96
I
THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
those communities appear to be content, a so desired, of the statements advanced, These publications, which are always maki ng the most absurd blunders, whenever they mention Japan and the Japanese, do not hesitate to write of the depraved morals" and "Asiatic vices" of a nation throughout whose whole country it would be impossible to discover one half of the wickedness to be met with in the one city
whence these literary lights radiate. It began, it seems, as a labour “ plank in election jobbery; it was fostered by irre- sponsible writers who would say anything for money; and it continues in spite of the
¡ protestations of the more decent and better informed Americans. A Boston journalist writing on the spot declares that there is no real feeling, even in San Francisco, against the Japanese, except among the most ignorant ranks of semi-foreign labour
ers.
· Mr. Jas Dɛeo, of Mouguni, in a letter to the Usumbara Times corroborates the above complaints in every particular, entering an emphatic protest against the wanton manner in which the Boers slaughter and chase away big and small game, and their ruthless pursuit of the elephant. He recalls to mind that the Transvaal a! The
[August 12, 1905)
Aings is the proper lighting of the ground and lower floors. Darkness necessitates arti- ficial light, and it is always accompanied more or less by dirt and dustiness. A house in Hongkong erected on land obtained from the Crown after the passing of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance may be fairly com pared with a house erected under the London Building Act on streets formed after 1894. Also ahe erected in this Colony after the passing before the passing of this Ordinance, may be of the present Ordinance, but on land obtained
fairly compared with a house erected in London under the 1894 Act on streets formed from 1862 to 1894. It appears that to regulate the height of new buildings on old sites in Hongkong by the width of the streets alone is liable to have very serious effects upon the lighting and ventilation of the city. If the height
of a house is governed merely by the width of the street on which it fronts, and if the limitation of the height of storeys to 15 feet be only insisted on
time abounded with game of all kinds and descriptions, whilst it is now denuded of it, and hopes that the German government will at once adopt measures to preserve their African possessions from a similar fate. He states that, when he visited the northern districts of Ngari Nariobe for the purpose of catching gnus, he was painfully struck with the scarcity of wild animals, which the natives had attributed to the misdeeds of the Boers. Mr. Dɛɛd complains that the latter who have received such liberal treit-
The Japanese are hired right and left by white cployers, in all kinds of work, ment at the hands of the local authorities, and no trouble of any kind has occurred, have so far given no proof of their much in spite of the efforts of some people to stir vaunted skill as pioneers of civilization and up race hatred." Unfortunately, a simu-that at the setting in of the rainy season lated feeling, assiduously and unscrupu- they had not even possessed the necessary lously fostered, tends in time to become | seed-corn. They are perfectly content, what it seems; and it must ptinue to be according to the writer, to barter the game the duty of honest people to point out the they kill and do not require for their own real basis of all these calumnies, until se for mealies and bananas to the natives. more peaceful times come, and the possible He declares them to be a most indolent complications are less serious than they race and arrogant in a quiet sort of fashion. are just now.
BOERS IN GERMAN AFRICĂ.
(Daily Press 11th August.) After the termination of the war in South Africa, some of the Boers trekked into German territory where they were received with open arms. The press in Germany welcomed them as pioneers of civilization and most desirable settlers, and the Colonial Society of Berlin has since theu been using every endeavour to promote Boer immigra- tion. It appears, however, that the Africander has greatly disappointed his admirers, and that indiscriminate admission of Boers is meeting with strong opposition on the part of the other colonists. At a meeting of the Pagani branch of the Colonial Society the matter was fully discussed, and the following resolution passed and forwarded to the central office in Germany:
That au urgent appeal be addressed to the managing committee in Berlin to desist from further advocating and assisting Boer immigration to East Africa, as the Boers had so far lived entirely on the game of the country, in the destruction of which they had proved themselves most unscrupulous, utterly disregarding the existing regulations for the protection and preservation of wild animals. They had made no attempt to
build homesteads or to cultivate the soil,
and all but those blindly prepossessed in their favour, agreed that their civilizing labour had been nil; it was not the German that had to be taught by the Boer, but vice verɛa! Moreover there was every reason to suppose that the Boers, in part at least, were only waiting for better times to return to their old homes. At any rate they showed no inclination to settle down, but preferred to remain trek Boers, which would be adding a white nomadic population to the native migratory tribes, It was, therefore, in the interest of the colony that Boer immigrants should not
be admitted on more favourable terms t'an
other settlers; that they should be refused admission, unless provided with adequate means and that those admitted should be compelled to take up fixed abode; and to observe the game and other laws of the The Pagani Committee were conutry." prepared to furnish conclusive evidence, if
i
!
