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HONG KONG ANNUAL REPORT
an approximate total of 74,800 stations. Demand for service continues to grow, and planning for additional exchanges to meet this demand continues.
Despite increasing costs, telephone rentals remain un- altered and are possibly the lowest in the world. Rentals are charged on a 'flat rate' basis at $300 per annum for a business line and $225 per annum for a residential line. For this fee the subscriber may make as many local calls as he wishes.
METEOROLOGICAL SERVICES
The Royal Observatory, which is the sole source of weather information in Hong Kong, provides forecasts for the general public, shipping, aviation and the Armed Forces. A central forecast office and a meteorological com- munications centre were opened at the Observatory in May 1957. Since then the central office has been supplying analyzed weather charts by facsimile to the Kai Tak Airport forecast office, which serves only the needs of aviation. In addition to its meteorological duties, the Observatory operates a seismological and a time service.
A general increase in the number of weather reports received from other centres and from ships contributed greatly to forecasting during 1957.
The Royal Observatory's most important function is to give warning of storms. Whenever a tropical depression, storm or typhoon moves into the China Sea, 6-hourly and often 3-hourly statements of position, intensity and direction of movement of the centre are issued. Frequent, reliable ship reports and storm reconnaissances by aircraft help to locate storms accurately. When the Colony itself is threatened, the local storm warning system is brought into use, and warnings are widely distributed by means of visual signals, telephone, radio and Rediffusion.
Five tropical storms or typhoons affected Hong Kong during the year, and gale signals were displayed on three
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