The foundation stone of the new Russian Consulate now being erected on the Garden Bridge site in front of the Astor House Hotel was laid on Thursday. It is expected that the building will be completed early in 1916. Some difficulty was experienced in reaching a firm foundation, but this has been secured by the use of hundreds of additional wood piles, and cement, and the bunding has now been completed. The river frontage is a fine one, and will be taken up with handsome four-storey building, with a front of white stone rising from a balustraded terrace. The Consul-General will have his residence there, and the Vioe-Consuls also, and the rest of the space will
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.