X. 



85 



completion — and thereby secured the appropriation of a Hke 

 amount by the City. This was on the eve of the Great War, and 

 it is reasonably certain that, but for this gift, the building- would 

 have been delayed for a possible ten years. The construction of 

 the greatly needed Children's Building was also made possible 

 by this gift and the resultant appropriation. 



In 1919 the City appropriation for per diem labor was only 

 sufficient to meet the payrolls for about two weeks. Except for 

 the private funds secured and, in part, contributed by Mr. White, 

 our lawns would have turned to meadows, and the work of the 

 preceding years would have had to be largely done over again. 



When municipal appropriations could not be secured for the 

 enlargement of our educational and administrative force, made 

 urgently necessary by the rapidly increasing demands of the 

 public for the services of the Botanic Garden, it was Mr, White 

 who authorized the necessary additional appointments, and 

 guaranteed to secure the necessary private funds. 



After the completion of our Laboratory Building and conscrva- 

 tories, two years passed l)y without funds becoming available for 

 the proper treatment of the approaches. One of Mr. White's 

 last gifts to the Garden was the conservatory plaza, with its 

 beautiful water lily pools and gardens. This w^ork was not 

 wholly completed at the time of his death. 



For the past five years the prizes which have rewarded meri- 

 torious accomplishment in our children's work have been pro- 

 vided from the same generous source and sympathetic interest. 

 The boys and girls responded by making Mr. White *' one of 

 them,^' as their president expressed it, electing him to member- 

 ship in their club. This was an honor which he greatly appreci- 

 ated. 



Alexander Smith, in his essay (in Drcanitlwrp) ''On the 



writing of 



essays 



Ji 



says 



speaking of Montaigne : 



a 



On his 



daily life his Essays grew like lichens upon rocks.'' So of this 

 rtian we may say: On his daily life good deeds for the public 

 welfare grew like lichens upon rocks. And a veritable rock be 

 was to many a man and to many an institution or organization 



