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 £182, of which the
sum of £102 was derived from the rent of Burnside House and gardens, £60
from the Professor and £20 from two students who still occupied rooms in
the College buildings. This income was exclusive of the rents of lots,
which amounted to about £400. In the summer of 1854 the Governors gave
to the city free of charge land for the opening of streets "on condition
that all the College property shall be entirely exempt from every sort
of assessment until it shall have been sold." Land for the opening up of
University Street had been given in 1851. The Streets now provided for
were Union Avenue, between Dorchester and St. Catherine Streets; McGill
College Avenue; Burnside Place; Victoria, Mansfield, St. Catherine,
Cathcart, Dorchester, and Monique Streets. It was stipulated that
Victoria Street and McGill College Avenue "should not be opened, for the
present, higher than Burnside Place."