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Report of the president
240
REPORT OF T H E
lJ. I,. l
I)RESII)ENT.
Prof. L. F. Rondinella called the attention of the members of the Institute to the fact that they were meeting on the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Franklin and referred to the wreath placed by the Poor Richard Club under the Sully portrait of Franklin to the right of the President's chair. He pointed out Franklin's claim to the appreciation of all Americans and especially of Philadelphians, and his importance in the history of our country was compared with that of W a s h i n g t o n and Lincoln. The speaker felt that Franklin's birthday should be celebrated in a more fitting way, and that the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society (both founded by F r a n k l i n ) would be glad to co6perate in arranging such a celebration. Upon Prof. Rondinella's motion, duly seconded and carried, it was--Resalz~ed, T h a t the President of the Institute be requested to appoint a Committee on Celebration of Franklin's Birthday to consist of three members of the Board of Managers. This committee to confer with similar committees that may be appointed by the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society upon invitation of the Institute's secretary and to arrange for a joint annual celebration, and reporting its recommendations to the Board of Managers for action. Adjourned. R. B. OWENS,
Secretary.
REPORT
OF
THE
PRESIDENT.
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 3o, zgx6.
To the Members of The Franklin Institute: Your Board of Managers instruct me to report to you upon the work of the Institute for the year ending September 3o, 1916, as follows: Your Board, in their report for the year ending September 3o, I9t5, made an appeal to the membership of the Institute for the completion of the so-called W a h l F u n d ; a fund necessary to be raised to meet the conditions laid down in the will of our late Secretary, the distinguished Dr. William H. Wahl, as precedent to the receipt by the Institute of his estate of approximately $9o,ooo. I t is gratifying to be able to report that this fund has been completed and that the estate of Dr. W a h l has been t r a n s f e r r e d to the Institute as, and under the conditions, desired by him. It is particularly gratifying to be able to report that all the money received for the W a h l Fund came from members of The Franklin Institute. T h e W a h l estate and subscriptions, with the Shippen bequest ( r e f e r r e d to in the Annual Report of last year, but received during the year covered by this report) increase the productive funds of the Institute approximately $3o0,ooo and practically double the Institute's endowment fund as it stood a year ago. The regular income of the Institute, for the first time in its history, so far as known to us, is sufficient for carrying on the work immediately in hand. It offers ilo margin applicable to desirable extensions in the scope of
Feb.,~917 .]
REPORT OF T I l E
PRESIDENT.
24I
our work. Such extensions will not be undertaken until the assured income of the Institute is sufficiently i n c r e a s e d to justify them. The Institute's new Building Fund has been increased during the year through t h e sale of the Sixteenth and Arch Streets properties by $55,ooo. The Institute owned these properties through the generosity of one of its members. They stood on the books of the Institute as valued at $82,oo0. The lloard of Viewers, apportioning the Parkway damages, awarded to the Institute for the properties (and for interest from the date of condemnation) $ 1 3 7 , 3 2 9 . 5 o , or approximately $55,ooo more than the properties cost the Institute. The Institute's Building Fund now amounts to about $225,ooo. T h e r e is now in the hands of the Board of City Trusts the so-called John Scott Fund, which must ultimately come to the Institute, and which is applicable t o the Building Fund, and amounts to approximately $4o,ooo. This makes the total amount now in sight, or ultimately available to the Institute, about $265,ooo. This is in addition to tile very valuable building site located at Nineteenth and Race Streets, on Logan Square. Your Board of Managers believe it will not be wise to proceed with the erection of a building until tile present Building Fund of $265,ooo has been about doubled, and the normal income of the Institute has been sufficiently increased to justify the undertaking of tile coincidentally added obligations. Your Board of Managers believe that the work the Institute is doing, and which is widely known as good and useful to the citizen, and to the City, State and Nation, will ultimately attract the funds necessary to the erection and endowment of a building better located and more nearly adequate to the accomplishment of the Institute's purposes. The figures that I have given above are set out in