JOURNAL OF PROCEEDINGS OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. XIII 



Senator Henderson presented the report of the Executive Committee 

 and explained that it brought the financial matters of the Institution 

 up to the 30th of June last. 



On motion the report was adopted. 



Senator Henderson introduced the customary resolution relative to 

 income and expenditure, which was adopted as follows : 



Besolved, That the income of the Institution for the fiscal year ending June 30, 

 1899, be appropriated for the service of the Institution, to be expended by the Secre- 

 tary -with the advice of the Executive Committee, with full discretion on the part of 

 the Secretary as to items. 



Senator Henderson, on behalf of the Permanent Committee, stated 

 that he had made a report at the last annual meeting on the condition 

 of the affairs of the Hodgkins and Avery Bequests, and that there was 

 very little to add to it. 



In regard to the Hodgkins fund, Dr. M. L. Chambers, the Executor of 

 Mr. Hodgkins, had lately requested to be relieved of his trust in connec- 

 tion with the estate. He still held the proceeds of two mortgage notes 

 amounting to about $10,000, having received notice that he would be 

 held responsible upon a warranty given by Mr. Hodgkins to Edward 

 Smith, of the title of certain premises in New York City. The case was 

 then pending in the Court of Appeals, and was expected to come up 

 for trial soon. Everything was going along properly and the Chair- 

 man hoped that at the next annual meeting he would be in a position 

 to make a report of the entire disposition of the property. 



Concerning the Avery bequest, Senator Henderson said that Robert 

 Stanton Avery, who died at Washington on September 12, 1894, left the 

 bulk of his property to the Smithsonian Institution. His will was 

 probated February 2, 1895, the executrix had filed a first account, and 

 the estate was now nearly administered upon. 



The personal estate was invested in Northern Pacific Railroad bonds, 

 which had to be sold at a very great discount on their face value. The 

 Institution was now in possession of five pieces of real estate and four 

 houses, located in northeast and southeast Washington. One of these, 

 the home of the testator, had been occupied since his death by the 

 executrix, Miss Avery, at a small rent. This property had been valued 

 by experts employed by the Institution at $4,750. Miss Avery offered 

 for it $4,500, the same to be set off against an allowance of $4,500 for 

 her services to her late uncle during his illness. Although this offer 

 was $250 less than the expert valuation, all things considered it seemed 

 a wise course to accept it, and this had lately been done. 



One of the pieces of property stood in the name of the testator's wife, 

 but his will expressly stated that he furnished the money for its pur- 

 chase, and the property was his. The Institution filed a bill in equity 

 to enjoin the heirs at law of Mrs. Avery from asserting ownership. In 

 the Equity Court the prayer of the bill was granted. The Court of 

 Appeals reversed this decision, and the Institution carried the case to 



