The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1900-04-21
A FAMOUS CITY
Hongkong Unhealthy
But WeII-Built.
The British Built to Endure, But the
Heat and Humidity De-
stroy Health.

There could hardly be a greater con-
trast than Hongkong and Shanghai,
says a correspondent. The latter city,
beautiful as it is, stands upon level
plain looking out from the muddy cur
rent of the Woossung, which sweeps
through it as the Thames leaves Lon
don. or as Paris is divided by the
Seine. While snow never falls and
certain Indigenous trees remain green
throughout the year, the weather is
often bitterly cold, a piercing north
wind blowing for days together.
Sailing south the weather grows
warmer, and after a three days voy-
age the ship anchors in a noble harb
confronting a British city perched
upon a towering cliff and uncovered
in tropical foliage. Beyond all and
above all rises the imposing Peak,
yelled in mists and clouds much of the
time, the hotel upon it's summit dwarf
ed to the proportions OF toy village.
! The streets, running parallel with the
| face Of the cliff, rise, terrace upon ter
race, crossed at right angles by others
so steep that neither carriage nor jim
rikisha can be used. Those who do not
.
carried in sedan chairs borne on the
shoulders of coolies. Along each ter
race Is a stone balustrade covered with
towering plants, camellias, white and
rose-colored. and splendid white, Grim
son and yellow chrysanthemums. In
the shady gardens of all these shelving
terraces the bamboo and the india
rubber tree and the broad-leafed ba-
mana grow luxuriantly. Fifty years age
this was a naked rock, but the Eng
lish, with the real economy that char
acterizes all that they undertake, built
TO endure The solid, macadamizeC
streets, with stone cutters, the houses
the public buildings, the hotels, like
those of Shanghai, remind one OF BIZ
of Kensington set down in the tropics
with. the heterogeneous multitude Of
the Far East-Chinese Lascars, Siam
ese. Parsees-swelling the picturesqu,
throngs that move to and fro, with th'
stalwart Sikh, blueclad, with a turbaI
of scarlet in yellow, doing police duty
on the corners.
/, The talk is largely OF ships; 20
Hongkong is to the Far East wha
Liverpool Is to the West. II is tn
terminus of many OF the great line
. from America-the Canadian Pacific
, the Pacific Mail, that running from
Seattle. and the new Japanese Toy'
Kisen Kaisha. Here the ubiquitous
globe trotter reships for his onwar'
: journey; here he takes the steamer 70
, West Australia, for the Philippines, TO
Borneo, Java, the Straits, Siam, Indi;
and Europe, and through the corridor
of it's expensive hotels one hears tn
language of all the people on tn
, globe.
, In spite of all the precautions tina
have been taken, the perfect sanitation
Of the city, the fine natural drainage
the cleanliness of the streets, Hong
kong is one OF the most unhealthy
spots on the globe. With its tropica
heat the lofty peaks that half encircl
It catch the clouds that the rapid evap
: Grafton create, and they are squeeze
like a sponge. the floods of rain pour
ing down in steaming torrents.
The houses lack light, although the.
are built as well as they could be, Will
perforated ceilings, through which tn
I air circuIates. admitted from opening
a pierced i'm the outer walls; the floor
are brilliantly waxed carpets, OWN
to the great dampness. being dispense
with. The great difficulty is to secur
: light and proper ventilation: the street
are very narrow and the towering wall
of buildings opposite obstruct the ligh
in front. while at the rear the courts O
terraces crowded with foliage cast
heavy shade from that direction. Il
the gardens. while plants flourish lux
uriantly. there ia no grass. but tn
ground Is green with moss. just as
e grows in damp. shady places in coole
4 climates. The heat and the great humid
$ ity are destructive TO health. and IL
= doubtful if there is a single norma
liver In the whole of Hongkong. Ell
glish women who come out with con-
plexions of cream and roses grow thi
and sallow; the Hongkong complexio
is a startling grayish green, and the oil
resident has with this pallor. dar
blush circles under the eyes. IN
least exertion induces exhausting pc