Apr. 7.
THE subject of typhoon wamings occupied a portion of the Chairman's speech at the annual meeting of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce, and a remarkable fact was noted. Wireless has not been made available for meteorological stations to anything like the extent their importance demands, and the Chairman quoted Father Froe as state ing that from some of the distant out-stations observations take invariably a month to reach Siccawei. The waste of valuable time here can only be described as appalling. It is, of course, not the fault of the observatories, for the funds at their disposal are never too ample. In most places, including Hongkong, it would be Government's business to see that the necessary facilities for communication were provided, but here in China the Government has altogether too much to worry about to think of anything of the kind. Apparently, then, somebody else ought to do it, but who? The fact of the matter is that until all information from every available source is fully and expeditiously transmitted to the meteorological headquarters stations we shall not reap anything like the real benefit of their work, and the finding of a remedy ought te occupy the attention of all the great interests concerned.
For the protection of Hongkong in the way of receiving information of the approach of typhoons the Chairman of the Chamber mentioned that opportunity had been taken to press for the establishment of a wire-Jess and observing station on the Pratas Shoal, and he hoped that an arrangement might be made with the Chinese Maritime Cus-their lighthouse Pratas Shoal, consisting of a sandbank covered with shrubs and other small vegetation of a poor type, an extinct volcano and reef, lies about 185 miles S.E. of Hongkong, and its history in recent years is of such interest that a digression from the actual topic of typhoon warnings will be fully repaid. There is no drinking water on the island, the vegetation being nourished by brackish pools and a lagoon and by phosphates due to the presence from time to time of large flights of birds. Some years ago the presence of phosphates attracted the attention of Japanese from Formosa, and some four or five hundred settled in huts along the island but at the best made a poor living. Of food there is none and to add to the difficulties of the situation drinking water had to be produced by a condenser. During these same years fishing junks from the south of China made a practice of visiting the place, where apparently from time immemorial they were in the habit of burying their dead. Between them and the Japanese settlers there was bad blood, the Japanese being to all appearances responsible therefor as in the latter years of their stay they seem to have taken it upon themselves to forbid the fishermen using the place as their cemetery. The reports brought back to the mainland by these fishermen soon came to the ears of the Chinese officials, who, finding what appeared to be an infringement of sovereign rights, took steps to oust the Japanese. An arrangement was arrived at about 1910 by which the latter went out lock, stock and barrel, but at a cost to China of some $14,000, paid for their condensing plant and the huts which were taken over.
Now we come to the tragedy of Pratas. To secure themselves in the enjoyment of their sovereign rights, the Chinese Government discussed the advisability of erecting a wireless plant on the island, and at once placed ten or a dozen toms to provide this as part of|Chinese there to demonstrate system. The their possession and guard against: fresh intrusion. A steamer from Canton visited them periodically, bringing supplies, and. they obtained their drinking water as before, by means of the condenser. All went well for a time, but within a year or two south China found itself in the throes of revolution, and then the relief steamer was switched off to other work. The existence of the men on the island seems to have been forgotten for the moment and apparently for months thereafter, and when the steamer made her next voyage only the whitening bones of the unfortunate guard were found. Since then, we believe, the island has been uninhabited. In foreign circles the story of this tragedy is little known, but it is safe to say that any Chinese who may be offered a post on the island will speedily learn it, and, realizing the possibility of a repetition in the unsettled state of China, would be chary of risking a similar fate. Hongkong, as we have seen, looks to the Customs to make the required arrangements, but we doubt whether the Customs will be prepared to accept any new addition to their duties, which hitherto have not included meteorological observation and wireless communication. It is work for the Government, but we may be tolerably certain that neither Peking nor Canton will find itself in a position' to undertake it as things are at present, and even if they did, it is doubtful whether in view of what has already happened, they could persuade men to take on the job. If anything is to be done within the reasonably near future, the best way will be by the Hongkong Government obtaining sanction to do the work itself. our digression from the actual subject of meteorological warnings has been longer than was expected or intended, it may have some use in showing the difficulties to be overcome in attaining the best system possible. Before leaving the subject we ought to give prominence to one further remark by the Chairman of the Hongkong Chamber of Commerce, this in reference
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.