xliv REPORT — 1855« 



7. 77*6 Secretary of the Board of Works, ^c. to Mr. Gassiot. 



" Office of Works, &c., June 2, 1855. 

 " Sir,— The Commissioners of Her Majesty's Works, &c. have had 

 transmitted to them by the Hon. Charles Gore, one of the Commissioners 

 of Her Majesty's Woods, &c., extracts from your letter to him of the 20th 

 March last, in which you request, on behalf of the British Association, that 

 they may be permitted to burn gas in the Observatory in the Old Deer Park 

 at Richmond, the use of which has been allowed to them, and also that the 

 gas may be laid on to the different rooms free of expense to the Association, 

 they engaging to pay the cost of the gas proposed to be used. 



" In reply, I am directed to inform you that the Board have no objection 

 to the use of gas in the building in question, but that the whole of the work 

 must be done by, and at the expense of, the Association, and to the satisfac- 

 tion of the Board's officer in charge of the district. 

 " I am. Sir, 



" Your most obedient Servant, 

 (Signed) "J. Thomborrow, 



" Assistant Secretary ^ 

 " J. P. Gassiot, Esq." 



8, Mr. Gassiot to the Secretary of the Board of Works, SfC. 



" Observatory, Old Deer Park, Bichmond, 

 June 7, 1855. 



« Sir, I beg toacknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 2nd instant, 



wherein you state that, in reply to a communication made by me to the 

 Hon. Charles Gore on the 20th of last March, relative to the lighting of the 

 Observatory with gas, the Board has no objection to the use of gas in the 

 Observatory, but that the whole of the work must be done at the expense of 

 the British Association, and to the satisfaction of the Board's officer in charge 

 of the district. 



" In a letter addressed to the Right Hon. the Chief Commissioner, of the 

 26th ult., but which you have not done me the honour to notice, I explained 

 that, in consequence of the increased requirements arising from the number 

 of barometers and thermometers which are at present in course of verification 

 for the use of Her Majesty's Navy and the Mercantile Marine, it was highly 

 desirable that the Observatory should be lighted with gas. 



" The entire outlay attending the important work done in the Observatory 

 has been defrayed by the British Association ; and considering that so large 

 a portion consists in the verification of instruments for the use of the Navy, 

 I cannot but regret that so trifling a request should have been so summarily 

 refused ; for although upwards of two months have elapsed since the appli- 

 cation was made, no one has visited the Observatory from your department 

 to inquire as to the advisability of the application being granted. 



" I believe I am also correct in stating, that during the many years the 

 Observatory has been occupied by the Association, no officer from your 

 Board has visited the building. I name this because a portion of my letter 

 referred to its present dilapidated condition, to which the Committee had 

 particularly requested me to draw the attention of your Board. 

 " I have the honour to be, Sir, 



" Your obedient Servant, 

 (Signed) « J. P. Gassiot." 



" J. Thomborrow, Esq., 

 Assistant Secretary, Parks, Palaces, &c." 



