Annual Address of the President of the Association 1 



By Howard R. Bayne 



The year that closes at this meeting has been one of exceptional 

 interest and encouragement. 



In May, 1907, our membership numbered 146. We have now 

 on our roll 308 members, of which 298 are active members, two 

 are life members, two corresponding, two honorary, and four are 

 patrons. Dr. Charles Conrad Abbott, of Trenton, N. J., author 

 and naturalist, was elected corresponding member. The four 

 patrons elected are Messrs. Arthur Hollick, James Chapin, 

 Charles Louis Pollard, and Ignaz Matausch. This honor was 

 conferred upon each of these gentlemen in recognition of the 

 valuable donations presented by them to the museum and library 

 amounting in the aggregate, upon a very moderate valuation, to 

 over the sum of $1,000. The accessions during the year have 

 approximated about 6,000 to the museum and 2,000 to the 

 library. 



On July 8, 1907, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment 

 granted the application of our association for an appropriation 

 of $4,000 to cover cost of exhibition cases and museum supplies. 

 This sum became available on September 17, 1907. Plans and 

 specifications had been prepared by Messrs. Carrere and Hastings, 

 architects for the City of New York, and bids for construction 

 were advertised for. The lowest bidder was the Siegel Cooper 

 Co., to whom the contract was awarded at $1,798.48. The cases 

 were delivered in April, 1908. 



The museum and library were transferred in July, 1907, from 

 the room at the Staten Island Academy, where they had been 

 stored for a number of years, to the room in the Borough Hall, 

 which had been assigned to the use of the Association for the 



1 Presented May 16, 1908. 



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