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was a special one, and of an emergent nature. The contractors here are for the most part men without the necessary capital to start a large work of the nature of which they were unacquainted; prices are high; Blakan Mati bears a very bad name amongst the natives; the coolies are a very indifferent subject from Amoy and Swatow; and altogether the execution of the works in a speedy and satisfactory manner seemed to be a matter of much difficulty. The Major-General therefore determined, at my request, to treat the work of constructing the new defences quite as a special case, and to invest me with the entire responsibility of making all the contracts and arrangements for their due execution, and to commence operations as soon as ever I could prepare designs, the necessary plans being subsequently transmitted for information and approval.
The charge thus entrusted to me was a most responsible one, entailing as it did the adoption of such measures as would be of practical value in the event of war breaking out, but which could be included in the larger and stronger works to be constructed if a longer period of time became available. Without delay, men were set to work to clear away the jungle on the sites of the proposed batteries, and contoured surveys made of the positions.
The Chinese contractors showed no anxiety to take up the contracts; the distance from the town, the alleged unhealthiness of the island, the cost of transport, and ignorance of what was required to be done being the principal arguments against their offering to
tender.
To an advertisement in the public papers calling for tenders above the scale of rates shown in the schedule of prices in use by the Public Works Department of the Colony, and to notices of the same effect in Chinese distributed amongst the contractors, there was but one application, at a rate of 100 per cent. above the Public Works Department Schedule.
I therefore determined to make the transport a separate question, and to divide up the contracts, and to give persons intending to tender an idea of the sort of work they would have to do, drew up a blank schedule of what would be the principal items, the rates of which could then be filled in by them. A number of tenders were thus made, and I was able to accept that of Chew Ah Seng for labour generally, and Chin Ah Soic for transport.
Separate contracts were made for the supply of cement, lime, broken stone, sand, &c. Blakan Mati East battery was the first undertaken, ground being broken on the 4th July. To avoid mistakes on the part of Chinese mandores and coolies in executing work strange to them, a picket was driven at all the corners, and changes of direction of the tracing- lines, and on these pickets was written in English and Chinese the depth which the ground was to be excavated at these points. Narrow guide-trenches were then dug connecting these points, after which it was simple to move the intervening masses of earth to the various assigned places.
The first endeavour was made to prepare the gun emplacements, but as the political atmosphere in Europe gradually cleared during the progress of the battery, the spacious magazines between the guns which now exist were undertaken. The four 7-inch guns with which this battery is armed are arranged on two faces, at a distance of 80 feet from gun to gun. The two 64-pounders are mounted, one on either flank, on "D" racers, firing over an arc of 180 degrees. There is no main magazine, but the ammunition is distri- buted throughout the battery in large stores, of suitable design, in the traverses between the guns, shell and cartridge stores alternating, and supplying their particular kind of ammunition to the guns on either side. The ammunition for the 64-pounders is supplied by lifts to the emplacement levels from magazines below. To give an idea of the size of this battery, I may mention that its extreme frontage towards the sea is 160 yards. Between the two flank guns, through the whole length of the battery, runs a core of concrete 7 feet thick, increased to 8 feet in front of the magazines, and the whole battery is made of corresponding strength. With the exception of the arches of the magazines, concrete has been used throughout with great success. With the exception of Tanjong Pagar New Dock, a straightforward work under construction at the same time, this has been the first use of concrete in the Colony for such a purpose and on so extensive a scale; and as this battery work entailed a large amount of detail and complicated passages, it has been only with constant superintendence and instruction that the coolies have turned out such a satisfactory result in a material which was foreign to them.
After the battery had been two months in progress constant disputes between the contractor and the employed terminated in a virtual strike of over a month's duration, during which time, and on several occasions subsequently, the power of the secret societies to do mischief and create obstruction was manifested in a marked degree.
