CENTENARY OF THE SOCIETY. 



267 



The third story is entirely devoted to the accommodation of the Hall- 

 keeper and his family. 



The whole of the administrative portion is lighted by incandescent 

 electric light, gas being also laid on to every floor for heating or lighting 

 if required. The heating is by means of low-pressure steam radiators 

 in conjunction with open fireplaces. The joinery upon the upper stories 

 is all of Austrian oak, and the floors of pitch-pine blocks. For the door 

 furniture and electroliers use has been made of hammered " pewtal," a 

 white non-tarnishable metal, supplied by Art Fittings, Limited. And 

 all parts of the building are connected by means of an interchangeable 

 system of telephones. 



The cloak rooms in the basement have been fitted up by Messrs. 

 Hampton and Messrs. Maple so as to accommodate a very large number 

 of guests. One cloak room is for the use of Fellows only, another for 

 gentlemen, and the third for ladies. Underneath the Great Hall is an 

 enormous crypt, lit with electric light, for the storage of chairs, tabling, 

 platform, and suchlike material, thus completing the building and making 

 it the most admirably adapted Hall in all London for Exhibitions, 

 Concerts, Bazaars, and suchlike functions. 



The Society has been exceedingly fortunate both in the site and in 

 the architect. All London might be searched in vain for a better site. 

 It is at once so close to Westminster and to Victoria Street, which bids 

 fair soon to become the main artery of traffic from the West End city- 

 wards, and yet it is so absolutely retired, and with such a grand stretch 

 of trees and green grass in front, that at times one might almost fancy 

 oneself in the depths of the country. Fortunate, too, in the choice of *an 

 architect, Mr. Edwin Stubbs, of Craven Street, Strand, who has made the 

 very utmost of every inch of the site, and produced a Hall which is the 

 lightest and has the best acoustic properties of any in London, and a 

 very handsome and convenient building for all purposes at (for London) 

 a moderate cost — a building which should at once advance Mr. Stubbs's 

 name to the forefront of his profession. 



With a building so admirably adapted to the purposes of the Society, 

 and surpassing what even the most sanguine amongst its promoters had 

 ventured to hope for, it is a little disappointing to feel that there is a 

 debt upon it of nearly or quite ^10,000. The List of Donors to the 

 Building Fund follows this short notice. Will not those whose names 

 do not appear in it kindly allow them to be inserted before the final list 

 is published ? And will not those whose names already figure in the 

 list consent to make a second contribution, considering what admirable 

 use has been made of their first donations ? 



Friday, July 22, was the day fixed by His Majesty the King for the 

 official opening of the New Hall, which was filled to its utmost extent 

 with a brilliant assemblage of more than 1,500 guests. The day was as 

 brilliant as the assemblage ; but although the heat outside was overpower- 

 ing, the Hall inside, notwithstanding the number of people, was (as the 

 " Times " newspaper said next day) " the coolest place in London," 

 thanks to the current of air which had been washed and passed through 

 cold water-chambers before being forced into the Hall by the electric fans. 



A large platform of four tiers was erected in the Hall opposite the 

 main entrance and was beautifully decorated by Messrs. James Yeitch & 



