TWENTY-SECOND ANNUAL REPORT 109 
CITY OF NEW YORK—DEPARTMENT OF PARKS 
Boroughs of Manhattan and Richmond 
Municipal Building, 10th Floor 
Casor Warp, Commissioner. October 24th, 1917. 
Mr. C. H. Townsend, Director, 
New York Aquarium, New York. 
Dear Sir: 
I visited the boiler room in the Aquarium this afternoon to see the condi- 
tions there during a high tide. 
I entirely agree with you that the present conditions are intolerable. The 
boiler room is cramped and the coal storage space very limited. 
Having seen the fireman in rubber boots shovelling wet coal into the fur- 
naces, with the ash pits, at the same time, half filled with water, I must congratu- 
late you on having been able to successfully operate your mechanical department 
all these years with such handicaps. 
You can count on me for such assistance as I can render in your endeavors 
to convince the City authorities of the urgent need of a change in the location 
of the machinery department as described in your recent report. 
Very truly yours, 
(SIGNED) JAROS KRAUS, Architect. 
The Aquarium had 1,595,118 visitors during the past year, 
and this attendance was lower than usual. It would seem that 
a museum patronized by the public to such an extent, should be 
put on a safe and sanitary basis without further argument. 
IMPROVEMENTS FROM THE MAINTENANCE FUND. 
Enlarged Exhibition Tanks.—The work of enlarging exhi- 
bition tanks on the ground floor, which was begun in 1916, was 
continued by the Aquarium force as opportunity afforded. 
Twenty-two of the glass-fronted tanks have now been enlarged. 
In eight cases, adjoining tanks were combined in pairs, making 
in all fourteen tanks, having a depth back from the glass of 
twelve feet. Those combined in pairs have, of course, twiee the 
width and swimming space of the single tanks which were mere- 
ly extended backward. 
The enlargement of exhibition tanks is now about completed, 
as any extension of the work would involve alterations in the 
heavy piping system too serious to be practicable. The increased 
capacity of the enlarged tanks naturally resulted in lowering the 
water level in the underground reservoir adjacent to the Aqua- 
rium and holding 100,000 gallons of pure sea water. This made 
necessary the addition of several thousand gallons to the supply 
of stored water, which was brought by tank boat from the open 
ocean. 
