In 1903 the South China Morning Post was published to serve the community of Hong Kong. Through the years its pages have reflected the realities of the time.
Articles and gossip columns on how people earned a living and what they did in their spare time made for popular reading.
But the Post always strived to be more than a local paper. In its first decade, pages were filled with momentous news. On November 7, 1911, for instance, its banner headline read 'Fall of Peking'. The next line proclaimed 'Flight of the Emperor' and under that, 'Aged premier a prisoner'.
The establishment of the Post brought the world to Hong Kong, neatly laid out in single columns of type. Telegraph cables linking the globe made it possible for news-papers to recount events elsewhere in the world with greater speed. Prompt reporting of the news made it possible for businessmen to respond quickly to events.
To most of them, the shipping news was crucial: Hong Kong was first and foremost a port. Daily lists of vessels expected and departing and their destinations were their daily bread. On November 19, 1903, notices about post-office deliveries were led by the news that the SS Ballaarat carrying post from Britain had left Singapore four days earlier and could be expected to arrive in Hong Kong the following day.
Such service announcements were vital to a community based on trading. In 1904, 58,093 vessels arrived in the port, including river steamers. Every shipping company placed daily adverts listing their services for passengers and cargo. The China Navigation fleet was offering reduced saloon passages - with electric light, first-class accommodation, unrivalled cuisine and an accompanying qualified surgeon - from Hong Kong to Manila for $20 one way or $35 return. Shiu On Steam Ships placed adverts for their twin-propeller vessel the Kwong Chow, with first-class cabins to Guangzhou at $4, with a meal for an extra $1.
One gossip column about the oceans and men of the sea was called the Log Book. It recounted stories about typhoons, pirates, lucky escapes, strange cargoes, even stranger passengers, mar-riages on board, first mates committing suicide, stokers de-manding wage increases and tittle-tattle about the seven seas.