XVI PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 



REPORT OF THE PERMANENT COMMITTEE. 



In the absence of Mr. Henderson. Chairman of the Permanent Com- 

 mittee, the Secretary made the following statement: 



The Hodgkins Fund. The Hodgkins Fund now amounted to about 

 1250,000, $208,000 of which was deposited in the general funds, the 

 remainder being held in first-class bonds. About $10,000 more was 

 held in New York to meet possible litigation, but the indications were 

 that the Institution would receive this also. There were also two 

 houses of small value which would probably net the fund about $1 600. 



The Avery Fund. — This, as well as other matters of the kind, were 

 being looked after by the attorney of the Institution, Mr. F. W. 

 Hackett, who reports satisfactory progress. As to the value of this 

 Avery estate, the Secretary had requested an approximate valuation 

 from Mr. Fox, the real-estate agent who had charge of the property, 

 and who stated the same at about $26,000. Mr. Fox had written that if 

 the United States Supreme Court Building were placed directly north 

 of the Congressional Library the value of part of the property would 

 be greatly increased. This property, most of which was idle, was 

 yielding an income of something like $500 a year. 



The Andrews Bequest. — This matter had been laid before the Board at 

 its last meeting, and Mr. Hackett has reported that the estate would 

 probably amount to something like a million of dollars. No active 

 steps as yet had been taken in Ohio looking to an application of this 

 money for the establishment of an institution for the free education of 

 girls. It was by no means certain that the elaborate system formulated 

 in the will was capable of being put into successful operation. The 

 Secretary here quoted from Mr. Hackett's report: 



It may be needful before long to institute a friendly suit in New York to ascertain 

 under the laws whether the legacy be a valid one to the Ohio corporation, or rather 

 to the corporation that the will says shall be created in Ohio. I shall make this the 

 subject of a separate letter to you in a few days. Meanwhile, as a report to the 

 Regents of the progress making in this business, I will say that I am giving more or 

 less attention from time to time to the will and its legal aspects, and also am in touch 

 with the counsel for the executor. 



The Sprague Bequest. The Secretary now stated that he had the 

 agreeable duty of bringing before the Regents the fact of another 

 legacy to the Institution by Mr. Joseph AVhito Sprague, whose last 

 place of residence was in the city of Louisville, Ky., but who died in 

 Italy in June. L900. Under the provisions of his will, which had been 

 offered for probate, certain personal effects were bequeathed to rela- 

 tives, and all the remainder of his estate, both real and personal, to his 

 nephew, Seth Sprague Terry, in trust to convert the personalty into 

 money and distribute 85 per cent of the profits of the entire estate 

 •among certain devisees named in the will, and their relatives, until 

 twenty years after the death of the last of said devisees, when the trust 



