THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY 



457 



its Magazine with the best things that 

 travel, research, and exploration could 

 bring, and it found the people eager for 

 the knowledge those pages brought them. 

 From that day to this there has been 

 growth, growth, growth — growth that is 

 expressed in the Society's new home, 

 growth that is disclosed in the remark- 

 able contents of the Magazine, growth 

 that is emphasized by the fact that today 

 the National Geographic Society is the 

 largest and most popular scientific society 

 in the world, and its Magazine the most 

 widely circulated non-fiction magazine on 

 earth. 



The Society has no endowments ; its en- 

 dowment is the remarkable interest that 

 the Magazine has stimulated throughout 

 the world and the wonderful support it 

 commands. With no other dividends to 

 pay than the dividends of information it 

 carries to its readers, the income derived 

 from the Magazine can be put back into 

 it and into the explorations and research 

 work of the Society. 



HUBBARD MEMORIAL, HALL, 



Until 1902 the National Geographic 

 Society was without a home of its own, 

 but that year the heirs of the Hon. Gardi- 

 ner Greene Hubbard built Hubbard Me- 

 morial Hall as a home for the Society 

 and as a memorial for its first President. 

 It looked as if they had discounted the 

 future liberally and had anticipated the 

 day of the greatest growth to which the 

 Society could hope to attain. They little 

 reckoned that within a single decade the 

 rising tide of geographic interest would 

 sweep into the Society a membership such 

 as no other scientific society in the world 

 has enjoyed ; that before the ear-marks 

 of newness were off the walls, the So- 

 ciety's management would have to be 

 working and planning for more space. 



Long before ten short years had passed 

 Hubbard Memorial Hall was full and 

 overflowing, and two branch offices had 

 to be established in rented quarters. Soon 

 the Board of Managers saw that it was 

 only a question of two or three years 

 until its own quarters would demand en- 

 largement, and made provision for that 

 day by acquiring the land adjoining the 

 Hubbard Memorial Hall, a fine plat of 



ground 90 by 100 feet; they also began 

 gradually to accumulate a building fund 

 out of the receipts of the Society's busi- 

 ness. 



The work on the new building, which 

 was designed by Architect Arthur B. 

 Heaton, was begun on March 27, 191 3 ; 

 and, owing to the energy and faithfulness 

 of the contractors, the George A. Fuller 

 Construction Co., was completed in less 

 than seven months. The results of that 

 work are graphically told by the pictures 

 and by the following letter, written by 

 Mr. E. Z. Blagg, vice-president and gen- 

 eral manager of the Globe- Wernicke Com- 

 pany, who was in charge of the erection 

 of the new plant of that company, the 

 largest woodworking plant in the world. 

 He says : 



A REAL "MODEL PLANT" 



"I wish to extend my heartiest con- 

 gratulations to the National Geographic 

 Society, of which I am proud to be a 

 member, on the completion of its new 

 home. Before the erection of our new 

 building in Cincinnati I made many trips 

 to so-called 'model' plants throughout the 

 country in search of ideas, and I want to 

 say that I have yet to see a large office 

 force more admirably housed than that of 

 the Society. 



"I was particularly impressed with the 

 foresight of those who planned the build- 

 ing, in the matter of utilizing the natural 

 light and providing for the last word in 

 hygienic surroundings. There is not a 

 dark corner in the building, and the ven- 

 tilation system is perfect. 



"That the present and future require- 

 ments of the Society were kept clearly 

 in mind while the building was being 

 planned is shown by the wonderful fa- 

 cilities throughout for the expeditious 

 handling of the Society's business, par- 

 ticularly that pertaining to the issuance 

 of the National Geographic Magazine. 

 Your equipment for taking care of in- 

 coming mail is the most complete I have 

 ever seen, and nothing has been left un- 

 done to expedite the work of each de- 

 partment. 



"One feature of your system in par- 

 ticular impressed itself upon my mind as 

 a model for all business concerns — I 



