Show Ho Is Asias Asia's F Finest City Is Ruled Direct From London I. I I or By W. W H H. H PORTERFIELD PORTERFIELD KG March 23 NEA- NEA In the first place It is not Hong kong Kon China but merely Hong kong or ot- ot if you wish to be specific you ma may write ria AsIa A letter from any part of he world however addressed with toe the theone one word will rea reach h hits its destination quite as safely and quickly for is no more morea a part ot of China that Quebec is a apart apart part of oC the United States Instead it is a a- cro crown colony o of the empire its government b by crown governor executive council council- and all direct from London and sUbject to no power or 01 potentate on earth save King ICing George the Fifth and the British parlIament ASIAS ASIA'S FINEST INEST CITY In the second place ng Is decided I the most beautiful and utterly fascinating city or port lOrt upon the the- eastern coast or of Asia possessing one of the most most beautiful beautiful beau beau- in the world dates Its political history his his- tor tory and economic Importance from the cession of oC the island on which the city iM is built and a strip of the loon Ko across the bay bar ten miles va a away which cession was made by the Chinese Chinese- empire b by the treaties of 1842 and 1860 Since those dates further strips of t territory have been ceded ot of leased from time to time until now the has colony an area an-area rea ot about of-about about square miles containing a Chinese population of ot approximately I 1 and perhaps foreIgners foreIgn foreIgn- British ers mostly I At the time ot the first cession seventy five years ears ago the Island wa was as barren ot of vegetation and as devoId ot of beauty save for that pro pro- bY the glorious tropic sunsets sun sun- sets and moonlight nights as any rockbound coast on any sea The population consisted ot of two or three miserable fishing villages inhabited inhabited in- in habited by perhaps pretty wretched Cantonese fishermen shermen In less time than has elapsed since the discovery in Calf Calf- fornia one ot of the finest cities ill In the world has been built upon these rocky mountain sides th buildings o. o of enduring gr granite and i imported stone the streets paved of oC conCrete concrete con con- Crete and dressed in asphalt SPLENDID HIGHWAYS A highway system Including many miles of the finest pavement I have e eer er seen connects al aU principal prin- prin cipal points of the colony wIth the port some of the highway having been built at a a cost of per mile The rhe vIews of city harbol and surrounding country are of course world famed A reaches 3 a. a height of 1250 fe feet t from which point ip In clear days one may look lookout lookout out to sea The rhe entire has been forested forested for for- ested scientifIcally In a way ut- ut tery unknown to the Chinese and hundreds hundred of palatial homes and public buildings have been built upon pie le e gUarded forest points overlooking the harbor r. r II is situated in the same latitude as Honolulu but the climate climate cli- cli mate is tar far le less s equable the summers sum sum- mers are re much hotter the winters cooler and the annual rainfall exceeds exceeds' ex- ex coeds In 1 Moreover the rains rains' are ale very ir- ir regular In July last for fol one twenty Inches fell In fn twenty twenty- four hours destroyIng hIghways gardens foundations and other property to the extent ot of more than thana a a. million dollars But the extraordinary nary rainfall co with the tropic heat has c p rated with Western Vestern gence in making the island a thing ot of beauty and a joy forever The Cantonese nationalists whose aspirations ns include a passionate pas pas- desire for fOl a China gov- gov ernE d bi th ih Chinese woul voul l like to h have he e the government cede back the crown colony of put ut those thos Chinese livIng In do not share such desires de- de sires |