‘REPORT ON THE ADMINISTRATION OF THE BOMBAY PRESIDENCY, FOR THE YEAR 1888-89’ [‎23v] (53/456)

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xxxv i BOMBAY ADMINISTRATION REPORT. [1883-89.
Literary
Societies.
Museums.
Archaeology,
Ecclesiastical.
Stationery.
Government
Printing
Presses.
enhanced taxation on incomes and salt was generally denounced, and a return to
the import duties on cotton advocated. The action taken by Government
against Mr. Crawford was almost unanimously approved. With regard to
education, the proposal to transfer the control of higher education from the
State to private bodies was censured as premature. Among other topics the
abkari department and the public service commission attracted some attention
and the administration of many of the Native States was subjected to more or
less severe criticism.
The Bombay Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society received a large accession
of new subscribers during the year, and at its close the members numbered 241.
The Society which has an extensive library purchased or was presented with
536 new books and 87 coins in thecourse of the year. At the Gujarati Dnyan Prasa-
rak Mandli, a society which receives from Government a small grant towards de
fraying the expenses of popular lectures, eight lectures on scientific and other
subjects were delivered during the year, one of them by a Parsi lady doctor
The Bombay Medical and Physical Society held nine meetings at which papers
dealing with technical points in medical theory and practice were read. The
members and income of the Sassoon Mechanics’ Institute fell off during the year;
but additions were nevertheless made to the library. Three lectures, two of
which were lectures on Egypt by the Honourable Mr. Justice Scott, were
delivered at this institution in the course of the year.
The Victoria and Albert Museum in Bombay was enriched during the year
in the natural history division by the acquisition of numerous specimens of
mammalia, reptiles, fishes and insects, and m the anthropological division
by models of the heads and specimens of the head-dresses of natives of various
parts of the Presidency The name given to each of the three divisions of the territory of the East India Company, and later the British Raj, on the Indian subcontinent. . The Museum was visited by 640,206 persons durino’
the year. The Museum at Karachi, founded in 1852 by Sir (then Mr.) Bartle
Prere, and transferred in 1870 to the municipality, contains collections fairly
representative of the natural history, geology, botany, manufactures and anti
quities of India. It was visited during the year by 88,862 persons.
< Tlie Archeological Survey of Western India resumed and completed
during the year the survey of the ancient ruins at Bijapur. Those on the sites
of the old suburb of Shahapur and of the city of Nauraspur principally occupied
the attention of the party; and their researches revealed the existence of
an elaborate under-ground system of pipes and tunnels ramifying in every
direction to feed the wells, tanks and cisterns of the palaces and mosques
which during the prosperity of the Muhammadan kingdom were clustered on
these sites. Numerous photographs and drawings were made, and on the com
pletion of this survey, operations were transferred to the Jain temples at
Palitana in Kathi&war.
The effective strength of the establishment of chaplains of the Church of
England was maintained more steadily than in previous years. Two new churches
m t e mofussil weie consecrated and a new church was in course of erection in
Bombav.
«/
Stores of the value of 3f lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees were issued by the Stationery depart
ment urm & the year. Some saving was effected in the purchases of ink,
paper an cloth in the Indian market; and the purchase of country stores to tha
^ ^ "L 0® contrasted with It lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees in the previous year) in
substitution for stores previously obtained from England, was estimated to have
resulted in a further saving of f lakhs One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .
! ooo T 0 n e ° pe : at r s 0f the Government Central Press in Bombay during the year
18 88-89 resulted m a net profit of Es. 86,037 ; those of the Government Press
m Sind in a net profit of Rs. 9,165, and those of the Photozincographic office
at Poona in a net profit of Rs. 22,831. The aggregate surplus from the three
pi esses exceeded that of the previous year by more than half a lakh One lakh is equal to one hundred thousand rupees .