detail and with more exactness in the reports of the Finance Committee, Mr. Forstall, Chairman, and of the E n d o w m e n t Committee, M r . Howson, Chairman. At this writing the Institute owes no money other than current accounts. The " Bills Payable," now (January, I917) a m o n g our liabilities, are debts of one department of the Institute to another. Your Board, in this general report, cannot do more than briefly comment upon the reports of the several committees which will appear in the t917 edition of the Year Book. The report of the Library Committee, Mr. Morgan, Chairman, d e a r l y indicates the importance of a new building for the Institute. It emphasizes what must be known to every member of the Institute who visits our library, the utter inadequacy of onr stack and cases. We are compelled to put books wherever there is room for them in the building without reference to their protection or to the convenience of the user. T h e r e is no doubt that the library would be greatly more valuable to the citizens of Philadelphia if housed in rooms of adequate size and permitting a more intelligent arrangement. T h e report of the Committee on Museums, Mr. Outerbridge, Chairman, is a record of valuable additions of interesting models, etc., contributed to the Museum during the past year. The report of the Committee on Meetings, Mr. Rogers, Chairman, contains a list of the papers presented at the stated meetings of the Institute, with interesting comments on the May meeting, at which the Franklin Medal
242
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT.
[J. F. I.
was presented to Professor Theodore William Richards and to Dr. John J. Carty, and the Elliott Cresson Medal to Mr. Theodore N. Vail, President, for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Addresses were made by Dr. Carty and Mr. Vail. An address by Professor Richards, who was too ill at the time to attend the meeting, was read by Dr. Hoadley. Following the addresses the American Telephone and Telegraph Company gave an interesting demonstration of transcontinental and wireless telephony for the benefit of the Institute's members and guests. This was the first exhibition of the wireless telephony given in our City. The report of the Committee on Instruction, Mr. Paul, Chairman, gives convincing evidence of the continued good work of the School. The Committee on Instruction was compelled to accept the resignation of Professor William H. Thorne, for thirty years Director of the School. Mr. Simeon van T. Jester, Assistant Director of our School, and otherwise experienced in educational work, was elected Director as successor to Professor Thorne. The membership of the School during the year was about fifteen per cent. greater than during the previous year. The report of the Committee on Elections and Resignations of Members, Mr. Gibbs, Chairman, indicates that the Institute has not grown materially in numbers during the past year--the membership list having increased but thirty-one in the twelve months. The Institute, during the year, has not made any special effort to increase its membership. The report of the Committee on Publications, Mr. Levy, Chairman, is of the usual encouraging character. One matter in connection with the Committee's work during the year, to which your Board of Managers wish to call attention, is the mechanical make-up and appearance of the JOURNAL. The character of the paper has been improved, the margins have been increased, the JOURNALis nOW sewed instead of stapled as heretofore. These improvements add greatly to the comfort and pleasure of the user of the JOURNAL, as well as to the JOURNAL'Sgeneral appearance and permanent character. The report of the Committee on Sectional Arrangements, Mr. Day, Chairman, is practically a report of the meetings held during the last year. The attendance many times taxed the capacity of the hall. The meetings held under the auspices of this Committee last year were particularly successful and valuable. The report of the Committee on Science and the Arts, Mr. Bonine, Chairman, evidences the continuation of the good work of the Committee, and further, that the value and importance of the Committee's work is becoming more widely recognized year by year. One evidence of this is the number of applications for investigation received: in I914, nine; I915, sixteen; and xgx6, twenty-five. As time passes the Institute occupies a larger space in the horizon of Philadelphia's affairs and of its general activities. This is manifested in the greater extent to which the public journals take notice of its proceedings, and in the size and character of its audiences. It is a condition largely created by the eminence of the men who come to the Institute to tell their message in the domain of science and the arts. To these eminent men the Institute offers an immediate audience often as large as its audience room will aceom-
Feb., 1917.]
