6 
for the necessary cleaning to follow, without either borrowing the money 
or crippling the usefulness of the Institution. £240 has already been 
paid the Contractor from the amount which appears as balance in hand 
on September 29th, and the remainder will just about meet all charges, 
and enable the Committee to start fairly on the next year’s work. The 
special thanks of the Committee and the Council are due to the small 
Sub-Committee which has supervised all the details of the Electric 
Lighting, the members of which have devoted to the task a considerable 
amount of time and trouble. 
The best thanks of the Committee are also due to all those who 
have sent gifts of books and periodicals to the Institution during the 
past year, and they also desire to place on record here their complete 
satisfaction with the way in which the staff discharge their duties, a 
satisfaction which they believe is shared by the general public. 
In the early part of the present year, the Chairman, Mr. Alderman 
Hobson, intimated to the Committee that failing health compelled him 
to ask that some relief might be afforded him from the necessity of 
attending all the meetings of the Committee, and Mr. Councillor Bot- 
tomley was consequently appointed Vice-Chairman. They have now, at 
the close of the year, received with very great regret a further intimation 
that Mr. Hobson wishes to relinquish altogether the office he has held 
ever since the foundation of the Institution. The Committee feel that, 
in the face of the Chairman’s earnest wish, they cannot do otherwise 
than bow to his decision, which they are sure has been the result of 
much consideration on his part. They therefore accept his resignation 
with the greatest regret, but think that the resolution given below, which 
was unanimously passed at their meeting this day, should be placed on 
record, as an appendix to this Report. 
On behalf of the Committee, 
WILLIAM HOBSON, 
CHAIRMAN. 
COPY OF RESOLUTION REFERRED TO ABOVE. 
‘That this Committee receives the resignation of Mr. Alderman Hobson, J.P., with very 
great regret. They desire to place on record their sense of the great services he 
has rendered the Institution of which he has been Chairman for twenty-three years, 
and they feel that his unremitting attention to its interests hns done much to place 
it in its present prosperous condition. They are sorry for the cause which has led 
to his resignation and earnestly hope that rest may bring him improvement in 
health, and that he may find in the evening of his days some solace in the remem- 
brance of the good work he has done in the service of an Institution the success of 
which has always been dear to his heart.” 
October 30th, 189}. 