After the termination of the strike, the constant heavy rains of the wet season great'y
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interfered with the progress of the work, and these delays, taken in connection with the subsequent smaller disputes with the coolies and workmen, made the time of construction of this battery, as of the others, much larger than I had anticipated. In consequence of a telegram received from the War Office, work was stopped in May, which gave an excellent opportunity of measuring up all the work done and striking a balance. A further telegram enabled me to recommence work, and this battery is now completed. With the exception of a little work in the ditch, a redoubt on top of Mount Serapoug, a commanding spot 800 yards distant, has also been completed. Mount Siloso Battery was the next battery commenced in the beginning of August, and is practically finished, with the exception of one magazine and the emplacements of the 64-pounders, which here are in the centre of the battery on "C" racers, admitting of an all-round fire.
The treacherous nature of the soil at this battery, has been the cause of some engi neering difficulties, in consequence of which a concrete escarp has been constructed nearly throughout, making the battery, in conjunction with the cliff in front, a very formidable object.
In the beginning of April eight tons of powder was exploded simultaneously in ten mines under the projecting tongue of Mount Siloso, which obstructed the clear field of fire from the battery, and the spoil being subsequently removed by coolie labour, a glacis- like front now extends towards the entrance of the harbour.
On the 20th July Lieutenant Rhodes, R.E., and a detachment of submarine miners arrived in the Colony with a large supply of torpedo stores to the value of 5,0001. The abandoned old French naval coal store was selected for submarine mining station; a pier 120 feet long has been constructed to the edge of the reef; test rooms, electrical rooms, storeman's quarters, stores generally, loading shed, gun-cotton magazine, sea wall, and concrete cable tank have been built, and on receipt of instructions from England, this submarine mining establishment will be occupied. A scheme of torpedo defence has been prepared and approved of by the War Office.
At the close of last year I received instructions from the War Office to construct a battery for three 7-inch muzzle-loading rifled guns of 7 tons at Tanjong Katong as quickly as possible, at a cost of 4,2001. The military reserve site was found quite unsuited for a battery, and after some correspondence with your Government, a piece of ground 250 yards frontage and 150 yards deep was acquired in a cocoa-nut plantation more to the eastward. But even this site presented great difficulties in a constructional point of view, so much so that my original designs, prepared with a view of forming a lump-sum contract, and of pushing forward the work with celerity, had to be much modified, as I found, upon estimating the cost, that the sum voted would not cover the probable amount of the tenders.
The contract has been taken up by Tan Chy Guan, who has been doing this, as other work, in a very satisfactory manner; and as I understand he has secured the contract for the part construction of the new gaol, I am glad to have this opportunity of bearing testimony to his qualifications.
The three guns on "D" racers are mounted 100 feet apart, with a command of 15 feet. Expense magazines and bomb-proofs are in the traverses between the guns, according to the latest War Office designs. A main magazine is built in the gorge of the work, which is closed by a loop-holed wall of suitable trace. The work is surrounded with a wet ditch, 100 feet wide on the flanks, the water being controlled by a culvert of 18-inch pipes cast in concrete, and proper sluice valve. A central caponier and one at either shoulder bring a flanking fire to bear over the ditch. The escarp is formed through- out with mangrove piles, as is also the counter-scarp of the front ditch. Work was commenced the middle of March, and will be finished at the end of next month. All the piling has been completed, the central caponier, the gorge wall, and magazine. The greater part of the masonry of the expense magazines and bomb-proofs is finished; the concrete culvert and sluice-well for letting the water in and out from the sea works very well, and a large number of concrete-makers are now at work on the gun portions. The construction of a battery at Mount Palmer was delayed pending negotiations by the Colonial Govern- ment with the Tanjong Pagar Company, to whom the ground belongs. As the period of emergency had passed away, I was not sorry, with the small number of superintendents I had at my command, that this was the case. This battery should be finished, if the present fine weather continues, in about three or four months' time, the most part of the earth-work being completed, and the material ready to commence the masonry, which is on a much smaller scale than at Blakan Mati. Expense and main magazines will be constructed on the same principle as at Tanjong Katong. With its five guns arranged on the arc of a circle, the 64-pounders being on the flanks, this battery, when completed, and the Teluk Ayer Bay scheme carried out, will look very well. The ground all round will be
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
CO. 885
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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-