38 



The Chairman remarked that they were all aware of the 

 difficulty of getting anyone to do the onerous duties of Hon. 

 Treasurer. He suggested that they should ask Mr. William 

 Macbean, who had experience in the duties of Hon. Treasurer, to 

 take up the post. 



Mr. St. V. B. Down seconded, and it was carried. 



Continuing the Chairman said that no better man than 

 Mr. Ridley could be found for the duties of General Secretary 

 to the Show. 



Mr. Khory had great pleasure in seconding this proposal, 

 and it was carried unanimously. 



The Chairman said Mr. Ridley had suggested that the last 

 fortnight in August would be the most suitable for holding the 

 Show. The fruit would be coming on satisfactorily then. Owing 

 to the water front, the reclamation ground opposite Raffles 

 School would be the most appropriate, but if it was found to be 

 not large enough, perhaps that part of the Show containing the 

 horses and animals could be held on a separate piece of ground, 

 probably on part of the racecourse. 



Continuing, he urged upon all present to do their best in 

 raising subscriptions to enable the show to be a success and, at 

 least, to equal the Penang one. 



PRICE OF TIMBER IN 1867. 



Mr. Hooper has lately sent me the original plan and 

 estimate of the building of the Director's House in the Botanic 

 Gardens in 1867. The house was built for the Superintendent of 

 the Agri-Horticultural Society, which eventually transferred its 

 property to the Government -and this was the origin of the Botanic 

 Gardens. The whole building as it stands now cost no more than 

 $2,400, while the cookhouse and stables together cost $250. The 

 price of the timber quoted in the estimate is as follows : — 



Daru beams 22 feet long, 6 inches square, 90 cents each ; 

 Tampenis beams 28 feet by 9 inches square, 7 dollars ; 22 feet 

 by 9 inches square, 5 dollars; 22 feet by 6 inches square, 2 

 dollars 6 cents ; Serayah timbers 16 feet long 3J inch wide less 

 than 23 cents each. The labour for erecting the building was 

 750 dollars, whitewashing and painting 20 dollars. 



The Tampenis beams are still as good as the day they were 

 put up, and hardly any if any at all of the Daru timber has gone. 

 Such Tampenis beams as those employed in building this house are 

 not now procurable. It is many years now since I have seen a 

 Tampenis tree big enough to give the smallest of these beams. The 

 tree which must have been common at that time is now pretty 

 nearly exterminated. The cost of repairs to the woodwork of this 

 house during its thirty-nine years of existence has been very 

 trivial, and when it is compared with that of later built buildings 

 in Singapore, notably one large public building in which the 



