OF ee CE Te ore er rie he 
REPORTS FOR THE YEAR 1896, 
REPORT OF THE OFFICERS OF THE BOARD. 
SUBMITTED TO THE TRUSTEES JANUARY 13TH, 1897. 
To the Board of Trustees of The Missouri Botanical Garden: 
The financial statement herewith presented shows satis- 
factory results. Owing to the depressed condition of busi- 
ness, necessitating a reduction of rentals in some cases and 
vacancies in two large buildings for a portion of the year, 
the receipts from rentals have not equaled those of the 
preceding year by $3,186.71, but both of these buildings 
have been leased for a term of years at good prices and no 
further vacancies or reductions of rentals are anticipated at 
present. The properties of the Board have been kept in 
good repair and with few exceptions are all rented. The 
tornado of May 27th caused great damage to many buildings 
belonging to the Board, as much of its property was located 
directly in the path of the storm, and 58 buildings were 
damaged in amounts ranging from $5.00 to $2,000.00 each, 
and $7,946.06 was expended in restoring these buildings to 
their original condition. The Garden suffered severely by 
the destruction of trees, shrubs and damage to buildings 
and plant houses, necessitating an expenditure of $4,479.36 
for labor and material. 
The efforts made in 1895 to lease for residence purposes 
certain properties of the Board lying west of Grand Avenue 
having failed, the Board authorized its attorneys to bring 
suit in the Circuit Court, City of St. Louis, asking for au- 
(7) 
