The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-01-27
The English City al
Hong-Kong.
Once a Mass of Barren Rocks, Now the Richest
Colony of the World-The City's Name IL
Victoria.

York. There is not a finer bank building In
the world. I venture. than that of the Hong
Kong and Shanghai Bank. The Hong-Kona
Club cost SJ0.090. and the Hong-Kong Hotel
would be a big hotel anywhere. Back Of
these buildings are many fine residences.
They rise out OF the trees along streets
which are so shaded that you can climb the
hills and keep out of the rays of the sun.
The population of Hong-Kong IS about
29.Oe. of whom less than 5000 are whites,
the remainder being Chinese. There are 3,2ss
Europeans and Americans. not counting the
Portuguese: 2.263 Portuguese, 1,3iS East In
dams and H2 Surasians. There are 2.37l
British, 23 Americans. 1856 Germans, lis
French, 105 Spanish and 49, Jews. The Chi
nese quarter Is down near the water. al
though a great part of It surrounds the
English business sections, and you find Chi
Eese merchants and factories everywhere.
Just beyond the post office is one of the
most densely populated parts of the world.
There gre 10000 people living and doing
business there on an area smaller than a
l0-acre farm There are more thar a thou
sand TO the acre. or go to a village lot.
they are Chinese and as busy Chinese as
you will find anywhere in Asia. They do
everything under the sun. Some of them
have large stores. Some have rice fac
tories. Some are siiversmlths; others are
bankers. and there are laborers Of every
SORT. both women and men.
Human Muscle at Low Prices.
am surprised at the work done by wom-
en- Human meat is the cheapest meat in
hong-kong and human muscle the cheap
est muscle This town has been made out
Of the muscle Of the Chinese. They are the
pack animals. the beasts Of burden. the
drays OF the city. All the building stone
ana bricks, all the clay. mortar and sand
LOT putting up the big houses on the hills
are carried up in baskets by women and
girls 1 see long professions Of this kind
going all day long from the boats up the
mountains. Every woman has a pole on
her shoulders with a basket fastened to
each enc OF II and the baskets are filed
with bricks or stones. She carries from fifty
10. hundred pounds at a load, and her
wages are 10 cents a day.
ii makes one feel like a King TO travel
about Hong-Kong. You get so much for
Your money. l am hauled about in lin
rlkshas for ~ cents a trip. and for 10 tents
l can have a man pulling me through the
streets for an hour. i am frequently car
ried about In a chair on the bare shoulders
OF two big Chinese. The regular charge is
about 5 cents gold for fifteen minutes Int
by the law the charge is g cents for three
hours. and you can have a chair all dav for
81. The men want more when thew pui, nm
the steep hills, and the generous Hong
Kong residents sometimes add 2k cents for
good measure There IL a regular charge
Tor boat trips in the harbor. and the coolies
on the street work for ~ cents an hour. or
u cents of our money a day.
The Factories and Chinese Chesv Il.
Dor.
Hong-Kong is fast becoming a manufac-
turing center, and its condition in this re-
gard is an example of what might be done
IN tne P~hilippines with Chinese fmmigra-
tlOn- ordinary labor in Chin, 1890 -
3 to 10 cents a day, and skilled labor
ranges from Is to p cents per day. The
wages are higher than this at Hone-Kong.
but still low enough TO make a good mar
gin for manufacturing.
There are already three large sugar re-