The practical work of the brigade is under the charge of an assistant engineer and station officer, a post to which Mr. A. Lane, formerly of the London Fire Brigade, was appointed in March, 1904.
The headquarters of the brigade are at the Central Fire Station in Queen's Road, to which are attached the sub-stations at the Clock Tower and at Nam-pak-hong. It is equipped with two steamers, extension ladders, and dispatch boxes, which latter combine hose reels with cases of first-aid appliances. Street fire-alarms are distributed through the commercial parts of the city, and the station is also in communication with the telephone exchange, which ensures the speedy receipt of intelligence as to the whereabouts of any outbreak which may occur. In addition, there is a fire station at every police station, equipped in two cases with a steamer, and in others with hydrant appliances; whilst a self-propelling floating station is always in readiness for use in the harbour, or as an auxiliary to the land steamers. The fire-float was sunk in the typhoon of September, 1906, but was raised, and was available for use by September of the following year. The estimates for 1908 provide for another fire-float at a cost of $50,000, and this will give increased safety to shipping and to the buildings on the sea-front. As to the water supply, there are altogether 700 hydrants in the three districts—the Peak, Victoria, and Kowloon. The freshwater supply is supplemented, as far as the range will permit, by sea water pumped from the floating station into portable dams or tanks, and from thence by the steamers to the scene of operations. The steamers and other appliances are drawn wherever they are needed by coolies, who are paid by time.
At the Central Fire Station there are workshops with a complement of carpenters, fitters, sail-makers, and blacksmiths, able to execute repairs of all kinds with the exception of heavy engineering work.
During the year 1907 there were 39 fires and 77 incipient fires, which together did damage to the extent of $216,267, and the brigade was called out 56 times.
THE PRISON.
A small granite prison, built in 1841, was the second permanent building erected on the island; but, though small, the gaol was never full, for all minor offences committed by Chinese were punished by "bambooing." The average number of prisoners was about 60. The prison for Europeans was 64 feet by 30 feet, divided into two rows of cells, twelve in number. There were two blocks for Chinese, a portion of one of these being used for prisoners awaiting trial. The Chief Magistrate, at that time Captain Caine, was also Superintendent of the Gaol. The sentences were not for long terms of imprisonment, one record showing two for four years, two for three years, four for two and a half years, twenty-three for two years, twenty-four for one year and a half, two for a year, and the remainder for shorter terms, A small yard, 78 feet by 30 feet, was provided for exercise. The prisoners, who enjoyed far better health on the average than the civil and military communities, were chiefly employed in road-making, their hours of work being from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. An hour was allowed for breakfast and for the midday meal; the purveyor receiving one dollar and a half per man per mensem for food. Public floggings were of frequent occurrence, one hundred lashes often being administered, but, in spite of these, the prison had its attractions for the half-starved loafers from Canton. In those early days another punishment of the Chinese consisted in cutting off the queue, but, as it was found that discharged prisoners contrived to splice new ones on directly they were released, they were ordered to be shaved, so that they might bear the mark of incarceration for a longer time.
In 1862, in order to relieve the congestion of the Victoria Gaol, 280 long-sentence prisoners were placed on a hulk anchored off Stonecutter's Island, to assist in building a prison on that island. The experiment was anything but successful. Thirty-eight prisoners were drowned by an accident. There were frequent attempts at rescue on the part of friends of the prisoners, and, as several of the convicts escaped from the hulk, and by means of the drains, from Victoria Gaol, an inquiry into the management of these establishments was held. As
