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Office of the Agent-General for British Columbia, 



19th December, 1918. 

 Captain A. W. Hill. 



Dear Sir, 



I have your letter of the 18th inst., directed to Mr. Turner, 

 who has retired from the Agent-Generalship of British Columbia. 

 Some weeks ago I took up the question of raising the flagstaff 

 with Brig.-General McDougall .... and he has promised 

 to undertake the task with the assistance of his Engineers and 

 forestry Brigade. After I have had a farther opportunity of 

 arranging the details with General McDougall, I will write you 

 gain. 



Yours faithfully, 



- 



(Signed) F. C. Wade, 



Agent-General for British Columbia. 



a 



Thanks to Mr. Wade's keen interest and enthusiasm the ser- 

 vices of several Engineer officers attached to the Canadian 

 Forestry Corps in Europe were secured, and under their direc- 

 tion four huge blocks of concrete were set in the earth to which 

 the guide-ropes of the flagstaff were to be attached. But, beyond 

 this, the Canadians were not able to proceed. Some of 

 them were recalled and some were given other duties, the upshot 

 being that the problem of its erection devolved on II. M. Office of 

 Works. The Board secured the services of Messrs. Coubro and 

 Scrutton, professional mast-riggers, of 18, Billiter Street, E.C., 

 by whose consulting engineer, Mr. H. Tooley, the whole operation 

 was planned. 



The task was successfully accomplished on October 18th, 1919, 

 without a hitch of any kind. The process involved the erection 

 of a derrick over 100 ft. high, constructed of planks. The pole 

 rests with its base on the very summit of the mound, which is 

 some 15 to 20 ft. above the natural level of the surrounding area, 

 and thus not one inch of its splendid stature is lost. The old flag- 

 staff had its ba*e sunk in a ventilated brick chamber 12 ft. deep. 

 The new one rides on a square block of steel 7 ins. in diameter, 

 fitted into a notch at the base. 



It was a matter of regret that Mr. J. H. Turner, owing to 

 whose initiative the flagstaff was presented, was not able to be 

 at Kew on the day of its erection. 



Some acknowledgment is due from the Garden staff to the 

 Contractors for the avoidance of any but a small amount of 

 damage to the surrounding vegetation* during this big operation. 

 Except for the cutting down of a few of the botanical collection 

 of lime trees at the behest of the Canadian officers, afterwards 

 proved to be unnecessary, the injury to trees and shrubs in the 

 neighbourhood has been practically ml; 



The mound on which the flagstaff now stands (artificial, like 

 all the small eminences and declivities of Kew) was the site of the 



