Ebpoet op Board of General Managers. 149 



Commissioner Perry, on the fifth floor of the Capitol, and in the 

 eastern tower. 



Closing "Work of the Board. 



TJpon the re-occupancy by the Board of General Managers of their 

 offices in the Capitol at Albany, early in December, three important 

 duties lay before them for consideration and action ; the adjustment 

 and settlement of all claims against the New York commission, the 

 final disposition of the exhibits, and the preparation of a report to the 

 Governor and Legislature. The office force was reduced to the mini- 

 mum number consistent with the performance of this work. 



The settlement of outstanding claims and contracts required the 

 most careful attention. The former had accumulated in vast numbers 

 during the summer and fall, and the confusion and great press of busi- 

 ness consequent upon the crowded exposition period, rendered a care- 

 ful investigation of their merits impossible at that time. This investi- 

 gation was now made with great care, and no pains spared to separate 

 the valid from the invalid. As a result of the adjustments, compro- 

 mises and rejections, many thousands of dollars have been saved the 

 State. A satisfactory settlement of all claims was made, except in the 

 case of Siebrecht & Wadley, florists of New York city, who have 

 chosen to submit their bill to the adjudication of the Court of Claims, 

 rather than to accept the proposition of the board, made after a careful 

 study into the merits of the case. 



Transfer of Exhibits to the State Museum. 



The final disposition of the New York State exhibits in the depart- 

 ments of agriculture, mines and mining, transportation, liberal arts, 

 ethnology and forestry was a matter of much deliberation by the Board 

 of General Managers. Many suggestions were received, but all of them 

 led to a division of the exhibits. In the opinion of the board this was 

 to be avoided for many reasons, chief among which were, that the 

 intrinsic value of the exhibit would decrease many more fold than the 

 number of divisions ; that the warm interest and regard felt by the 

 people of the State for the New York exhibit as a whole, which had 

 gained the admiration of people from every clime, and won more 

 awards than the exhibits of any other State and most nations, would 

 be lost by its dispersion ; and that there should be given the thousands 

 of New Yorkers, who were unable to see it at Chicago, an opportunity 

 to inspect it as it appeared at the great exposition. Obviously the only 



