8 
of preserving the Garden situated upon a portion of the 
ground under their care, determined to ask from the City 
Councils a sum of $10,000 for purposes of maintenance, in 
addition to the $5000 which has for several years been ap- 
propriated for betterments of that portion of the Park. 
This sum was promptly granted by Councils, the Zoolog- 
ical Society placing in the hands of the Board of Education 
fifty thousand tickets for free admission of pupils of the 
public schools to the Garden. In the opinion of your 
Board this liberal and broad-minded action has alone pre- 
vented the closing of the Garden and the dispersal of the 
collection ; and it is difficult to express in ordinary lan- 
guage the gratification which must be felt by every mem- 
ber of the Society that after a struggle of twenty years to 
build up and establish the Garden, their labors have finally 
received the measure of approbation accorded to them 
during the past year by the universal sentiment of the 
people of the city and by their representatives in the City 
Councils. 
This appropriation did not become available until after 
the close of the fiscal year, and the immediate pressure of 
decreased receipts was partly met by measures of economy 
so stringent as to be permissible only as temporary ex- 
pedients, and the deficit was thereby reduced to $3127.04. 
The expenditure of the $5000 appropriated for permanent 
improvements is stated in the report of the Superintendent. 
The thanks of the Board are due to all friends of the 
Society, both private and public, who have come to its aid 
in substantial manner during this critical period. 
By order of the Board, 
HENRY T. COATES, 
Secretary. 
