838 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 
DEPARTMENT OF ADMINISTRATION 
H. R. MitcHELL, Chief Clerk and Manager of Privileges; 
WILLIAM MITCHELL, Cashier. 
The special and most important task of this department 
during the last five years has been the reduction of expenses by 
economies in all directions, and at a rate that would as nearly 
as possible offset the rising prices for all supplies and materials. 
In the feeding, care and exhibition of a living collection, 
such as is here maintained, there is a certain standard in food, 
heat and care that must be kept up, no matter how urgent the 
necessity for economy. While there has been some reduction 
in the number of specimens in our collection, the losses have been 
almost entirely in small specimens such as small animals, small 
birds and reptiles, which only slightly affect the cost of feeding 
and care. 
The following is a list of the sums expended annually for 
food, supplies, and expenses other than salaries and wages for 
the years 1914 to 1919, inclusive, from which it will be noted 
that the increasing cost of supplies has been more than over- 
come: 
1Oilelean ens eee $74,373.44 
Tsao Ree ae 69,748.72 
IG ee: 68,876.84 
RON Hicsst Nii lactone as 72,247.63 | Increased by heavy coal require- 
Ties pave ULepaese (2BABC ie 
Lod 2h ae eae 68,807.38 
Taking an eight-year period, our fuel bill was above the 
average by $897.95 in 1917 and by $2,777.68 in 1918. 
The great reduction made by the Board of Estimate in our 
allowance for the maintenance of the Park in 1919 necessitated 
a careful restudy of our budget estimates for that year. A cut 
of $34,219.33 was made in our budget of the amount allowed us 
by the City being only $190,000. To curtail our working force 
to the extent of the entire cut was out of the question, but 
reductions amounting to $15,162 were made, and the Executive 
Committee approved a budget requiring a contribution of $19,- 
057.33 by the Zoological Society in order to maintain the Park 
on a satisfactory basis during the year. 
