Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/262

254 complete without mentioning the lamentable disaster which occurred in 1892. when the steamer Bokhara, on which the Hongkong team was returning from Shanghai, was wrecked. Dr. Lowson and Lieut. Markhani were the only two memb)ers of the team to survive the calamity, those who perished being Major Turner, Captain Dunn, Captain Dawson, Lieut. G. G. Boyle, Lieut. Burnett, Quartermaster-Sergeant Jeffkins, Sergeant Mum/ord. Sergeant Donegan, G. S. Purvis, C. Wallace, and G. E. Taverner. A memo- rial shield now hangs in the Cricket Club pavilion, on which is engraved the names of the victims. The league Competition, which monopo- lises most of the interest manifested in cricket in the Colony, is open to all local clubs. It was commenced in 1903, and has proved an two new clubs — the Police and the Civil Ser-ice — and yearly the competition has grown in favour. This year another team (the employes of the Eastern E.tension Telegraph Company) entered, making a total of nine competing teams. Since its inception the shield has been won by the following teams :— The Army Ordn.ince Corps. 1903-4; Craigengower, 1904-5 ; and Kowloon, 1905 6 and 1906-7. Kowloon was also second in 1904-5, while Craigengower was second in 1905-6 and 1906 7. The Hon. Mr. T. Sercombe Smith, then First Magistrate of Hongkong, was the first president of the League, and he occupied the position until he left the Colony in 1906. Mr. A. E. Asger, the tirst honorary secretary, still holds that position. The Craigengower Club was formed in CHINESE (OR LOBCHA) RIOGED CRtTISINO YACHT, immense success. Prior to the year men- tioned there were a number of cricket clubs in the Colony, but onlv "friendly" matches were played. The members of the Craigen- gower Club, one of the most prominent of the junior clubs, annually competed for a shield presented by the late Hon. Mr. E. R. Belilios. This shield had to be won thrice in all, or twice in succession, before becoming the property of any individual, and in 1903 Mr. R. Basa won it for the third time. At the suggestion of Mr. A. E. Asger, honorary secretary of the Craigengower Club, a com- petition on league principles was started in October. 1903, eight clubs entering. The difficulty of providing a shield was overcome by the generosity of the Soiilh China MorniitH Post. The introduction of the League Com- petition was responsible for the formation of and at first was confined to past mem- bers of the old Victoria English School, taking its name from the school-house, but in 1901 the Club was reconstituted so as to admit others as members. The club-house at the Valley is well situated, and the Club has played cricket and tennis there since its formation. Mr. W. D. Braidwood, the schoolmaster, has been its president, and Mr. A. E. Asger has been the honorary secretary from the first. The Police Club was formed in 1904, and cricket forms the chief recreation of the members, though tennis and lawn bowls also obtain a fair share of attention. Champion- ship tournaments in both lawn bowls and tennis are held annually, as well as handi- caps. Inspector W. Withers is the honorary secretary. The Civil Service Club, also, was formed in 1904, and its objects are much the same as those of the Police Club. Since its formation the plot of land on which the club-house stands has undergone a great transformation, and is now one of the prettiest spots on the Valley. Mr. L. E. Brett is the honorary secretarv. YACHTING. The fullest advantage is taken of the splendid natural facilities for yachting which are possessed by Hongkong in the wide ex- panse of sheltered waterways and the steady monsoon which prevails during the winter. Yachting has been associated with the Colony for the past si.xty years or thereabouts, the first regatta being held in 1849, under the auspices of the Victoria Regatta Club (now known as the Victoria Recreation Club). On that occasion six cutter-rigged yachts, includ- ing a craft described as an imitation Andaman catamaran (the Ghost), engaged in a race within the confines of the harbour. The GItost led the Heet when running before the wind, but when it came to beating she promptly capsized. Indeed, any one reading through the old records dealing with yachting in the early days cannot fail to be impressed with the number of mishaps, in the nature of capsizes, which occurred in those early days. The first large yacht of which there is any mention is the Heather Bell, of thirty-three tons. After the regatta of 1850 — at which the Governor's Cup was competed for — interest in regattas seems to have died out, for up till 1861 only two regattas were held (in 1853 and 1854). Each regatta was followed by a regatta ball, one of the Colony's most successful social functions, and this, also, was afterwards dropped. The first " ocean " race — round the island— was sailed in 1864, Mr. R. F. Havvke's Mayflower winning. This race was due to the gener- osity of Messrs. Douglas & Co. in presenting the Douglas Challenge Cup. In the following year the Mayflower won again. At this period yachts varying from nine to thirty- three tons competed together, the nine-tonner being appropriately named Mosquito. In 1868 a race to Macao was organised and seems to have aroused considerable interest, a river steamer being chartered to follow the race, but the closing stages of the contest took place after night had fallen. The yachts were divided into two classes two years later — under and over fifteen tons— for the Yacht Club (now known as the Royal Hong- kong Yaclit Club) had sprung into existence, and had taken over from the V.R.C. most of the control of yachting. The first regatta held under the auspices of the new Club was in 1870. Thenceforward the sport assumed greater importance, and eight years later open-boat racing took place on Saturday afternoons. These boats belonged to merchant vessels, mercantile firms, and men-of-war, and for some years the contests proved popular. Eventually, however, they were discontinued, presumably through lack of management. Smaller boats were gradually being introduced into the Club, and the Club's popularity increased, and in the late seven- ties we find boats of two, three, and four tons competing, and successfully, too. Their success dinnned the popularity of the larger craft, and gradually the races for the larger yachts were discontinued. A new factor in the yachting world arose in 1890, when the Corhithian Sailing Club — an offshoot from the V.R.C. —was inaugurated and Mersey canoes (20 by 5 by 3 feet) were