Directory_and_Chronicle_1896 — Page 773

SINGAPORE

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greasy to the touch, and occasionally of a fibrous texture. The valleys or flats of Singapore have a peaty substratum, varying in thickness from six inches to a couple of feet. Below this generally lies a bed of cold clay, and below this a stratum of arenaceous clay. In many districts kaolin is found in large quantities and of excellent quality.

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, indeed, about seven miles from the town, only rising to a height of 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. Dirt and obstructions of all sorts distinguish the native portion of the town, while as compared with nearly every other Eastern city in European hands the build- ings of the business quarters are somewhat shabby and mediocre. Government House, the Government Offices, Police Barracks, Magistrates' Courts, Post Office, Library and Museum, Town Hall, the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, and the Chartered Bank, however, are fine buildings, while the Settlement possesses a handsome Club which compares favourably with any in the East. A fine bronze statue of Sir Stamford Raffles stands on the Esplanade, facing the sea.

Singapore possesses a handsome though small Protestant 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 Brass Bassa Road and Victoria Street, 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, a Debating Society, Photographic Society, 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.

Singapore boasts several hotels, but they are not equal to those at other ports of similar importance. The Press is represented by the Straits Times and Singapore Free Press (daily), with weekly issues of both, and the Government Gazette, both published weekly. 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 1894 amounted (exclusive of treasure) to $133,464,604 imports, and $114,087,709 exports.