书城外语AShortHistoryofShanghai
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第27章 MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT, 1860–1870(5)

Chinese criminals were handed ober to the Chinese authorities,and it was not until later that a Munnicipal Gaol was built.

H. B. M. Supreme CourtIn 1865 the British Government appointed Sir Edmund Hornbyas Chief Justice of a British Court for Shanghai, and the jurisdictionin legal matters was transferred from the Consulate to the SupremeCourt. The buildings for the new court were erected on land adjoiningthe Consulate lot.

Building of Roads

There was little money for the construction of roads, and as sedanchairs and wheelbarrows were the usual means of transportation, theimportance of roads was not keenly felt by the early residents.

The original Land Regulations provided for four roads, thosenow named Hankow, Kiukiang, Nanking, and Peking, and for thepreservation of the river frontage, formerly used for a towing path.

Gradually the roads system underwent an extension, The landRecently it has been purchased by the Municipal Council, and is now used as aMunicipal Gaol.

renters were obliged to make roads for their own convenience, andthese were afterwards handed over to the Council. With the coming ofthe Chinese into the Settlements and the erection of houses for theiroccupation, more roads had to be opened.

For a long time these roads were in a poor condition and werequite impassable during the rainy season. The soil of Shanghai, beingalluvial, can only be converted into good roads at considerable expense.

At first broken brick was used as a foundation. Later on shingle wasintroduced, and then cinders and clinkers, obtained from the steamers.

Granite chips were first used in 1856 on Mission Road (now FoochowRoad)。 The present unmettled suburban roads will give a fair idea ofwhat the roads must have been like in wet weather.

In road building we can trace the following evolution: first, theland renter made his own road and handed it over to the MunicipalCouncil to keep up; second, the land owner bought the land for theroad and the Council made it up: and thirdly, the Council boughtthe land and made the road. Before the Council had power to acquireland for public purposes, it was often obliged to pay large sums for theproperty it wished to purchase.

Originally in various parts of the Settlements, for greater security,wooden gates were erected on some of the streets to prevent a suddeninrush of mobs or rioters. These were closed at night and guarded bywatchmen. The last was not removed from Nanking Road until 1866.

The haphazard way in which the roads were constructed accountsfor the utter lack of system with which they were laid out, and makes itdifficult for strangers to find their way about.

During the Taiping Rebellion, when Shanghai was occupiedby military forces, some roads were made for transporting suppliesand ammunition, and in this way Jessfield Road came into existenceconnecting with the Fan-Wang-tu (Van-waung-doo) Ferry. Afterwardsthis road was kept up for a time by Mr. James Hogg, and later wastaken over by the Council.

Jessfield

The origin of the name Jessfield recalls a romantic story of theearly days. A Portuguese gentleman, while passing a circus tent erectedin Hongkew, heard the cries of a small girl who was being ill-treated.

He purchased her freedom from the circus company, and sent her,in care of a missionary, to the United States for education. Uponher return, he married her, and as her name was Jessie, he called hiscountry place, now the site of St. John"s University, Jessfield. The roadconnecting it with Bubbling Well Road thus became known as JessfieldRoad.

The Public Gardens

The way in which Shanghai secured the Public Gardens onthe foreshore is interesting. Originally the land it now occupies wasknown as the Consular Mud-flat, being formed by the siIt depositedby the meeting of the waters of the Whangpoo and Soochow Creek.

The foundering of an old brig close to The Bund, led to the furtheraccumulation of silt.

The land belonged to the British Consulate, but permissionwas obtained from the British Government to make it over to theMunicipal Council on condition that it should be used as a publicgarden. At considerable expense the land was filled in and thusgradually out of what had been an unsightly mud flat a beautiful parkwas developed.

Shanghai Volunteer CorpsIn 1870 the control of the Shanghai Volunteer Corps was handedover to the Council “who shall, through their Chairman, decide uponquestions of organization, and shall generally control the the actionsof the Corps.“ This, of course, led eventually to its becoming a moreefficient force. A Rifle Range, where Range Road is now situated, wasconstructed for target practice. In 1897, owing to the rapid growth ofthe Settlement, it became necessary to move the Range to its presentsite on the road to Kiangwan.