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moments. Mr. Step reports that a very large number of 

 subscriptions are still unpaid, and that he is almost weary of 

 making his appeals to the defaulting members, and unless 

 there is soon a marked improvement the Council will be 

 obliged to adopt some drastic measure to remedy this unsatis- 

 factory state of affairs. If the Society is to continue in a 

 healthy and vigorous condition an effort must be made on the 

 part of members to obtain more prompt and regular pay- 

 ment ; and this is now more especially urgent as we have 

 become located in new quarters at a greatly increased rental. 

 For some considerable time past we have been inconveni- 

 enced through not being able to hold our meetings in the 

 rooms we originally engaged at the Bridge House Hotel, so 

 that our Council was compelled to make serious complaint 

 to the proprietor. That gentleman, not seeing his way clear 

 to give us the necessary accommodation, gave us six months' 

 notice to leave, thereby entailing upon our Council the trouble- 

 some duty of once more finding us a new and commodious 

 habitat. After a somewhat lengthy and anxious search we 

 were enabled to make arrangements for the occupation of the 

 present suite of rooms, but, as I have previously stated, at a 

 very much higher rental — in fact, just double the amount 

 previously paid. 



And now comes again the question my predecessor, Mr. 

 Adkin, put in his last address — Will the change prove advan- 

 tageous to the Society ? Our Council have every reason to 

 believe that it will, we having accommodation far superior to 

 anything previously enjoyed by the Society. Our Library 

 will be at the members' service much earlier than has been 

 hitherto possible, as our Council-room will now be quite 

 apart from it, thus obviating the necessity of keeping the 

 members who have half an hour to spare waiting outside the 

 room while the Council deliberates. Then our ordinary 

 Meeting Room is larger and much better ventilated, so we 

 hope that during the summer evenings we shall not hear so 

 many complaints of the excessive heat. The lighting is per- 

 haps not quite all we could wish, but I think our Council are 

 in the position to promise that before long there will be no 

 cause for complaint upon that point. It now only remains 

 for you, as members, to relieve our Treasurer's anxiety as to 



