building." They
also called for estimates for "the putting up in front of the College on
Sherbrooke Street of a fence of the same description as that of the new
Cemetery." To effect greater efficiency the office of the Secretary of
the Royal Institution was moved to one of the rooms of the McGill
buildings--the East wing--in July, 1853, and the Secretary became also
Secretary of the Governors. The two offices became identical. Later,
because of the cold and the general discomfort, the office was
transferred for some time to a building at the corner of Dorchester and
University Streets, known as Burnside Hall. But that conditions there
were not ideal is evident from an appeal made in December, 1854, to the
firm that had previously repaired the antiquated furnaces. The Secretary
wrote: "Instead of imparting to us an equable and cheering warmth such
as might reasonably be expected from their matronly development ... to
me they are painfully and consistently cold. Do, then, come to our
relief and save us from the horrors of frozen limbs, hospitals and
amputations; or first, if you prefer it, pass a morning without
overcoat, cap and comforter in my office with the thermometer at zero."

In the summer of 1853 repairs were made to the College buildings in the
hope of making them again habitable. The blasting in connection with the
reservoir had caused much damage. Windows were wholly shattered and
there were wide cracks and breaks in roof and walls. The contractor
failed to make restitution, and the City Corporation was then urged to
make the necessary repairs and to guarantee that there would be no
further wreckage. The City authorities were slow to respond, but in the
end they made reparation. Fences were also restored or newly built, and
an effort was made to lay out the College grounds in some semblance of
order. In September the lower part of the grounds was granted free for
the holding of the annual Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition. In the
spring of 1854 the City threatened to enter suit against the College for
unpaid taxes, but the dispute was amicably settled. The total income
from rents on which the taxes were based amounted to L182, of which the
sum of L102 was derived from the rent of Burnside House and gardens, L60
from the Professor and L20 from two students who still occupied rooms in
the College buildings. This income was exclusive of the rents of lots,
which amounted to about L400. In the summer of 1854 t