IDJ has sent this interesting addition to our information about the collection and disposal of night soil and refuse/waste in Hong Kong. Thanks to SCT for proof reading the retyped version below. One of the most important problems which will confront the Colony in the event of an emergency (including typhoon disturbance), is the question of the disposal of night-soil […]
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Dan Waters’ article, Hong Kong’s Hongs with Long Histories and British Connections, includes the following information about The Hongkong and China Gas Company. The article appeared in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong in 1990. Dan has written several articles directly for our Group. HF: The queries are mine. I have also added the images. “William Glen, who […]
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HF: Thanks to IDJ for sending the following newspaper article in. I am presuming the system never got started and it would be of interest to learn why not. The article was a little difficult to read so I have retyped it. Thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped version. The offer to establish the chain of wireless stations was […]
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HF: Bill Burns runs a fascinating and detailed website about the history of submarine communication cables (linked at the end of this article). He has kindly sent four maps related to the worldwide network of such cables in 1901 and 1991. Two of the maps are centred on Hong Kong. The first is a 1901 World Map of “Grandes Communications […]
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Thanks to IDJ for sending in this article thereby enlarging our knowledge about the collection of nightsoil in Hong Kong and hopefully making us appreciate the modern collection and treatment of sewage. Thanks also to SCT for proofreading the retyped article. New nightsoil removal methods in Hongkong Combating the Cholera Menace in the Colony Drastic changes in the present method […]
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Peter Crush has kindly sent the following article about the Hongkong Telephone Company which was first published in the Far Eastern Review of September 1933. Many thanks to SCT for proofreading the retyped article shown below. And thanks to Peter for improving the clarity of the first two images below. Please note the images do not appear in the same […]
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HF: It was never mined here. So this article is an initial attempt to put together what little we have about importing coal and how it was used in Hong Kong: transport, manufacturing, utilities, shipping, domestically…can you add to this article? I have also included charcoal and for general interest information about and images of China and Taiwan/Formosa on these […]
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IDJ sent the English version of what the piece calls Rat Boxes. Mak Ho Yin has kindly translated it. 「香港電燈公司和煤氣公司與老鼠箱關係密切，因為老鼠箱是掛在電燈柱上的。由於華人極為抗拒（滅鼠人員）進入私人住宅，政府於是鼓勵華人在殺死家中的老鼠後，將鼠屍放在就近的老鼠箱內，由衛生部門職員每日收集清理。老鼠箱掛在電燈柱一景，還衍生了一句香港獨有的俗語「電燈柱掛老鼠箱」，以形容夫妻二人中丈夫瘦削兼且二人身高矮懸殊。」 Ho Yin continues: This paragraph raised my curiosity on the topic of rat bins so apart from translating it I also did a quick check about its history. I have no memory of seeing them hanging at lamp-posts, and I […]
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The Gutta Percha Company by Bill Burns The following paragraphs are extracted from Bill’s article, with his permission, which can be found on his large and absorbing website. The article can be read in full via the link below, along with an extract from the book “London by day and night:or, Men and things in the great metropolis” by David W. Bartlett, […]
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Tymon Mellor: With the completion of the Shing Mun Reservoir in 1937 and the new cross harbour pipe line in 1939, Hong Kong should have had an ample water supply, but low rainfall in 1938 and an influx of refugees from Southern China put a strain on supply. Things would only get worse. With war raging in Mainland China, the […]
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