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THE HONGKONG WEEKLY PRESS AND
explanation yesterday, all we can say is that | it is a pity the Chief Engineer's Reports have not more clearly stated the facts.
His Excellency further emphasised again his previous statement that Mr. BRUCE's estinate "cannot in any sense be regarded | as an estimate of the railway," and went on to say that it "purposely omitted a large number of items, such as station buildings and machinery, workshops, roads, boundar es, ballast and items under plant, including rolling stock and salaries." With regardto this we can only point out that in what purports to be Mr. BRUCE's Estimate (twice laid before the Council in the Reports of the Chief Resident Engineer), he is repre sented as furnishing an estimate of $315,000 for station buildings and machinery, and while it is not explicitly shown that he took into account all the other items enumerated by His Excellency, he added to his estimate 10 per cent for contingencies which we presume would more than cover the cost of all these items, excepting, perhaps, rolling stock, the cost of which is partly borne by the Chinese section, and could not have been estimated at the time. To indicate how "rough was the estimate, His Excellency mentioned that Mr. BRUCE measured the tunuel for distance only with a pair of dividers on a map.
Yet we see from the published records that Mr. BRUCE did not base his calculations of cost on an under-estimate of the distance. reckoned the distance at 7,380 feet, whereas the actual distance proved to be 7,212. We point out these things simply in justification of our previous comments on the subject. On the general question of the value of the preliminary estimate we have only to remark that three years ago the Government. evidently had greater respect for it than it has now, for Mr. BRUCE made preliminary sur- veys and prepared estimates of two routes, and the present route was selected not merely because it was deemed "as best answering the requirements of a section of a trunk line through China," but because, in the words of Sir MATTHEW NATHAN, it was "the most economical, both as regards construction and working expenses." What we have gathered from all the discussion that has recently taken place is, briefly, that important developments of the scheme are responsible for the doubling of the Estimate. It doubtless is very misleading, as the Hon. Mr. MURRAY STEWART remarked, to simply divide the total cost by the number of miles, between Kowloon and Samchun,
He
and say
"there is the cost of the railway per mile." It is, however, a very common method of comparing the cost of railways. We notice that the Japan Mail has recently done this. It tells us that the cost per mile, even
the оп the basis of preliminary estimate, is "approximately three times 28 much
88 the outlay required in Japan," and, referring to the latest revised estimate, our Yokohama con- temporary remarks that "a railway costing over half a million dollars a mile is some- thing novel in the Far East, or anywhere, indeed, for the matter of that." We can well believe that the Colony will have a railway which will be regarded in the Far East, not only as novel from the point of view of its cost, but as a model of railway engineering.
offences
instance of **
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[June 12. 1909,
freight from Canton, but will have to rely | etc., are more common than we care to acknow mainly on through traffic from the interior ledge, other offences go undetected, many of China which will probably take many of doing anything which would make the remain unpunished, and to talk years to develop. Hence the Colony is likely force less effective is to invite adverse to be permanently saddled with a loan of a
criticism. The question is a large one, but I million pounds sterling, or heavily taxed to have said enough to indicate the unwisdom of provide for its repayment. The loan which the policy of diminishing the number of local the Chinese authorities are repaying at the police in the interests of so-called retrenchment. rate of £110,000 a year, including interest, Such a step would in my opinion be a glaring will be required to defray the cost of our
penny-wise, pound foolish.' own line, so that at the end of ten years the Colony will still have on its books a railway the fine words spoken by men, the expressions of All is not gold that glitters" neither do all 1 loan of over a million pounds sterling, regret, the condolences, the sympathies, come from What prospect is there of the Colony being the heart, as an incident reported at Shoreditch able to repay that loan in ten, or twenty, County Court illustrates. A conductor, employ. annual instalments?
by the Metropolitan Electric Tramway Company, said that when he saw an old woman full from the step of a tramcar, he told her he was sorry,
Why should
sorry you be
because woman has tumbled off a car through her own fault?" counsel asked. “It's in the rule-book,” the conductor replied. You must be sorry." "Does the rule-book say Fetch a cushion or a cab or see the woman taken to hospital'?" “No; it simply says:
Be sorry.
Therefore I was destroy the relics of chivalry and gallantry. sorry." Looks as if electric cars tended to
RANDOM REFLECTIONS.
