X 
REPORT OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 
tlie interior of tlie Armory building then and how occupied as a hatching 
station of the Commission. The appropriation was made immediately 
available, to be expended under the direction of the Architect of the 
Capitol. Having advised with the Commissioner as to the work to be 
undertaken, Mr. Clark immediately began operations, and at the close 
of the fiscal year all was complete and ready for occupation. 
A portion of the building was by the act referred to reserved for the 
use of the Smithsonian Institution, and the accommodations afforded 
the Commission are not adequate to its necessities; it is therefore de- 
sirable that the entire building should be assigned to the use of the 
Fish Commission as soon as practicable. 
OFFICE ADMINISTRATION. 
The large number of stations of the Commission, its vessels, and the 
great increase in the distribution of food-fishes over the country, have 
involved an enormous mass of correspondence and other details of 
administration. In these duties the Commissioner has had the faithful 
and efficient services of Mr. J. J. O’Connor, chief clerk, and Mr. Her- 
bert A. Gill, disbursing agent, in charge of the office of accounts. 
The appropriations for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1889, aggre- 
gated $257,580, as follows : 
Compensation of Commissioner $5, 000 
Propagation of food-fishes 135, 000 
Rent of offices ..." 2, 500 
Distribution of food-fishes 31, 180 
Maintenance of Vessels 53, 900 
Inquiry respecting food-fishes 20, 000 
Statistical inquiry 10,000 
In accordance with law a detailed report of expenditures under these 
Several items of appropriation was made to Congress on December 9, 
>89. 
CLASSIFICATION OF THE COMMISSION’S WORK. 
The classification and assignment of the work of the Commission to 
the several divisions which had been established or projected by my 
immediate predecessor in office, Dr. G. Brown Goode, has proved of 
•'g^eat advantage. While maintaining independent responsibility in the 
heads of divisions it has made practicable a coordination and concur- 
rence of activity in reference to the problems relating to the fisheries, 
and has prevented any unnecessary duplication of work. 
The following brief account of the current work in the divisions will 
illustrate very clearly the extent, importance, and diversity of the oper- 
ations of the Fish Commission and its value to the country at large. 
