In our Queries and Answers 5 Eric Spain had an enquiry about salt production in Mui Wo. He remembers seeing some RAF aerial photographs which showed salt pans there. [presumably immediately before, during or shortly after WW2?]. Frank Watson and Namussi added information to Q+A 5 which is linked below. HF: Further information can be found in a post I made on gwulo.com […]
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HF: The paint industry is capital and machinery intensive. To set up a paint factory a large amount of capital is needed for the purchase of land and building of the factory, buying machines and setting up of a laboratory, etc., thus in the course of the industry’s development there are only not more than ten paint plants in Hong […]
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HF: There were at least two slaughterhouses/abattoirs in Kennedy Town. As always additional information, photos, maps, clarification and corrections would be appreciated. I have highlighted specific questions in red. This 1889 map of Kennedy Town shows a slaughter house, adjacent incinerator and a sheep and pig depot south of Forbes Street. Their total length was about 200 metres. For the […]
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IDJ has sent two more images of stone breaking, or “cutting” as the second image is titled, in Hong Kong. Related Indhhk articles: Stone breaking in early 20th Century Hong Kong Film of quarry stone breaking by hand 1953 – location The Index contains several articles about quarrying and the transportation of stone in Hong Kong.
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HF: The Hongkong Canton & Macao Steamship Company was a British merchant shipping and maritime trading company founded in 1865 in the Crown Colony of Hong Kong. The Hongkong, Canton & Macao Steamship Company was founded on 20th October 1865 in Hong Kong by a collection of people tied to the shipping industry in order to support the market for […]
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HF: Our recently posted article, Wong Kwong-tin, manager of the Kai Tak Company, Managing Director of the Kai Tak Motor Bus Company, linked below, says “he is also pioneer Managing Director of the Kai Tak Motor Bus Company, which has been a most important factor in, and largely responsible for, the development of the Kowloon Peninsula.” Here are a few […]
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HF: Sir Catchick Paul Chater was a prominent British businessman of Armenian descent in colonial Hong Kong, whose family roots were in Calcutta, India. Chater was born Khachik Pogose Astwachatoorean in Calcutta, British India, one of thirteen offspring of Armenian parents, Miriam and Chater Paul Chater. His father was a member of the Indian Civil Service. Chater was orphaned at […]
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York Lo has sent the following information about William MacGregor Smith. He was the Smith in Wahee, Smith & Co which in turn became The China Sugar Refinery. Smith is buried in HK cemetery – the tombstone states he was 76 (and was erected in 1907) and was from Scotland. On page 50 of Carl Smith’s book Chinese Christians there is […]
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Elizabeth Ride: KWIZ [Kweilin Weekly Intelligence Summary] has the following reports of the building of wooden boats, and I wonder if some of these could refer to the suicide boats mentioned in the article linked below: KWIZ #66, 15.9.44 : Aberdeen Dock coolies “are being used to fell trees on the Peak for converting into charcoal, as well as for shipbuilding” […]
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HF: The following information has been extracted from the excellent 2015 book, Hong Kong Mining History, which is a mass of information about several mines and quarries: Ma On Shan Mine is situated on the southwestern slope of [the mountain] Ma On Shan, approximately 10 km from Shatin. The total ore reserve exceeds 7,000,000 tons, making it the biggest iron […]
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