He instances the case of one of them, not
long ago, telling the German officer in command of the military station at Arusha, that, in his opinion, it was high time he should learn the "TAAL"! They have engaged a schoolmaster from the Transvaal to teach their children; for Boers they are and Boers they wish to remain
HONGKONG SANITARY
BOARD.
1
Dr.
A meeting of the Sanitary Board was held on the 8th August in the Board Room. F. Clark (President) preside, and there were also present Hon. Mr. W. Chatham (Vice President), Dr. Pears. Dr. Macfarlane, Mr. Mr. H. W. Slade, Mr. A. Rumjahn, and Mr. E. Irving, Mr. F.J. Badeley. Mr. Fung Wa Chun.
W. Bowen-Rowlauds (Secretary).
THE HEIGHT OF BUILDINGS,
The recommendations of the committee appointed to consider in what cases buildings should be allowed to exceed a height of 76 feet first dealt with the type of building, stating that exemptions from the provisions of section 188 (5) of the Public Health and Buildings Ordinance and large blocks of offices of European design. 1903 shall only be granted in the case of hotels Regard shall be had in every case obstruction of the light of adjacent and of opposite properties, as well as of the building itself, and this shall be secured by the setting
to the
back of any portion of any storey which is more
than 76 feet above the level of any side street or of the back yard of the building, so that it shall fall within a line drawn, at such level. at an angle of 3.5 deg. with the horizon. In no case shall the height of the building exceed one and a half times the width of the street on which it fronts section 158 (3)), and in the case of jand obtained from the Crown after February 21st, 1983, such height shall not exceed the width of the street on which the building fronts [section 188 (4) Not more than six storeys shall be allowed in any case, and with the ex- ception of two caret ikers to each storey, only the four apper storeys shall be use for sleeping purposes The ground storey shall not be less than 20 feet in height. No modification of terins of section 138 in respect of verandahs at the side or rear of such building shall be granted in these cases, and where any street at the side or
rear of such building is Is than 50 feet in width, no balcony shall be projected therefrom over Crown land in such street.
im.
The following memorandum was submitted by the M.O.É. One of the most 'portant results of limiting the height of build-
|
in the absence of special strength of walls, and be modified at once if the house be so bu'lt ak to
with its
no
render it strong enough to have storeys of over 15 feet high, or in other words if the Ordinance be mechanically administered without dus regard to the sanitary questions of ventilation and illumination, the condition of houses in Hongkong in these respects will be far behind comparable houses in London. Properly, in a tropical city. especially in one so unfortunately situated for matters of lighting and ventilation as is the city of Victoria. more effort, should be made to obtain the beneficial effects of open space. The more buildings erected to excessiva height, the greater will be the danger from overcrowding,
and disease. accompanying dirt Where dealing with houses to be erected on land obtained from the Crown subsequent to the passing of Ordinance I of 1903, the law requires that no house shall be erected to a greater height than the width of the street in which such house fronts. This law then fixes a minimum standard as necessary for the effect of the height of buildings. otherwise this hare regulation would
raison d'etre. It follows, therefore, that there is an objection on sanitary grounds to buildings exceeding the hoight limit. On the grounds of expediency, then, objection has bee waived in the case of houses erected and to be erected on ground leased be. fore the passing of this Ordinance. An impartial consideration. it is trusted, will make it clear that the limit to the height of buildings should not be exceded except under the following situated in the midst of open space, which can circumstances:-(1) When the building is so
not be built over, that its extra height will not affect the access of light to any of its windows ; (2) Unless, as a compensation for the effect of the extra height in lessening the lighting of the build- ing, there be a setting back of th floors in the manner provide:I for under the London Building Act: () When the extra height of a building will not deprive any neighbouring building of the extra height had not been granted (4) any of the light it would enjoy if permission for
Where the building is not a tenement house as defined by Ordinance I of 1903; (5) Unless under a
1
condition that such building he reduced, at the expsuse of its owner, to the height only to which it might have been erected, had pa-mining for the extra height no.
ཐོས་- owner being called upon so to do by the
Government.
Mr. CHATHAM moved as an amendment to the second recommendation that the latter part thereof from "shall be secured” be deleted. He said-The effect of this recommendation, if adopted, would be that most buildings fronting on wide streets could not have a squirǝ elevation to that street.
Mr. SLADE seconded the amendment.
Dr. PEARSE-I should like to draw the
attention of the Board to the fact that if the height of buildings is not governed by some definite rule, the Board will not be in a position to tell owners of property under what conditions they may or may not raise their buildings higher than 76 feet. Perhaps the Hon. Director of Public Works has got some other scheme which he could suggest.
THE PRESIDENT -This amendment brings us back to the original clause, and it was in
reference to the wishes of the Medical Officea
of Health that this particular clause wrs
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.