COMMITTEE O N
243
SCIENCE AND THE ARTS.
modate, and, through its JOURNAL, a multitude of readers whose habitat is conterminous with the world of scientific thought. Members of The Franklin Institute, we, your Board of Managers, believe ourselves justified in reporting to you that the work of your Institute continues to be good. But we can only satisfy our sense of duty, and justify our succession, to those far-sighted and devoted men--the founders of the Institute--by relating this actual "good" to an ideal "better " and devoting ourselves to its accomplishment. To this ambition we each year dedicate ourselves anew; and at this, our nlnety-fourth Annual Meeting, and on this, the two-hundred and eleventh birthday of our great exemplar, Benjamin Franklin, we again bespeak your encouragement and co6peration. Respectfully submitted, The Board of Managers,
WALTON CLARK, President. PHILADELPHIA, January I7, I917.
C O M M I T T E E ON SCIENCE A N D T H E ARTS. (Abstract of the Stated Meeting held Wednesday, f~anuary 3, I9r7.) HALL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, January 3, I917. MR. C. E. BONINE in the Chair. The following reports were presented for first reading: No. 2669.--The Telescribe. Advisory. No. 2678.--McKeen Motor Car. Advisory. The following reports were presented for final action: No. 2677.--" Midget" Marvel Flour Mill. Alfred Rishworth Tattersall recommended to the City of Philadelphia for the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium. No. 2682.--Hooven Automatic Typewriter Edward Longstreth Medal of Merit to the Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company. Thomas A. McCall and John H. Pillings recommended to the City of Philadelphia for John Scott Legacy Medals and Premiums. No. 2684.--The Schoop Metal Spraying Process. Max Ulrich Schoop recommended to the City of Philadelphia for the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium. R. B. OWENS,
Secretary.
REPORT OF T H E
lJ. I,. l
I)RESII)ENT.
Prof. L. F. Rondinella called the attention of the members of the Institute to the fact that they were meeting on the anniversary of the birth of Dr. Franklin and referred to the wreath placed by the Poor Richard Club under the Sully portrait of Franklin to the right of the President's chair. He pointed out Franklin's claim to the appreciation of all Americans and especially of Philadelphians, and his importance in the history of our country was compared with that of W a s h i n g t o n and Lincoln. The speaker felt that Franklin's birthday should be celebrated in a more fitting way, and that the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society (both founded by F r a n k l i n ) would be glad to co6perate in arranging such a celebration. Upon Prof. Rondinella's motion, duly seconded and carried, it was--Resalz~ed, T h a t the President of the Institute be requested to appoint a Committee on Celebration of Franklin's Birthday to consist of three members of the Board of Managers. This committee to confer with similar committees that may be appointed by the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society upon invitation of the Institute's secretary and to arrange for a joint annual celebration, and reporting its recommendations to the Board of Managers for action. Adjourned. R. B. OWENS,
Secretary.
REPORT
OF
THE
PRESIDENT.
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING SEPTEMBER 3o, zgx6.
To the Members of The Franklin Institute: Your Board of Managers instruct me to report to you upon the work of the Institute for the year ending September 3o, 1916, as follows: Your Board, in their report for the year ending September 3o, I9t5, made an appeal to the membership of the Institute for the completion of the so-called W a h l F u n d ; a fund necessary to be raised to meet the conditions laid down in the will of our late Secretary, the distinguished Dr. William H. Wahl, as precedent to the receipt by the Institute of his estate of approximately $9o,ooo. I t is gratifying to be able to report that this fund has been completed and that the estate of Dr. W a h l has been t r a n s f e r r e d to the Institute as, and under the conditions, desired by him. It is particularly gratifying to be able to report that all the money received for the W a h l Fund came from members of The Franklin Institute. T h e W a h l estate and subscriptions, with the Shippen bequest ( r e f e r r e d to in the Annual Report of last year, but received during the year covered by this report) increase the productive funds of the Institute approximately $3o0,ooo and practically double the Institute's endowment fund as it stood a year ago. The regular income of the Institute, for the first time in its history, so far as known to us, is sufficient for carrying on the work immediately in hand. It offers ilo margin applicable to desirable extensions in the scope of
Feb.,~917 .]
