Thursday May 24, 1894

Writing Report &c. Readjusted tilt of 28ⁱⁿ O.G. pushing out S. part of crown lens very slightly.

William Christie, Astronomer Royal

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RH says..... The Astronomer Royal's report was clearly quite a burden on top of normal work. For the year 1893-94 is was 27 pages long and, as usual, contained sections on all areas of the ROG's activities. The section-headings for this year are: the buildings, portable instruments and library; astronomical observations (with sections on observations made with each of the principal instruments); spectroscopic and photographic observations; magnetic observations; meteorological observations; printing and distribution of Greenwich publications; chronometers, time-signals and longitude operations; personal establishment (i.e. staff); and general remarks.

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In the general remarks Christie commented that "During the past year the work of the Observatory has been exceptionally heavy, and it has had to be carried out under conditions which have made it very difficult." His principal gripes related to lack of staff accommodation, on-going building works and the need for a reformed staff structure. His final paragraph reported that "The 28-inch Refractor has been mounted, and got into working order both for visual and photographic observation", though his continued fiddling with the lens might suggest otherwise.