ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1491 



Late in the year 19 16^ it was reliably re- 

 ported that the Mayor, the Board of" Estimate 

 and the Board of Aldermen proposed to in- 

 crease the salaries of all city employees re- 

 ceiving less than $1,200 per year to the extent 

 of ten per cent. Without a moment's loss of 

 time we entered an urgent claim that in that 

 wholesale increase the employees of the Zoolog- 

 ical Park should particij^ate. The needs and 

 the claims of our 151 men and women, who came 

 within the twelve hundred dollar limit, were set 

 forth in the strongest terms to the Mayor, the 

 Comjjtroller and others. 



Finally, it came to pass that the Board of Es- 

 timate and the Board of Aldermen really did in- 

 crease by ten per cent the pay of 18,4'4<8 city 

 employees ; but our own force was penalized 

 by being left out in the cold. 



That such a force should be so treated was 

 not onl)^ disheartening, but positively demoral- 

 izing. The situation as it stood meant for the 

 families of scores of our men actual privations 

 b}^ deprivation of such prime necessaries of life 

 as food, clothing and medicine. 



In this emergency, an appeal was made to the 

 Board of Managers of the Zoological Society, 

 for a subscription fund of $11,600 with which 

 to give to each Park employee, during the year 

 1917 only, a monthly gift or bonus in cash 

 amounting to ten per cent, on all salaries under 

 $1,300 per year. It was stipulated that if done, 

 this action would carry no promise for any fu- 

 ture year, for the simple reason that the Society 

 could not be expected to repeat this effort. 



The response of the Board of Managers was 

 prompt and generous. At the annual meeting of 

 the Board, this matter was given first consider- 

 ation, as being the most important business. 

 The sum required was subscribed by the Man- 

 agers named in the following list: 



Emerson McMillin (20%) $2,280 



Edward S. Harkness 2,000 



Cleveland H. Dodge 1,500 



Mortimer L. SchifT (10%) 1,140 



Wm. Pierson Hamilton 1,000 



E. C. Converse 1,000 



Andrew Carnegie 1,000 



Ogden Mills 1,000 



Grant B. Schlev 500 



profoundly grateful, first because of the relief 

 to the families of the men, and also because it 

 saved the morale of the force from a crushing 

 blow. 



There are reasons for the hope that for the 

 future the city will grant to our men an in- 

 crease similar to that bestowed upon the fortu- 

 nate 18,448 last December. 



$11,420 

 The first payment from this fund, for the 

 month of January, was made on the pay-day of 

 February 2 ; and never was a systematic gift 

 toward the cost of living more gratefully and 

 thankfully received. In addition to the direct' 

 beneficiaries, the staff officers of the Park are 



DEFENSE MEASURES AT THE 

 ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 



A WAR with a great nation always is a leap 

 in the dark. No one can say to what it 

 will lead, or the total extent of its effects. 



Realizing that the Zoological Park now must 

 be placed on a footing of self defense against 

 all internal disorders, and also realizing the 

 duty of every citizen to do his bit, the Zoological 

 Park force has made a beginning in taking up 

 the general burden of civilization. 



The first step was to erect two tall flag poles, 

 one at the north end of Baird Court fifty-five 

 feet high, another on Rockingstone Hill forty- 

 five feet high. On Saturday, March 31, at 4 

 o'clock, on a fine afternoon, the flag on Baird 

 Court was raised, with an appropriate cere- 

 mony. The occasion was improved by the Boy 

 Scouts of the Bronx for a general mobilization, 

 and the Boys turned out in battalion formation, 

 900 strong, with their fife, drum and bugle 

 corps, company colors and a Red Cross field 

 unit of five tents. 



The Band of the Catholic Protectory, at Van 

 Nest, rendered valuable co-operation through- 

 out, and played the patriotic airs very accept- 

 ably. 



A patriotic and inspiring address was de- 

 livered by Hon. Douglas Mathewson, Borough 

 President, which was followed by an address 

 from Dr. Hornaday. 



Having been asked by the Bronx Branch of 

 the American Red Cross to aid the work of that 

 organization, the Park officers, with the ap- 

 proval of the Zoological Society and the Mayor, 

 erected a raised floor in the north half of the 

 Lion House, ninety feet long and twelve feet 

 wide, to be occupied as a "Zoological Park 

 Working Base." Sixteen sewing machines were 

 installed, and a suitable outfit of work tables. 



The officers of the Park formed a Zoological 

 Park Defense Committee, and at once set out 

 to raise funds by subscription, to finance all the 

 Red Cross work done in the Pai-k. In view of 

 the great quantity of materials required, es- 

 pecially in woolen cloth, this is no trifling mat- 



