PARK AND CEMETERY. 
167 
is withdrawn. Of course the snake is 
first straightened out, and held so during 
the operation, and after three or four of 
these feedings, with two or three-month 
intervals, the snake gets back its appetite, 
and to quite some extent, too, for one of 
our pythons has gotten away with a re- 
past of sixty-six pounds of young, freshly 
killed pig at one meal, but then their din- 
ner bell rings only about once in two 
weeks. Then there are cobras, rattlers, 
anacondas, king snakes, copper heads, ra- 
cers, and many more. Other noteworthy 
inhabitants of this building are the Gala- 
pagos tortoises, the oldest of which, weigh- 
ing 225 pounds, has reached a ripe old age 
of 350 years. Alligators, crocodiles, gavials, 
lizzards and turtles are also found here. 
Just beyond the Reptile House lies the 
rock-pool in which “Flip," our Atlantic 
walrus, is domiciled. This animal, for his 
size, is our most expensive boarder, de- 
vouring as he does fourteen pounds of 
shelled clams and fourteen pounds of 
skinned and boned fish daily. 
The great series of Bear Dens is just 
below here. They are like all other cages, 
spacious and comfortable. Each enclosure 
is provided with rock shelter dens and a 
bathing pool, and the way our bears are 
eating, growing and, in the exuberance of 
their spirits, often tearing and fighting, is 
the best character certificate this installa- 
tion could have. Of bears we have a fine 
lot, American and foreign, among which 
are the very rare spectacled bear of the 
Andes, shown here for the first time in 
America, the gigantic Peninsula and Ka- 
diak bears, the grizzly and the Polar bear. 
Of course we have not journeyed to all 
of our exhibits, but we have walked about 
five miles, and it may not now be amiss 
to consider what all this means from a 
practical point of view. That this park is 
not only a place of amusement, but also 
a great educational institution cannot be 
denied, for any day, classes with text- 
books and note pads, drawing classes, and 
painters and sculptors, can be seen at work, 
and our excellent photographic animal por- 
traits have found their way into the pub- 
lications of nearly all the world. 
Fifteen millions of visitors have entered 
the gates since the opening day, and the 
annual number is increasing every year, 
there being last year 1,708,455. The Zoo- 
logical Society has spent on the park, of 
its own funds to date, about $600,000, be- 
sides all the profits derived from the sale 
of its publications, restaurants, refreshmen 
stands, etc., which under the agreement 
must be expended for animals, and the 
City of New York has supplied to the Zoo- 
logical Park at least $2,000,000. 
The Park contains eight miles of walks, 
11 miles of fences, 36 buildings and 13 
groups of dens, ranges and corralls, and 
has an extent of 264 acres. The regular 
maintenance employes number 150, and the 
cost of maintenance last year was $186,000. 
Of course the amount of food consumed 
is enormous, and a few of the items may 
be interesting. 
FOOD SUPPLIES FOR 1912. 
Timothy, clover, alfalfa hay — tons. 450 
Grains — Corn, oats, wheat and bar- 
ley — tons 202 
Beef — pounds 130,500 
Fish- — pounds 44,000 
Eggs 49,261 
Bread — loaves 76,000 
Fruits — aggregate cost $1,851.10 
Seeds for birds — aggregate cost... 1,333.25 
Peanuts — pounds 1,800 
Condensed milk — cans 4,864 
Potatoes — bushels 950 
Carrots — tons 6^2 
Beets — tons 1 
Cabbage — heads 5,600 
Celery — bunches 1,400 
Lettuce — heads 3,668 
Lettuce leaves — barrels 60 
Mangels — tons 25 
Tomatoes — bushels 20 
LIVE STOCK CONSUMED. 
Mice, rats, pigeons, frogs, toads, 
chickens, guinea pigs, rabbits, etc. 19,446 
Horses 40 
Pigs 37 
Straw for bedding purposes — tons. 27 
The total cost of food for animals for 
1912 was $36,932.20. 
If the question be asked, “Is it worth 
while to go to all this trouble and ex- 
pense?” it assuredly would be answered 
in. the affirmative. We who pass among the 
delighted visitors, day by day, and who 
have heard the comments of the representa- 
tives of the International Zoological Con- 
gress, some of whom had seen every worth- 
while institution of this kind in the world, 
and the comments of park officials from 
other cities and countries, too, do not con- 
sider that our years of effort, study, and 
labor have been wasted. 
ACCOUNTING FOR CEMETERIES 
The methods in which the accounts' of 
a cemetery are kept depends to some ex- 
tent on the constitution of the Associa- 
tion owning the cemetery, on the laws of 
the state in which it is situated and prob- 
ably on other local conditions, but the 
general principles which apply to the keep- 
ing of cemetery books must be the same 
in all cases. 
The. accounts should be kept in such a 
way that at the end of each fiscal period 
the Association is able to present correct 
statements of its operations during the 
period and of its financial position at the 
close. 
I propose to deal first with the state- 
ment of the financial position, second, with 
the statement of operations, and finally, 
with the books and other records which 
should be used as a means to the prepara- 
tion of them. 
FINANCIAL POSITION. 
The statement of the financial position, 
commonly called the Balance Sheet, sets 
out the assets' and liabilities of the Asso- 
Adress Before Buffalo Convention of Ceme- 
tery Superintendents, by A. W. Robert. 
ciation as at the date on which the bal- 
ance is struck. The excess of assets over 
liabilities represents the combined capital 
and surplus of the Association. 
Dealing first with the assets, these 
should be divided into two main groups — - 
fixed assets and floating assets. The fixed 
assets consist of lands, improvements, 
equipment and investments ; the floating 
assets consist of inventories of materials 
and supplies used in the operation of the 
cemetery, cash, and accounts receivable. 
Lands. The original purchase price of 
land acquired for cemetery purposes 
should be charged to this account. The 
area acquired should be divided into two 
parts — the salable area and the area re- 
quired for roads and other reserved 
spaces. The total salable area should be 
applied to the total purchase price and the 
cost of improving for cemetery purposes 
and the cost per square foot ascertained. 
Then when a sale of a lot is made the 
cost thereof will be ascertained by multi- 
plying the number of square feet in the 
lot by the unit cost. This amount should 
be credited to the lands account and 
charged in the operating account, as I 
shall hereafter explain. If the lands ac- 
count be kept in this way, the result will 
be that when the last lot in the cemetery 
is sold and the cost credited to the lands 
account, this asset will disappear. The 
Association will still own the roadways 
and other reserved spaces, but as these 
have no commercial value, they should not 
be represented in the Balance Sheet. 
Improvements. Under this caption we 
carry such items as Greenhouses, Chapel, 
Vault, Crematorium, Fences, and Water 
System. A separate account should be 
carried for each item of that kind. The 
expenditure on original construction and 
on extensions should be charged to the 
asset account, but not expenditure on re- 
pairs. Provision should be made for 
writing off the capital value of these 
assets during the period of active opera- 
tion. This can best be done by estimating 
the probable period of active operation of 
