98 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



Boat House Restaurant. — A number of mounted heads of big 

 game, for which space was not available in the Administration 

 Building, were loaned to the Boat-House Restaurant. These 

 were added to the heads and horns exhibit already in the 

 dining-room, adding much to its attractiveness. A number of 

 other improvements were made during the year, chief among 

 them being the replacing of our old china with a new set of spe- 

 cial design, which materially improved the appearance of our 

 china service. 



A greatly needed improvement, which it is hoped can be 

 made before the busy summer season, will be the removal of the 

 large ice box from the kitchen to a small cellar to be built ad- 

 joining the kitchen on the south. This would furnish more 

 room in the kitchen, and much reduce the constant cost of re- 

 frigeration in a heated kitchen. The restaurant business at the 

 Boat-House made a very satisfactory gain in 1912. 



Boating. — The new launch which was purchased late in 1911 

 for delivery in the spring of 1912 came none too soon for the 

 handling of the Sunday crowds in the early spring. It was 

 also found necessary to purchase another carload of the round- 

 bottomed steel row-boats, and these were delivered early in 

 April. Our equipment now includes three 30-foot electric 

 launches of a passenger capacity of about 25 persons each, and 

 150 row boats. During the busy hours on Saturdays and Sun- 

 days, the launches are run on 10 minutes' headway, loaded to 

 their legitimate capacity. Although a new concrete dock is 

 greatly needed, funds for its construction could not be secured 

 and it was necessary to make temporary repairs to the old dock 

 so as to get through the season without serious accident. A new 

 floor was laid over more than half of the surface, which was in 

 a more or less dangerous condition. It seems probable at this 

 time that with this repair it will have to go through another 

 season also, as an appropriation for a new dock seems improb- 

 able in 1913. 



Gate Receipts. — The paid admissions at the gates during the 

 past year were considerably in excess of any previous year since 

 the opening of the Park. We are also able to record the largest 

 attendance on any pay-day in our history, nearly 1,800 visitors 

 having passed through the turnstiles on Thursday, August 22nd. 



Ridiyig Animals. — The total receipts from this privilege 

 were in excess of those of any previous year since 1906 at which 



