Изображения страниц
PDF
EPUB

At a special meeting of the Board of Trustees held on the 28th of October, 1922, the Spiegel Grove Building Committee of which General Edward Orton was chairman, was discontinued and the duties of this Committee transferred to the regular Spiegel Grove Committee and the undersigned elected chairman thereof.

The Spiegel Grove Committee is pleased to report that the Annex to the Hayes Memorial Library and Museum Building, which was placed under contract by the Society, in June 1922, has been completed (excepting as to lighting, fixtures, book stacks and sundry furnishings) and is being occupied by the Society at the present time.

The building fund of fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00) provided by Colonel Hayes was wholly available by or before October 1, 1922.

Although far from completed, the building itself was dedicated with imposing ceremonies on October 4, 1922, during the exercises incident to the Centenary celebration in honor of Rutherford B. Hayes.

For the records we submit the following list of contracts executed, viz.:

Carl F. Steinle

Arthur W. Smith

Building

Plumbing and Heating..

Moor-Pero Electric Co. .Electric Wiring

Total

$43,901.17

5,400.00

450.00

$49,751.17

There has been delay on the part of these contractors in executing some of the minor requirements of the contract and at this writing your committee has not received for payment from Architect Bradford any of the final estimates.

The retained percentages on this account are as follows, to-wit:

[blocks in formation]

It will be noted the above contracts do not include lighting fixtures for which there is an increasing urgent need as the Autumn days grow shorter. The estimated cost of these fixtures fully installed is $500.00.

There is a very considerable amount of money ($20,821.26 on July 1, 1923), in the Hayes Memorial Library Book Fund,

available at once for historical books, but no book stacks have been provided for them. Your committee respectfully recommends the immediate purchase of stacks sufficient for say 5,000 volumes at this time as the existing book fund will provide for approximately that number of volumes.

The Book Committee recently appointed by the President comprises the following members, to-wit:

Messrs. Siebert (Chairman), Thompson, Hayes, Meeker, Johnson, Packard, Sherman and Miss Lucy Keeler.

The rearranging and cataloguing of the books of the existing library (approximately 8,000 volumes) is progressing satisfactorily under the supervision of the attendant, Mrs. Dorothy E. Wright.

The regular librarian has not as yet been appointed, as it has proved difficult to find one of experience who would be satisfied with a budget appropriation of $1500.00.

The property generally has been well maintained under the supervision of our efficient caretaker, Mr. Alfred Gowing, but for whose watchfulness last winter, while burning soft coal, when anthracite was impossible to obtain, the residence might have been destroyed by fire:

We regret to report some damage to books, pictures and valuable manuscripts in the library building, during the period from early October, 1922, to early January, 1923, when the building was closed to the public, owing to the non-completion of the heating system and the failure to secure a supply of anthracite coal.

The crowding of four heating furnaces (two for the resi dence and two for the Memorial building) into the basement of the residence created an extreme fire hazard, which attracted the attention of the insurance people and the State authorities and brought forth considerable criticism. Thanks, however, to the friendly attitude of the State Emergency Board, there will be constructed immediately under the supervision of the State Architect Hirsch, a new heating plant separate, apart and quite independent of both residence and Memorial building. For this new plant we are advised there is available at the present time the sum of $8,500.

In this connection we believe it is proper to call attention to the urgent need of more insurance on the contents of the residence. Under a policy expiring July 18, 1927, we are now carrying but $3,000 on contents and in the judgment of your Committee this is nowhere near enough and should be increased immediately to say $15,000. We request action by the Society in conformity with the above recommendation.

The local telephone company in the absence of the then Chairman of the Spiegel Grove Committee hurriedly tried to install a telephone line with the posts along the Buckland Ave. or southern frontage of the State Park. An application for injunction was verified by the Chairman of the Spiegel Grove Committee and the work itself was stopped. Immediately thereafter the President of the Society verified an amended petition drawn under directions of the Attorney General and when the case was finally decided by the Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, the decision was in our favor and the poles were ordered removed within sixty days. Subsequently the Telephone Co. appealed the case to the Circuit Court where it is set for hearing at the October (1923) term. It is of the greatest importance that the case be followed up to secure the fruits of the legal victory gained in the Court of Common Pleas.

The Memorial Building has been kept open Sunday afternoons during the recent summer months through the courtesy of the members of the Colonel Croghan Chapter, D. A. R. The Sunday attendance of visitors has been as follows:

Maximum
Minimum

Average

158
56

III

The week day attendance from August 15th to September 7th inclusive has been as follows:

Maximum
Minimum
Average

90

8

50

We desire to bring definitely before the Society a request that hereafter all appropriations for such items as registrar, assistant librarian, cataloguer, index clerk, janitors, binders, cabinet-maker, watchman, office, stationery, water, light, heat, power, express, drayage, traveling expenses, communications, contingencies, printing, etc., be made available where they will do the most good and serve the best interest of the Society as a whole, regardless of whether the call comes from Columbus, Fremont or elsewhere. We respectfully maintain that such a course of procedure would not in the least violate either the letter, the spirit, or the intent of the Appropriation Act.

On motion of Dr. W. O. Thompson the report was accepted and the recommendations made therein referred to the Board of Trustees.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON FORT MEIGS,
FORT MIAMI,

FORT AMANDA AND THE BATTLEFIELD OF
FALLEN TIMBERS

Mr. W. J. Sherman, Chairman of the Committee on Fort Meigs, Fort Miami, Fort Amanda and the Battlefield of Fallen Timbers, read the report as follows:

Fort Meigs:

This property has been splendidly improved and well cared for by the Ft. Meigs Commission, during the past year.

The burial place of more than three score of the Pennsylvania volunteers known as the "Pittsburgh Blues" has been suitable monumented by the Pennsylvania Historical Society. The formal dedication by the several historical and patriotic societies interested, will take place at an early date.

Fort Miami:

There have been no developments of interest during the past year. The property is still in private possession and should be acquired by the Ohio State Archæological and Historical Society, because of its historical importance and because of the well preserved earthworks, marking the site of the old Fort.

Fort Amanda:

The cemetery and grounds are being maintained in good. condition. Minor improvements have been made to the roads, walks and fences and a valuable addition to the lands heretofore owned by the Society has been acquired since our last report.

Battlefield of Fallen Timbers:

Your Committee appealed to the last session of the Legislature for an appropriation of $40,000 for an equestrian statue of Mad Anthony Wayne, but was successful only to the extent of securing $2,000 for improving the grounds by grading, planting and the building of roads, all of which will be undertaken in the near future.

On motion the report was accepted and ordered made a part of the record of the meeting.

[graphic][subsumed][ocr errors][subsumed]

The Cemetery, at Ft. Amanda where rest the remains of Peter Sunderland who fought at Bunker Hill. In the background is a monument erected by the State of Ohio on the site of Ft. Amanda, a stockade-hospital of the war of 1812 on the Portage between the Great Miami and the Auglaize-Maumee Rivers.

[graphic]
« ПредыдущаяПродолжить »