REPORT OF T I l E
PRESIDENT.
24I
our work. Such extensions will not be undertaken until the assured income of the Institute is sufficiently i n c r e a s e d to justify them. The Institute's new Building Fund has been increased during the year through t h e sale of the Sixteenth and Arch Streets properties by $55,ooo. The Institute owned these properties through the generosity of one of its members. They stood on the books of the Institute as valued at $82,oo0. The lloard of Viewers, apportioning the Parkway damages, awarded to the Institute for the properties (and for interest from the date of condemnation) $ 1 3 7 , 3 2 9 . 5 o , or approximately $55,ooo more than the properties cost the Institute. The Institute's Building Fund now amounts to about $225,ooo. T h e r e is now in the hands of the Board of City Trusts the so-called John Scott Fund, which must ultimately come to the Institute, and which is applicable t o the Building Fund, and amounts to approximately $4o,ooo. This makes the total amount now in sight, or ultimately available to the Institute, about $265,ooo. This is in addition to tile very valuable building site located at Nineteenth and Race Streets, on Logan Square. Your Board of Managers believe it will not be wise to proceed with the erection of a building until tile present Building Fund of $265,ooo has been about doubled, and the normal income of the Institute has been sufficiently increased to justify the undertaking of tile coincidentally added obligations. Your Board of Managers believe that the work the Institute is doing, and which is widely known as good and useful to the citizen, and to the City, State and Nation, will ultimately attract the funds necessary to the erection and endowment of a building better located and more nearly adequate to the accomplishment of the Institute's purposes. The figures that I have given above are set out in detail and with more exactness in the reports of the Finance Committee, Mr. Forstall, Chairman, and of the E n d o w m e n t Committee, M r . Howson, Chairman. At this writing the Institute owes no money other than current accounts. The " Bills Payable," now (January, I917) a m o n g our liabilities, are debts of one department of the Institute to another. Your Board, in this general report, cannot do more than briefly comment upon the reports of the several committees which will appear in the t917 edition of the Year Book. The report of the Library Committee, Mr. Morgan, Chairman, d e a r l y indicates the importance of a new building for the Institute. It emphasizes what must be known to every member of the Institute who visits our library, the utter inadequacy of onr stack and cases. We are compelled to put books wherever there is room for them in the building without reference to their protection or to the convenience of the user. T h e r e is no doubt that the library would be greatly more valuable to the citizens of Philadelphia if housed in rooms of adequate size and permitting a more intelligent arrangement. T h e report of the Committee on Museums, Mr. Outerbridge, Chairman, is a record of valuable additions of interesting models, etc., contributed to the Museum during the past year. The report of the Committee on Meetings, Mr. Rogers, Chairman, contains a list of the papers presented at the stated meetings of the Institute, with interesting comments on the May meeting, at which the Franklin Medal
242
REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT.
[J. F. I.
