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SINGAPORE
The town of Singapore, situated on the southern shore of an island of the same name, in lat. 1 deg. 16 min. N. and long. 103 deg. 43 min. E., is the seat of government of the Straits Settlements.
The Island of Singapore is about 26 miles long by 14 wide, containing an area of 206, or, with the adjacent islets, 223 square miles, and is separated by a narrow strait about three-quarters of a mile wide from the territory of Johore, which occupies the Southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula. Originally taken possession of in 1819 by Sir Stamford Raffles, it was, until 1823, subordinate to our then settlement in Sumatra. In that year it became an appanage of the Indian Government, in which condition it remained until 1867, when it was placed under the Colonial Office in conjunction with Penang and Malacca.
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The town proper extends for about four miles along the south-eastern shore of the island, spreading inland for a distance varying from half to three-quarters of a mile, though the majority of the residences of the upper-class Europeans lie much further back, within a circle with a radius of three and a half miles from the Cathedral. This portion of the Settlement is almost entirely level, the highest hill in the island, about seven miles from the town, rising to a height of only 500 feet. The country roads are well kept, and, thanks to the luxuriance of tropical vegetation, abound in shade. The town streets, on the other hand, though wide and, well metalled, are, as regards architectural matters, drains, and gutters, not much credit to the Settle- ment. Government House, the Government Offices, Police Barracks, Magistrates' Courts, Library and Museum, Town Hall and Victoria Theatre, the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, the Chartered Bank, and The Arcade are fine buildings. tallest building in the Settlement is "Ocean Building," a new imposing five-storied structure of reinforced concrete with facings of artificial stone, at the corner of Collyer Quay and Prince Street. This building, however, will be eclipsed by the new Post- Office, which is to stand on the site now occupied by the Singapore Club and the vacant ground adjoining. It will have eight storeys, including the basement; will be built of ferro concrete faced with artificial granite; and will be designed in the classic style. It will house not only the Post Office, but the Singapore Club, the Master Attendant's Office, and other Government offices. The cost of construction will be about $4,000,000. The Settlement possesses a handsome
· Cricket Club which compares favourably with any in the East. A fine bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands in front of the Town Hall, to which position it was removed on the occasion of the Singapore Centenary on 6th February, 1919. dignified and imposing cenotaph has been erected on the esplanade to commemorate men from the Settlement who fell in the Great War, This memorial was unveiled by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales on the occasion of his visit early in 1922.
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Singapore possesses a handsome Anglican cathedral called St. Andrew's Cathedral built in 1861; it is in the Gothic style, with a tower and spire 204 feet high. There is a neat Presbyterian Church, St. Gregory's (Armenian) Church, in Hill Street, and several mission chapels. The Roman Catholics have a roomy Cathedral dedicated to the Good Shepherd, at the corner of Bras Basa Road and Victoria Street, the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul in Queen Street, the Church of St. Joseph in Victoria Street, one more recently built in Tank Road, and other smaller churches in the outskirts. The Roman Catholic Church (St. Josepli's) consecrated on June 20, 1912, by the Bishop of Macao, has been described as "the finest ecclesiastical edifice in the Far East.' There is also a neat Jewish Synagogue in Waterloo Street and one in Tank Road. Those professing the Seventh Day Adventist Creed also have a small Church. 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 best Club-house in the Settlement was that occupied before the war by the German community in the Tanglin district. 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