234 



Sierra Club Bulletin 



be run in insulated coverings over the snow-fields and through 

 iron pipe secured to the rocks. 



Bureau of Associated Mountaineering Clubs of North America 

 During the summer of 1915, I visited the mountaineering clubs and geo- 

 graphical societies of the country and suggested the formation of an as- 

 sociation for the furtherance of common aims, and for the establishment 

 of headquarters in New York where mountaineering information might 

 be collected and made available. The plan was outlined as follows : 



It was proposed to form an association of clubs and societies, each of 

 which shall co-operate through its secretary and transact its business by 

 correspondence with the general secretary. Each club shall send its 

 printed matter, which will be added to the collection of mountaineering 

 literature established in the New York Public Library. An annual bul- 

 letin of information on the membership, officers, and activities of the 

 leading organizations shall be issued. The secretary of each club will 

 notify the general secretary of the movements of local members who 

 have interesting slides, and who can address the members of the asso- 

 ciation at such times as they may be in different parts of the country. 



One of the most important features of a club's activities is that of its 

 library. Members shall be encouraged to read what is being done in the 

 mountaineering world, for education in this direction is as essential to 

 a true appreciation and enjoyment of mountaineering as is the work in 

 the field. Copies of many of the new books in mountaineering will be 

 sent to each club for review in its annual publication and bulletins, there- 

 by materially assisting in the growth of its library. 



It is believed that the existence of this association will have a valu- 

 able influence in many directions, and, occupying the field, its activities 

 may expand as experience and occasion make desirable. 



Meeting with a favorable response to the above ideas, I sent out a 

 preliminary letter and received unofficial replies in approval of the plan. 

 At the annual meeting of the American Alpine Club, held at the New 

 York Public Library on January 8, 1916, I presented these letters and 

 asked that the Councilors of the club be instructed to consider the plan 

 and to send out an official letter to each club inviting it to become a 

 member of the proposed association. 



After due consideration, the Councilors of the American Alpine Club 

 sent such a letter in March to the leading clubs, asking them to join in a 

 Bureau of Associated Mountaineering Clubs of North America. Secur- 

 ing a majority of acceptances, they declared the plan in operation on 

 May 2, 1916. 



/ The first official act of the Bureau was the publication in May of a 



bulletin containing statistics of the membership, officers, and activities of 

 the leading mountaineering clubs and geographical societies of the con- 

 tinent. The present membership of the Bureau comprises the following 