was presented to Professor Theodore William Richards and to Dr. John J. Carty, and the Elliott Cresson Medal to Mr. Theodore N. Vail, President, for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company. Addresses were made by Dr. Carty and Mr. Vail. An address by Professor Richards, who was too ill at the time to attend the meeting, was read by Dr. Hoadley. Following the addresses the American Telephone and Telegraph Company gave an interesting demonstration of transcontinental and wireless telephony for the benefit of the Institute's members and guests. This was the first exhibition of the wireless telephony given in our City. The report of the Committee on Instruction, Mr. Paul, Chairman, gives convincing evidence of the continued good work of the School. The Committee on Instruction was compelled to accept the resignation of Professor William H. Thorne, for thirty years Director of the School. Mr. Simeon van T. Jester, Assistant Director of our School, and otherwise experienced in educational work, was elected Director as successor to Professor Thorne. The membership of the School during the year was about fifteen per cent. greater than during the previous year. The report of the Committee on Elections and Resignations of Members, Mr. Gibbs, Chairman, indicates that the Institute has not grown materially in numbers during the past year--the membership list having increased but thirty-one in the twelve months. The Institute, during the year, has not made any special effort to increase its membership. The report of the Committee on Publications, Mr. Levy, Chairman, is of the usual encouraging character. One matter in connection with the Committee's work during the year, to which your Board of Managers wish to call attention, is the mechanical make-up and appearance of the JOURNAL. The character of the paper has been improved, the margins have been increased, the JOURNALis nOW sewed instead of stapled as heretofore. These improvements add greatly to the comfort and pleasure of the user of the JOURNAL, as well as to the JOURNAL'Sgeneral appearance and permanent character. The report of the Committee on Sectional Arrangements, Mr. Day, Chairman, is practically a report of the meetings held during the last year. The attendance many times taxed the capacity of the hall. The meetings held under the auspices of this Committee last year were particularly successful and valuable. The report of the Committee on Science and the Arts, Mr. Bonine, Chairman, evidences the continuation of the good work of the Committee, and further, that the value and importance of the Committee's work is becoming more widely recognized year by year. One evidence of this is the number of applications for investigation received: in I914, nine; I915, sixteen; and xgx6, twenty-five. As time passes the Institute occupies a larger space in the horizon of Philadelphia's affairs and of its general activities. This is manifested in the greater extent to which the public journals take notice of its proceedings, and in the size and character of its audiences. It is a condition largely created by the eminence of the men who come to the Institute to tell their message in the domain of science and the arts. To these eminent men the Institute offers an immediate audience often as large as its audience room will aceom-
Feb., 1917.]
COMMITTEE O N
243
SCIENCE AND THE ARTS.
modate, and, through its JOURNAL, a multitude of readers whose habitat is conterminous with the world of scientific thought. Members of The Franklin Institute, we, your Board of Managers, believe ourselves justified in reporting to you that the work of your Institute continues to be good. But we can only satisfy our sense of duty, and justify our succession, to those far-sighted and devoted men--the founders of the Institute--by relating this actual "good" to an ideal "better " and devoting ourselves to its accomplishment. To this ambition we each year dedicate ourselves anew; and at this, our nlnety-fourth Annual Meeting, and on this, the two-hundred and eleventh birthday of our great exemplar, Benjamin Franklin, we again bespeak your encouragement and co6peration. Respectfully submitted, The Board of Managers,
WALTON CLARK, President. PHILADELPHIA, January I7, I917.
C O M M I T T E E ON SCIENCE A N D T H E ARTS. (Abstract of the Stated Meeting held Wednesday, f~anuary 3, I9r7.) HALL OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE, PHILADELPHIA, January 3, I917. MR. C. E. BONINE in the Chair. The following reports were presented for first reading: No. 2669.--The Telescribe. Advisory. No. 2678.--McKeen Motor Car. Advisory. The following reports were presented for final action: No. 2677.--" Midget" Marvel Flour Mill. Alfred Rishworth Tattersall recommended to the City of Philadelphia for the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium. No. 2682.--Hooven Automatic Typewriter Edward Longstreth Medal of Merit to the Hooven, Owens, Rentschler Company. Thomas A. McCall and John H. Pillings recommended to the City of Philadelphia for John Scott Legacy Medals and Premiums. No. 2684.--The Schoop Metal Spraying Process. Max Ulrich Schoop recommended to the City of Philadelphia for the John Scott Legacy Medal and Premium. R. B. OWENS,
Secretary.