship required his personal supervi- sion; that the casualty was caused by mi-manage. ment on his part and, that he displayed a lack of intelligence in the efforts he afterwards made to flost the ship. That the material damage to the ship was due to the above men- tioned causes, which they are of opinion amount to a wrongful act or default on the part of the master, and they therefore direct that his certifi- cate be suspended for a period of nine months from this date. The court further directs that a first mate's certificate be issued during the period of suspension if the master so desires. The court is further of opinion that the chief mate was also to blame in respect to the management of the ship immediately prior to her stranding, and in the lack of effort he displayed in afterwards trying to flost her, which they are of opinion amounts to a wrongful act or default on the part
(ORRE PONDENCE.
RAILWAY ENTERPRISE IN SOUTH
CHINA.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY PRESS,”
SIR. My apology for this communication, if any be needed, must be the exceptional im. portance of the subject as aff cting the in- terests of this colony,pled with the very cursory manner in which the contemplated local line. Canton-Kowloon, has so far been
noticed.
воте
I remember. wheu in North China twenty years ago, having an introduction to the Engineer-in-Chief. I paid a visit to the works at Tong-ku where they were at that time ve y busy pushing forward the line to the Kai-Ping- Mines and beyond. B-ing shown over, I noticed amongst the rolling stock a number of splendid third class criages set on four-wheel to ies, each having ten compartments and cal ca'ated to hold 100 per-ons. After spending a few days in the neighbourhood. I jon-nied fur- her notb, returning a couple of mouths later. Imagine my suprise, when again visiting my friend at Tong-ku, to find a 1 the beautiful car riages I had seen. couver'ed into veritable cattle track with Lothing but a 42-inch board- ing roud the ends and sides. On speaking of the matt r, my friend told me that the home design of carriage could not afford room for half the number of passengers offering and that they had to dispense with all unnecessary ham- pers great was the demand of the travelling public of all classes. And when our local line is ready, such I prophesy will be the experience also. The live from Canton to Fat-shan, in spite of its faulty construction, has yielded magnificent profits from the day of ope ing.
Now, as regards the Canton-Kowloǹ Line. One of your evening contemporaries recently ventured to give some particulars as to probable route: tunnelling through the Kowloon tills beneath the craggy posk, known as the Lion's Hd, thence through shatin Val ey skirting the promont ry which divides Tide Cove from
to
Tolo Harbour, &c. (Hre, for many reasoDS which the surveyors will no doubt disc ver, a tunnel might serve better than the shore rate). However, it is not my iutention to attempt to solve engineering problems: what I do is to open up a broader view of the railway question here in the south as it may directly effect the present and future prosperity of this colony
propose
To begin with, let us divide the proposed line into working sections of ten or twelve miles
and we shall at once see that the first sectiu from Kowloon is fraught with many difficulties involving the boring and construction of tunnels, embankments, viaducts, bridges, &c. These opera'ions mean a long time before the second section can be approached from this end: the third and fourth sections will of necessity be delayed much longer, and so on right along the line.
To obriate all this delay, it has occurred to me, knowing the country well, that from Castle Peak Bay a well-made single line via Piang- shan, On-long, Sha-pat-boung and How-tow dipping into the Pat-heung Valley, south of Kam-tin-ho, with a curve taking a north easterly direction through a cluster of villages by way of San-tin thence on to Sham-chan would not only be the means of opening up many thickly populated förtile valleys but, at the same time,
There is yet another very important feature in the development of Railway Enterprise in South China." I refer particularly to the neighbourhood of Sham-chan. According to the formation of the country, it would appear tha the Fu-ti-an Gap, which is very easy of c 304, will prove the most convenient in passiureri the hill district known a‹ Ngau-tam- h2, 8 000 feet). It is n this neigbourhood wor distant date, there should be an impu tar ju tion service, as also a suitable rite selected lo township. The junction should distribute iu four or five direction. Canton, Hongkong, Castle Peak and at least one other which I think I refer to the will follow almost immediately. District adjoining Sun-on, Kwei-shin, ith its Prefect and Magistrate. only forty miles distant. on the bauks of ast River (Kweichow and Kweishiu, about 100 miles from Canton) through a very thickly populate country. principally Hakkas.
This, as a system, would complete the triangle, with Hongkong at its ap-x as the port of entry. the latter part of the project forming a section of the main line to the north ast along the coast to Shanghai.
The man in the street here may laugh, but it must a I come, perhaps in our day.
It is astonishing how rapidly railway exten sion has gone ahead in the north during the last few years, and that in spite of the fact that for several months in winter it is quite impos. sible to und rtake any earth works on account of the intense co'd.
Here in the south there is nothing to interrupt. and with a determined start all should progress steadily th oughout the whole year.
SPECTATOR.
Hongkong. 12th July, 1905..
ALLEGED EMBEZZLEMENT.
Li Kwai, a foki in the employ of the Kwong
Hing firm, of No.358 Sai-yuen Lane, was charged
fore Mr. G. N. Orme at the Police Court. ba July 13th with feloniously and frandul ntly embezzling and stealing a sum of $50, money of the sid firm.
Mr. G. E Morrell (of th› Crown So'icitor's office) pro scuted and Mr. C. E. Baris" (of Messrs. Wilkinson and Grist) appeared for the defendant.
lle
Mr. Morrell stated that at the beginning of the year the defendant was engaged by the Kwong Hing firm as buyer and seller. had no authority to collect money, but on three occasions went out and collected certain suma due to his employers from other firms. This Was never accounted for, and the defendant was only found out when the managing partner went to collect these sums and was informel that they had bee paid to the defendant, who The defendant admitted having received them was pressed to repay the money, but absconde ! four days afterwards, and was not heard of After hearing that th › again for some time. managing partner of the firm had absconded, l- returned t the Colony and stated that he had repaid the money. He went to the shop while the new manager was busy at the godowns, and when the manager returned he found the defen dant making alterations in the account book. The supposed absconded partner, however, turned up, and the defendant was arrested.
Evidence was led and the case adjourned.
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