National Park Notes 



247 



the season on the Mariposa and Chinquapin roads south of the valley, 

 and on the Tioga road and Big Oak Flat road, as well as on the floor of 

 the valley itself. 



Furthermore, construction work on the new hotel at Glacier Point 

 was undertaken, and is now nearing completion. On the Fourth of July 

 ground was broken for the new hotel on the floor of the valley, and it 

 is now in the course of erection. This building will be ready for the 

 1918 tourist season. 



This outline of what the Desmond Park Service Company has already 

 accomplished and has under way should leave no doubt in the mind of 

 anyone that Yosemite National Park is well provided with excellent ac- 

 commodations for its visitors, and that more and finer accommodations 

 and highest-class hotel service are still to come. 



Camp Curry, Camp Ahwahnee, and Camp Lost Arrow, long established 

 in the Yosemite Valley, were operated this season under their manage- 

 ments of former years. 



CONGRESSIONAL APPROPRIATIONS 



Congress made a more liberal appropriation for Yosemite National Park 

 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1917, than for any previous period. 

 This appropriation made available $250,000 for protection and improve- 

 ment of the park. It was provided, however, that not more than $150,- 

 000 might be expended in the construction of a new hydroelectric power 

 plant, and not more than $75,000 in regrading the El Portal road. There 

 was nothing specifically appropriated for other roads in the park, but 

 they were improved with revenue derived from concessions granted, au- 

 tomobile license fees, and from miscellaneous sources. 



The new hydroelectric power plant was an absolute necessity, in view 

 of the increasing demands for power, light, and heat for the park con- 

 cessioners, and it was desirable that this demand be met by the Govern- 

 ment because the sale of electric current meant a substantial revenue for 

 the park. During the summer of 1913 the late Mr. Henry Floy, electri- 

 cal engineer, of New York, and sometime inspector of the Interior De- 

 partment, made a careful study of this hydroelectric power project, and 

 it was largely his able presentation of the results of his study of this 

 project before the Committee on Appropriations that gained for it favor- 

 able consideration. The new plant is now in the course of construction. 



In general, it may be said that power plants, water and sanitation sys- 

 tems, and telephone lines in national parks should be owned and con- 

 trolled by the Government. Their construction by the Government re- 

 lieves the concessioner from the necessity of investing in these highly 

 essential works and makes it possible for him to turn his capital into 

 the further development of his own enterprise. Furthermore, as public 

 works under the control of the National Park Service, they can always 

 be made to yield a revenue. 



The increase in motor travel was remarkable, and a comparison of the 

 number of machines entering the park this season with the number reg- 



