310 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



done, and until it is we shall not be homesick. 

 Finally, best regards to everybody. 



Also commend K. Rasmussen for his 

 unswerving, continued and exquisite courtesy 

 toward our expedition. I think some public 

 mention should be made of it. 



Of course the organizing institutions, 

 the American Museum of Natural His- 

 tory, the American Geographical Society 

 and the University of Illinois, are keenly 

 disappointed to learn of the non-existence 

 of Crocker Land at the place where it 

 was reported to be, but they await 

 receipt of the full reports which will 

 come from Mr. MacMillan next April 

 or May before drawing any conclusions 

 from this portion of the Crocker Land 



expedition's work. Undoubtedly the sci- 

 entific data, including soundings, which 

 must have been secured by Mr. MacMil- 

 lan and Ensign Green will prove of the 

 highest value, even if they show that the 

 supposed land does not exist. Mr. Ek- 

 blaw's letters indicate that all the other 

 portions of the program of work were 

 carried out satisfactorily and although 

 we have not the gratification of getting 

 full reports and personal letters from 

 all the staff, we know that the men were 

 at Etah and well at the end of the sum- 

 mer and that they received the missives 

 which were sent to them by way of 

 Copenhagen last spring. 



MUSEUM NOTES 



The sixth annual joint session of the 

 American Academy of Arts and Letters and 

 the National Institute of Arts and Letters 

 was held in New York on November 19 and 

 20. The President and Trustees of the Mu- 

 seum tendered a reception to the members of 

 these two academies and a representative of 

 the Academie Frangaise. The reception also 

 marked the opening of the "Men of the Old 

 Stone Age " exhibit on the fourth floor of the 

 Museum. 



Mr. Minor C. Keith has deposited the 

 greater part of his archaeological collection 

 from Costa Rica in the Museum as a loan. 

 The collection consists of a large number of 

 gold and jade objects and a very complete 

 series of ceramics numbering many thousand 

 specimens. To accommodate this loan collec- 

 tion, rearrangement of the Mexican hall has 

 been made necessary. The small rooms ad- 

 joining the second floor entrance will be used 

 temporarily for the exhibition of some of the 

 casts formerly displayed in the Mexican hall. 



Through the cooperation of the Trustees 

 and the personal interest of President Henry 

 Fairfield Osborn, the employees of the Ameri- 

 can Museum have organized a store whereby 

 they are enabled to secure food products at 

 a slight advance over cost. 



The initial steps for the organization were 

 taken by a committee appointed by President 

 Osborn, who having in mind the furtherance 

 of his plan to benefit the employees materi- 

 ally, appointed a subcommittee of the Trus- 

 tees to hear the plans of the organization and 

 report the feasibility of the undertaking. The 

 project received the sanction of the Trustees, 

 a permanent organization was effected and 

 an authorized capitalization of fifteen hun- 

 dred dollars was voted by the employees. 

 All of the money necessary to conduct the 

 business has been subscribed by them and its 

 affairs are administered entirely outside of 

 Museum hours. 



The store proper is advantageously situ- 

 ated in a room in the basement and the work 

 there is performed by a storekeeper and 

 assistant hired by the association. The pro- 

 ject is distinctively cooperative, with author- 

 ized payment of dividends on capital stock, 

 the creation of a reserve fund and the dis- 

 tribution of any remainder as a bonus accord- 

 ing to the amount of the purchases of the 

 subscriber. 



Besides dealing in staple food products, 

 the store supplies the employees with lunches, 

 handles fruit and receives orders for certain 

 other household commodities. The privi- 

 leges of purchase have been extended to all 

 employees and members of their families, 



