18 WORCESTER COUNTr HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1801. 



restaurant that could be reached within fractions of a mile : it 

 was certain as fate that the compulsion to walk those frac- 

 tions, in ball-room dress and satin slippers, would never be 

 credited to us among the elements of advantage. Dump a foot 

 of snow, swiftly becoming slush, and who would not prefer the 

 Hall that oifers every facility under its own roof to that bare 

 shelter from which you are absolutely compelled to go, in quest 

 of ordinary comfort and actual supply ! What we had not — 

 would not : others were eager to furnish 



You needed superior facilities for illumination, whether for 

 the moment or throughout the long winter nights. The time 

 has gone by for requiring the janitor to climb a ladder, in order 

 to kindle each separate burner, or at the close of a night's 

 siege, — to put them all out ! For parties of pleasure, the light 

 must be agreeable as well as ample. For our purposes the 

 electric light did not commend itself. The light that shines 

 upon fair women and brave men should add lustre to loveliness, 

 not detract from it; imparting an intermittent flicker or a spec- 

 tral gleam. Had your Committee been in doubt the action of 

 the Mechanics Association would have decided their judgment. 

 At worst, a few florets of Chrysanthemum may possibly be 

 marred, if you accept the prejudice of those who chiefly serve 

 this Society by abuse of it ; but the faces of our girls will con- 

 tinue to outrival peaches and cream. 



The space taken from the Library will not be missed, for its 

 peculiar uses ; and in lieu of it you have facilities that must be 

 found of essential convenience upon all public occasions. The 

 ability to supply Committee-Rooms, at the requirement of Con- 

 ventions to which our Hall is so accessible, will be a most wel- 

 come improvement. 



Heretofore, — every time that our main hall was wanted for a 

 dance, it became necessary to hoist each set of chairs by sheer 

 force, hand over hand, to the lumber-room above. The crock- 

 cry re(]uired for exhibitions must be lugged each week, up and 

 down stairs. Those troul)les, at least, are remedied ; and the 

 elevator that obviates all such inconvenience and toil, equally 

 aflbrds a handy means of transporting viands to our Supper- 



