62 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



prevented skating on Bronx Lake and River, save when the ice 

 is dangerous ; and furthermore, that it has expended a reasonable 

 amount of labor in clearing the snow from the ice in winter 

 seasons in order to provide skating. The Zoological Park man- 

 agement declared its inability to expend the $2,000 or $2,500 

 per year that would be necessary to comply with the demands 

 for a free skating rink in first-class order ; and the public was 

 invited to raise a fund of money, by subscription, among the 

 skaters of the Bronx, to do the work which should be done. This 

 invitation was indignantly rejected. 



Borough President Bruckner patiently heard both sides, and 

 then declared that the whole matter lay entirely outside of his 

 jurisdiction and that he saw no occasion to interfere. 



Since that time, three occurrences, two of them of a tragic 

 character, have emphasized our demand for "safety first." Dur- 

 ing the present winter two boys broke through the ice, and one 

 of them was drowned. One week following, four boys, who had 

 been sternly warned to keep off the ice, broke through ; but 

 through the gallant efforts of a sailor from the Pelham Bay 

 Naval Training Station, named Bertram E. Reed, all four were 

 rescued. The Director of the Park has strongly recommended 

 Seaman Reed to the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission as a can- 

 didate for a hero medal. On the next day following a soldier 

 broke through the thin ice in the middle of the river, and was 

 drowned, — after having walked directly past one of our danger 

 signs! 



These lamentable occurrences have led some of our critics 

 publicly to acknowledge that our contention regarding the dan- 

 gerous character of Bronx Lake as a place for skating was well 

 founded. The excess of danger lies in the fact that the strong 

 current in the river, which prevails nearly every winter, main- 

 tains a ivide strip of thin ice in the middle of the river, which, 

 even when the shore ice is thick, and perfectly safe, is exceed- 

 ingly dangerous, and utterly impossible to guard completely from 

 injudicious persons. 



In the future, as it has done in the past, the Zoological Park 

 administration intends to do all that lies within its power to 

 promote skating on Bronx Lake, but the persistent and continu- 

 ous disregard of our danger signals by persons skating, and by 

 others not skating, will remain in the future, as it has been in 

 the past, a fruitful source of accidents, some of which will oc- 



