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SINGAPORE
the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Queen Street, the Church of St. Joseph in Victoria Street, and other smaller churches in the outskirts. There is also a neat Jewish Synagogue in Waterloo Street. The principal schools are those of the Raffles Institute, the Christian Brothers, and the Anglo-Chinese School. The Raffles Girls' School and the Convent also provide for the education of girls of the Protestant and Roman Catholic persuasions.
The Singapore Club has a good building in a central position. There are Recreation, Sporting, Rowing, Shooting, Cricket, Lawn Tennis, Art, and Reading Clubs, and the Celestial (Chinese) Reasoning Association. There is a Country Club with a well-built bungalow situated some three miles out of town, at which dances and amateur theatricals are frequently given. The German community have a similar institution. The Raffles Library and Museum, moved in October, 1887, into the new building erected for them, are creditable and well kept institutions, the Museum having made very fair progress since its inception. The Library contains over 16,000 volumes, chiefly of standard modern literature, and includes the valuable philological collection of the late Mr. Logan.
There are several goods hotels, of which the Raffles is the best. The Press is repre- sented by the Straits Times and Singapore Free Press (daily), with weekly issues of both, and the Government Gazette. There are also two Chinese daily papers called the Lat Pau and Sing Pau, two Malay papers, the Jawi Peranakhan and the Bintang Timor, and one or two papers in Tamil.
Singapore is well off for Docks. The Tanjong Pagar Company's premises lie about a mile to the westward of the town, a fine wharf affording berthage for a large number of vessels at one time, with sufficient water alongside for vessels of the heaviest draught, and protected by a breakwater from the swell from the roads and from the strength of the tides. There are commodious godowns erected on the wharf for the storage of goods. Coal sheds, capable of storing 50,000 tons, adjoin the godowns, while hand carts on rails essentially aid the labour of unloading vessels. The usual accompaniments are also to be found--two graving docks, the Victoria Dock, 450 feet long and 65 feet broad at entrance, and the Albert Dock, 485 feet long and 60 feet broad at entrance-a machine shop, boiler, and masting shears, &c. The New Harbour Dock Company's premises, situated about three miles further West, include two docks of 375 and 444 feet in length respectively, with sheds, workshops, &c., as at Tanjong Pagar. There is also a Patent Slip at Tanjong Rhoo, which is 429 feet long and 76 feet broad over piers. The trade of Singapore in 1897 amounted (exclusive of treasure) to $170,733,470 imports and $141,209,338 exports, against in 1897 $153,151,049 imports and $127,914,626 exports, and in 1896 $137,220,000 imports and $114,631,000 exports. The revenue of Singapore in 1899 amounted to $3,104,376.
The population of Singapore Island, according to the census taken in 1891, was 184,544, of whom 121,908 were Chinese and 35,992 Malays, an increase of 45,336 on the census of 1881. There were 5,254 Europeans and Americans, including 1,160 military. The total Eurasian population is given as 3,589. The Indians total 16,035, of whom 12,503 are Tamils, 3,452 Bengalis, 26 Burmese, and 54 Parsees. Other nationalities total 1,776, the Arabs leading with 806, the Japanese number 287, the Siamese 211, the Jews 190 the Sinhalese 159, and the Armenians 68. The population of the town of Singapore is about 97,000.
The climate of Singapore is remarkable for its salubrity, and the island has been described by medical writers as the "paradise of children," infantile diseases seldom being at all malignant. Despite its proximity to the equator, under normal circumstances a daily rainfall tempers the heat so thoroughly that many sleep beneath blankets. Droughts, however, have been experienced of from one to six months. The climate of the island is thus described by Mr. Thomson, in the "Journal of the Indian Archipelago,” his remarks still holding good:-"Singapore though within 80 miles of the equator, has an abundance of moisture, either deposited by the dews or gentle refreshing showers, which keep its atmosphere cool, prevent the parching effects of the sun, and promote continual verdure. It never experiences furious gales. If more than ordinary heat has accumulated moisture and electricity a squall generally sets in, followed by a heavy shower of rain, such squalls seldom exceeding one or two hours in duration. According as the monsoon blows, you will have the squalls coming from that direction. But the most severe and numerous are from the west, called 'Sumatras,' and these occur most frequently between 1 and 5 o'clock in the morning. The north-east monsoon blows from November to March; after which the wind veers round to the south-east and gradually sets in the south-west, at which point it continues to September. The north-east blows more steadily than the south-west monsoon. The temperature is