TWENTY-FOURTH ANNUAL REPORT 43 



a severe blizzard in New York Harbor. Dr. Townsend actually 

 caught and shipped alive to within a few miles of the Aquarium, 

 forty-two live gars; many of them of large size. If they 

 could have been landed on the night of their arrival the entire 

 collection would have been saved. The ship, however, grounded 

 on a mud flat, the temperature dropped below freezing, the steam 

 heat pipes broke and the entire collection was frozen to death 

 before morning. The collection was the gift of Mr. Henry D. 

 Whiton of New York. 



The attempt to secure another collection of these gars, one 

 of the most interesting fishes in North America, will be renewed 

 during the coming spring, as soon as weather conditions are 

 more favorable. 



The collecting boat also will be ready for work in the early 

 spring and will be employed to maintain a full supply of exhi- 

 bition fishes, and also to reduce the cost of maintenance by bring- 

 ing in a continuous supply of sea food for feeding purposes. 



ALTERATIONS AT THE AQUARIUM. 



The condition of the Aquarium building became absolutely 

 intolerable during the year and it was evident that little or no 

 help could reasonably be expected from the city, so the Society 

 voted $40,000 to move the engines and boilers to a point outside 

 of the present structure and on the edge of the sea wall. This 

 not only will place the engines above the reach of the tidal 

 waters, but will give an adequate bunker space for coal storage. 



The shortage of space for the storage of coal on several 

 occasions during blizzards has placed the Aquarium dangerously 

 near to disaster, and only the foresight of the Director and the 

 energy of his staflf have prevented very severe losses in the 

 collections. With adequate bunkers and with the engines prop- 

 erly housed, the space freed within the Aquarium building can 

 be devoted to new exhibition tanks and thereby greatly add to 

 the attractiveness of the institution. 



It is hoped that the city in considering the erection of a war 

 memorial in the form of a water-gate can be brought to the 

 realization of the possibilities of an enlarged Aquarium in con- 

 nection with such a memorial sea-gate. 



