ARCADIA 



285 



Ten buildings ; viz., Welcome Re- 

 ception Room, Office Home, Labora- 

 tory. Birchen Bower, (residence)* As- 

 tronomical Observatory, Botany Bun- 

 galow (residence), Pet House, Apiary, 

 Serving House and Storage Building 

 (cuts and negatives). 



Heating: Two hot water furnaces, 

 mineralogical fireplace, four cooking- 

 stoves, three heating stoves — ten in 

 all — a problem at any time, much more 

 so in these days of fuel shortage. 



Water: The entire premises are well 

 supplied. For three months ending 

 December 1st, 191 7, there were used 

 10,200 cubic feet of water costing 

 $19.94. 



Electric Lights : Interior lighting 

 131, scientific experimenting and pro- 

 jecting 12, outside lighting 38, total 

 181. The scientific lighting consists 

 of one arc, three nitrogen filled, one 

 Nernst and seven Mazdas. 



The Welcome Reception Room, even 

 in the coldest and stormiest days of 

 December and January, has been in 

 frequent use as a community center by 

 the Sound Beach Home Guards, the 

 Boy Scouts of Greenwich and Stam- 

 ford, for club meetings of public school 

 children, private schools, visiting par- 

 ties, etc. 



Many questions on nature study are 

 every day answered by telephone. 



The mail requires a secretary and 

 two stenographers. 



The Observatory is in use on clear 

 nights and even in zero weather has 

 received visitors. 



^c ^c 



PERSONAL. 



For developing and caring for all 

 this, what is in it for the Bigelows? 

 Two members of the family devote 

 all their time to the work, and two 

 others a greater part of their time. For 

 the first seven months of the present 

 fiscal year the total that all have re- 

 ceived was $81.57 {not per month but 

 for the whole seven months for all four 



members). This situation was ex- 

 plained to a few friends. One gave $200 

 and the others $25 or $50 apiece, a total 

 of $405 ; but only a little over one-half 

 of this could be used personally, the 

 rest must go for The Agassiz Associa- 

 tion bills in arrears. On December 31, 

 191 7, at the end of nine months of the 

 fiscal year, the total that all four mem- 

 bers had received was $446.03, an aver- 

 age aggregate per month for four 

 workers of only $49.56. 



Love of the work and the joy of ac- 

 complishment in a great Cause would 

 incite the Bigelows to continue undi- 

 minished efforts regardless of financial 

 income, but we believe the time has 

 arrived when the situation should not 

 be merely reported confidentially to a 

 few friends, but should be made known 

 to all who are interested in the general 

 work, or in ArcAdiA as a community 

 center. It is worth at least a dollar a 

 year to every resident of Greenwich 

 and Stamford to have The Guide to 

 Nature in his home, and to have Ar- 

 cAdiA in this community, whether he 

 is interested in nature or not. 



But the low price of subscription 

 (even with the advertisements) in the 

 present high cost of things barely cov- 

 ers the expenses of the magazine. 



The general work and the expense of 

 ArcAdiA are largely supported by 

 membership fees and contributions. 



In war or in peace, in strenuous or 

 in easy times, don't forget the words 

 of George Washington : 



"Promote, then, as an object of pri- 

 mary importance, institutions for the 

 general diffusion of knowledge." 



To the educator, to the philanthro- 

 pist, interested especially in boys and 

 girls, to the public-spirited citizen of 

 Greenwich or Stamford that recognizes 

 the value of ArcAdiA as a community 

 center and contemplates Cooperating- 

 Membership, or a liberal gift, we will 

 gladly explain every detail. The work 

 needs and merits general cooperation 

 in subscriptions, memberships and con- 

 tributions. 



I am publishing this personal state- 

 ment that every friend of the Associa- 

 tion may know the real situation and 

 that we may gain new friends who will 

 have an introduction to the good Cause 

 through the testimony of our faithful 

 work in behalf of it. But. kind reader, 



