REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 81 



questioned. The amount required is comparatively small and the 

 purchase of the land should not long be delayed, as the bordering 

 road is soon to be opened, and the ownership of the narrow strip by 

 the Government and its incorporation within the park is of very 

 great interest to the public. 



Restaurant. — One of the most urgent needs of the park is a suitable 

 restaurant. The present refreshment stand is entirely inadequate and 

 is in a very bad state of repair. On any of the days of reasonably 

 large attendance the public can be only poorly served and the facili- 

 ties of the stand are overtaxed. It is believed that a suitable building, 

 on the present site, 50 by 100 feet in size, and of two floors, one open- 

 ing onto the lower slope to the west, would meet the requirements. 

 Such a building, properly equipped and under first-class manage- 

 ment, would be greatly appreciated by the constantly increasing num- 

 ber of visitors to the park. 



Grading hanks and filling ravines. — The work of further cutting 

 away the irregular hill in the center of the western part of the park 

 and the filling in of a near-by ravine, commenced three years ago but 

 discontinued for lack of funds, should be completed as soon as prac- 

 ticable. Level s'paces for yards and inclosures are very much needed, 

 and the work as left makes an unsightly and unfinished looking 

 place in one of the most conspicuous points in the park, bordering on 

 the main road. Completion of the work will level nearly 70,000 

 square feet of ground which is now of little use, make available a 

 further 25,000 square feet of ground at the ravine, and eliminate a 

 dangerous curve in the automobile road. 



Purchase of animals. — A sufficient sum for the purchase and trans- 

 portation of animals has never been available and is greatly to be 

 desired, so that the park may take advantage from time to time of 

 opportunities to obtain rare and conspicuous animals not before 

 exhibited. 



Aviary building. — The need of a new house for the exhibition of 

 birds continues to become more urgent from year to year. The old 

 building is rapidly becoming unfit for use and the public aisles are 

 entirely too narrow for the crowds of people who now visit the park. 



The cost of maintenance during the past year has reached a sum 

 greater than ever before. Owing to the increased cost of almost every 

 item, the amount required for food for animals was $33,149, and 

 repairs and new improvements are similarly expensive. It is urgent, 

 therefore, if there is to be any expenditure for improvements or for 

 necessary repairs that an increase be made in the general appropria- 

 tion for the expenses of the park. 



Respectfully submitted, 



N. HoLLiSTER, Superintendent. 



Dr. Charles D. Walcott, 



Secretary Smithsonian Institution., 

 145986-19—6 Washington, D. C. 