When Shakespeare wrote "who steals my purse steals trash, but he who filches from me my good name, robs me of the jewel most imme- diate to my soul" he expressed a senti ment which certainly did not appeal to the the more tangible purse-and the more tangible light fingered gentry who undoubtedly preferred
the better-to the much prized good name. But apparently in Hongkong the thief above taking the good name in the absence of the purse. I read the other day that somebody had deprived a local architect of his name took it off the office door along with the letter box. There is no limit to the depravity of these
thieves.
not
he
That was a nice little wrangle that took place between ounsel at the Supreme Court the other day in the action for criminal conversa- tion. To read it one might think that it was quite real, that the speakers were the most im- placable enemies, Instead of which-Well,
you know as well as I do.
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It looks as if we shall have to alter our week-
end programmes in future and arrange for nothing else than bathing The weather upsets tennis and other fixtures which is really inost inconsiderato of the official concerned.
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In Siam a new fashion has been set in the way of P.P.C. announcements, A well-known Siamese gentleman inserted an advertisement, in Siamese, in a number of papers in which he announced his approaching death and took leave
of all his friends, regretting that he was unable to call personally to bid them farewell. This was a genuine announcement. I remember, however, an instance in Japan of a man causing an announcement of his death to be made in order that he might have the gratification of seeing what his funeral procession would look like. It was a first-class funeral." but I never learnt whether it was to the gentleman's entire
satisfaction.
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Retrenchment is very much in the air at present, so much so that at times we can almost feel it. But I fancy none of us will agree with the recommendations which rumour has it are being made or are about to be made, with regard to the reduction of the police force in the olony. We see that one police launch is being offered for sale. Eridently it is intended to provide for fewer men on the water, though. why at the same time, the assistant harbour master should be appointed superintendent of water police with an addition of $100 to his salary, is not very clear. The two proceedings are not quite consistent. Then it is bruited about that the land force is also to be reduced and certain changes are recommended. A num- ber of changes may well be introduced, a number of economies may reasonably be effected, but it does not seem desirable to reduce the strength of the force. We From the taxpayer's point of view the know that there is a larger body of crime important aspect of the heavy cost of the in Hongkong than most places of like size and railway is the method of financing it. A importance, mainly because of its exceptional geographical position We know that it is only railway twenty-two miles in length, so heavily capitalised, has small prospect of keeps down lawlessness in the colony, and that, the presence of a strong force of police that proving remunerative for very many years were the vigilance slackened or the force reduced to come, when we consider how unlikely it there is a danger of that element finding more is that the line will be able to compete with frequent expression than at present. Bur- the river traffic either in passengers orglaries, robberies from the person, larcenies,
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The reader has possibly heard before of the Editor who remarked when he had read an alleged new joke submitted to him: "My friend, I never shall forget how I laughed when I first read that joke. It seems a century ago now." Possibly the Editor of the H.D.P. will have some such remark to make about the following old stagers" which I find in a recently publi- shed book.
No. 1 A lady was in need of a house boy, and more particularly a (hinese house boy. So she visited the bureau where such articles could be secured and made known her wants, After the usual exchanges of courtesies between the lady and the proprietor, a lad was called up from the back part of the shop and presented to the lady and recommended as one able to fill the place. The lady feeling satisfied that he was the boy she was seeking, engaged him. After all was settled she asked him his name. He Saumel John Long Sim Fung." Oh, replied, said she, "I will call. you John." Naturally the boy was curious to know the lady's name so he asked her what it was, she replied, Elizabeth Van Rensellar Knickerbocker Jones. "Oh, I
will call you, Lizzie," replied the lad.
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No. 2 On one occassion a Chinaman was arrest- ed and brought before the judge. The judge was inclined to be very gruff and thundered out his inquiries in such tones as to make the founda- tions of the house to tremble.
The prisoner on and the other hand was as meek as a mouse, with a voice just about as loud. The contrast between the two in this respect was laughable enough in itself. What's yer name"? thun- dered the judge, am Ling-sang," squeaked the feeble trembling sinner.'
Where yer live"? My lib on East side." Married"? * Yep." Who yer merry"?" My mallie a voman.""Of course yer married a woman who ever heard of any one ever marrying anybody. else." My hab sister once mally a man.'
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I wonder if the man who first used "chnok it." shove it down yer neck," and such like expressions was aware of the great gift he was conferring upon those who speak the English language. If he didnt. he ought to receive some sort of posthumous honours, for the value of slang is being recognised now. It enriches the language, according to Dr Furnivall, for many years editor of the Oxford Dic- tionary, who went further and declared that the English language is in want of new blood-or renewed words." In declar- ing himself on the side of slang as a means of enriching the language he said "I glory in the slang of the English public schoolboy. Some of the phrases used by the schoolboy are among the raciest in the English language. and virile they are. Look at some of King's words how vivid The language is enriched by them, and ore often finds the old Etonian or other public schoolboy introducing some strange but always expressive word into his writings late in life. The complaint is that such words
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