Directory_and_Chronicle_1939 — Page 877

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part admirably made and kept, and a few of the thoroughfares delightfully shaded with well-grown trees. The European business quarter occupies the middle of the city, from Pottinger Street to the Naval Yard. Almost all the lower levels, especially the Western District, are covered by a mass of Chinese shops and tenements, in recent years a large number of the older of these have been pulled down and replaced by more modern buildings of ferro-concrete, many of them well designed and fine looking edifices. The Botanic Gardens are situated just above Government House, and are tastefully laid out in terraces, slopes, and walks, with parterres of flowers. A handsome fountain adorns the second terrace. There is a bandstand, presented by the Parsee community and open air concerts are given in the gardens during the summer months which prove a great attraction. Aviaries, orchid houses, and fer- neries are attractive features, and seats are provided in every spot where a view is obtainable or shade afforded by the varied foliage. A fine bronze statue of Sir Arthur Kennedy, Governor of the Colony, 1872-6, erected by public subscription, stands above the second terrace looking down on the fountain. It was unveiled in November, 1887, by Governor Sir William Des Voeux. pilau erected to the memory of the Chinese who gave their lives in the great war of 1914-1918, was unveiled on 7th May, 1928, by Sir Cecil Clementi, K.C.M.G. It stands just above the flight of steps giving entrance to the gardens from Albert Road, and is in every way a fitting memorial. The City Hall, erected in 1866-9 by subscription, contains a theatre, numerous large rooms used for balls and public meetings (in one of which, known as St. George's Hall, is a fine portrait of the late Queen Victoria, presented by the late Sir Thomas Jackson, Bart., in 1900), a Library and a Museum-both of which however, have a neglected appearance. Eastward of the City Hall is a fine open space or lung, in the shape of the Parade Ground, south of the road, and the Cricket Ground on the north. Here a new pavilion was erected in 1923 and extended in 1927. The building of the City Hall has been demolished.

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The Post Office, an imposing building in which several other Government departments are accommodated, occupies a site with frontages on the Praya, Pedder Street and Des Voeux Road. The Court of Justice were designed by the late Sir Aston Webb and Mr. E. Ingress Bell, consulting architects to the Government of Great Britain. The foundation stone was laid in 1903 and the building was completed at a cost of $856,310 and opened in January, 1912. Immediately opposite on the seaward side and appropriately occupying what was long known as "the finest site," stands the Colony's War Memorial-a replica of the Cenotaph in Whitehall, London-which was unveiled by H.E. Sir R. E. Stubbs and dedicated to "The Glorious Dead" on Empire Day, 1923. The monuments, which is of granite, stands 35 ft. high. Occupying a site in the centre of Statue Square to the west of the Courts of Justice stands the Jubilee statue of H.M. Queen Victoria, the erection of which was postponed until this site became available; it was unveiled on the 28th May, 1896. statue represents Queen Victoria seated on her throne, and is of bronze under a stone canopy. Close by, there was formerly a fine bronze statue of the Duke of Connaught, presented to the Colony by Sir Paul Chater. It was unveiled. by Sir William Gascoigne on the 5th July, 1902. This statue was removed in February, 1907, to a site on the waterfront near Blake Pier, and H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught, who paid a second visit to the Colony, this time as In- spector-General of the Forces, on February 6th. 1907, unveiled, in what is now designated the Royal Square, a fine bronze statue of the late King Edward, presented by Sir Paul Chater, C.M.G., and one of H.M. King George, presented by Mr. James Jardine Bell-Irving. A statue of H.M. Queen Alexandra, sub- scribed for by the Community as a memorial of the Coronation of their Majesties in 1902, and one of H. M. Queen Mary, presented by the late Sir H. N. Mody, were placed in the same Square in 1909. Sir Paul Chater desired to add a statue of the Prince of Wales in commemoration of His Royal Highness's visit in April, 1922, but, at the Prince's request, the money ($50,000) was invested instead for the local branch of the British Legion and the Ex-Active Service

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