ADMIRAL SIR ARTHUR WILLIAM MOORE, K.C.B., K.C.V.O., C.M.G., until recently Commander-in-Chief of the China station, was born on July 30, 1847, and entered the Navy at the age of thirteen. He served in the Egyptian War of 1882, and attained the rank of captain two years later. In 1889 he was chosen as one of England's representatives at the Anti-slavery Congress held at Brussels, and in 1890–91 was a member of the Australian Defence Committee. From 1898 to 1901 he was a Lord Commissioner of the Admiralty, and for the following three years Commander-in-Chief of the Cape of Good Hope and West Coast of Africa station. He was appointed to the command of the China station after being for some time second in command of the Channel Fleet. He was created a full admiral in October, 1907, and relinquished his active duties last March, his successor on the China station being Admiral the Hon. Sir H. Lambton, K.C.V.O., C.B.
VICE-ADMIRAL THE HON. SIR HEDWORTH LAMBTON, who succeeded Admiral Sir Arthur Moore in the command of the China station, in the early part of 1908, is the third son of the second Earl of Durham. Born on July 5, 1856, he entered the Navy at the age of sixteen years. He served through the Egyptian War, and was present at the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, receiving, in recognition of his services, the medal with two clasps, the second class Medjedie, and the bronze star. Seven years later he was promoted to the rank of captain, and from 1894 to 1897 he acted as private secretary to the First Lord of the Admiralty. As commander of the Naval Brigade in Ladysmith his name was brought very prominently before the public; he showed himself to be an officer of great initiative and resourcefulness. In 1900 he contested Newcastle in the Liberal interest, and in the same year was created a C.B. From 1901 to 1903 he was in command of the royal yacht; during the first year of his service in this capacity he was made a Commander of the Victorian Order, and in 1903 became a Commander of the Legion of Honour. Three years later he was advanced to the knighthood of the Victorian Order.
COMMODORE ROBERT H. S. STOKES, R.N., who has charge of the naval establishments in Hongkong, arrived in the Colony on April 18, 1907. The eldest son of the late Sir Robert Baret Stokes, C.B., of Dromulton More, County Kerry, he was born on August 5, 1855. He joined the Royal Navy in 1869. He served during the Egyptian War, 1882, as lieutenant of the Euphrates, receiving the Egyptian medal and the Khedive's bronze star. While commander of H.M.S. Royal Arthur, flagship of Rear-Admiral H. F. Stephenson, C.B., Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific station from 1893 to 1896, and previous to the occupation of Corinto, Nicaragua, by the British naval forces, in April 1895, he was deputed to proceed to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, and deliver to the Government of that republic despatches from the Right Hon. the Earl of Kimberley, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and Rear-Admiral Stephenson, C.B. For this service he received the approval of the Admiralty. In 1905 he was made an officer of the Legion of Honour by the French Government. Commodore Stokes has quarters on board the receiving ship Tamar, but during the hot weather resides at the Peak. He is a member of the Junior United Service Club, St. James's, London.
MILITARY.
Hongkong is the great collecting and distributing centre for the commerce of the Far East, and as such is of great strategical importance. It is the headquarters of His Majesty's ships on the China station, and is provided with dockyards and all the necessary facilities for refitting and coaling. It would be in the future, as it has already been in the past, the undoubted base of any military operations which might have to be undertaken in the Far East. In these circumstances it is maintained as one of the most modern and up-to-date fortresses in the world, and ranks in this respect with Malta and Gibraltar. Batteries provided with the latest types of armament command, for miles to seaward, the approaches to both the Green Island and Ly-ee-mùn entrances to the harbour. The western entrance is protected by three batteries on Stonecutter's Island and two forts on Belcher and Fly Points, from which a tremendous converging fire could be maintained, completely commanding the Sulphur Channel. Pine Wood Battery, on the hill above and west of Richmond Terrace, has a wide range of fire. The Ly-ee-mùn Pass is defended by two forts on the Hongkong side and another on Devil's Peak on the mainland, and if vessels survived that fire they would then have to face the batteries at North Point and Hunghom, which completely command the eastern entrance. Another battery on the bluff at Tsim-tsa-tsui, Kowloon, commands the whole of the centre of the harbour, while not only on the island itself, but also on the mainland, may be seen the military roads constructed zig-zag on the steep hill-sides for the purposes of rapid communication and concentration. Every modern appliance of war is in evidence; the play of the searchlights, the booming of great guns, the march and manœuvres of troops, are of such daily repetition as to pass without comment or notice.
The garrison of Hongkong has varied according to the political requirements of the moment, and at present is composed of:—Three companies Royal Garrison Artillery; four companies Hongkong-Singapore Battalion, Royal Garrison Artillery (this is a local corps, of which the gunners are enlisted in India; the companies are either Sikhs or Punjabi Mahomedans); two companies Royal Engineers (attached to one of these companies is a "native portion" of sappers and miners—that is to say, Chinese; these men are enlisted for long terms of service, and make most satisfactory soldiers); one British Infantry Battalion; two battalions from the Indian Army; detachments of Army Service Corps, Royal Army Medical Corps, Army Ordnance and Accounts Departments—in all, roughly, about 4,000 officers and men.
In addition to the above "Imperial" troops, Hongkong possesses a Volunteer Corps and a Volunteer Reserve Association.
The command is that of a Major-General, and the present holder of the appointment is Major-General R. G. Broadwood, C.B., P.S.C, whose biography appears in the Executive and Legislative Councils section. In military parlance, Hongkong is described as the "South China" command, to distinguish it from the "North China" command—i.e., the troops at Tientsin, Peking, &c., which are quite separately organised and commanded.
The Colony of Hongkong contributes towards the expense of maintaining the imperial garrison to the amount of 20 per cent. of its net revenue, and also bears the entire cost of the local Volunteers. Quite recently there has been a certain amount of discussion on the question of the amount paid to the Imperial Government. It has been represented by certain unofficial members of the Legislative Council that, chiefly owing to the attitude of the present Government in the matter of the opium trade, the Colony has to face the prospect in the near future
