3H A HISTORY OF 



On the morning of August the I9th, 1905, when 

 preparations for the horse show, which was to have 

 opened in three days, were being completed, a fire 

 broke out in the building known as the Paddock 

 Hall. In less than one hour from the time the fire 

 was detected, the three halls adjoining the veterinary 

 paddock were completely gutted, and a great deal of 

 woodwork which had been erected in the paddock 

 was destroyed. While the fire was in progress, steps 

 were taken to provide horse-boxes and stalls for the 

 coming show in other parts of the premises, and the 

 show was held without any serious inconvenience to 

 exhibitors or the public. Most of the damage was 

 covered by insurance, and new buildings of an im- 

 proved type were at once erected on the site of the 

 old ones. 



The Society learned a valuable lesson from this 

 disaster. For many years it had been the practice to 

 erect temporary timber stalls for each horse show. 

 These had many advantages, and when they were 

 cleared away the floor space was left unobstructed. 

 They were, however, extremely combustible, especi- 

 ally when furnished with straw bedding. By way of 

 experiment, concrete stalls were erected in the Anglesea 

 and Simmonscourt halls in the year 1906, and the 

 result was deemed so satisfactory that shortly after- 

 wards stalls of this type were erected wherever 

 practicable. 



It would be tedious to follow the development 

 of the premises in recent years : suffice it to say that 

 at the close of the year 1913, the total expenditure 

 on the land and buildings, charged to capital, was 

 96,477. This expenditure is not represented by the 

 premises as they now appear ; part of the money was 

 spent on structures which have long since disappeared, 



