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state - it is the duty of the Executive to contrive in some way to prevent the further progress of dilapidation.
At the same time, floors and joists, which are in the process of being eaten up by white Ants, must have been long known to be in that condition, and as the greater part of the woodwork has not been painted for 17 years, it is a matter of regret that during the long period which intervened between the departure of Sir Hercules Robinson and my arrival, none of the repairs were undertaken.
The longer they are deferred, the greater the cost that is entailed.
All that is required to repair the roof thoroughly would take, Mr. Wilson says, more than three, probably four, months of the finest season of the year; if during two months of the dry season, say between the middle of October and the beginning of March, the House could be given up to the Survey Department, he considers that the roof might be temporarily patched so as to stop the leaks, and hard wood floors and joists substituted for the present...