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Between meetings, the interests of the Club were in the hands of the Executive Committee. This committee made regular reports to the Board of Governors of all their acts. The Executive Committee for the past year has been as follows:

George E. Brock, chairman; Carl Dreyfus, secretary; W. T. A. Fitzgerald, Elwyn G. Preston, Bernard J. Rothwell.

Herewith are reported the more important acts of the Board of Governors for the year:

November 23, 1915, it was

Voted, that the rule of limit for non-resident members of 50 miles be amended to read 40 miles.

At this same meeting it was

Voted, that the sum of $50 shall be the limit of indebtedness to the Club in any one month by any member, except in such cases as shall be approved by the Treasurer, and that, before serving dinners amounting to $25 or over, the Superintendent should consult with the Comptroller's office.

February 15, 1916, it was

Voted, to refer to the Executive Committee, for report at a subsequent meeting of the Board of Governors, the matter of the cost of telephone service in the Club. As a result of this investigation, changes were made which netted a saving of about $2,500 a year to the Club.

At the same meeting it was

Voted, that it was the sense of the Board of Governors that ladies should not be admitted to the Clubhouse as guests.

May 16, 1916, four important votes were passed. It was
Voted, to redeem bonds of the Club to the value of $29,900.

the recommendation of the House Committee, it was

Upon

Voted, to change the price of the midday lunches to 60 cents, and of dinners to $1.00. At the same time, it was understood that there would be provided special lunches for 50 cents.

It was voted, to ask the House Committee to extend the thanks of the Board of Governors to the member who had anonymously provided funds for the furnishing of the main lounge.

It was voted as follows: All bills shall be rendered monthly, on or before the 20th of the month following that in which they are contracted. If not paid, the name of the member in arrears and the amount due from him shall be posted in a conspicuous place in the Clubhouse, there to remain until the same is paid or until his membership is declared forfeited. If such bill is not paid on or before the first day of the following month, no further credit shall be given to said member and he shall be debarred from the privileges of the Club until it is paid.

June to, 1916, it was

Voted, to extend a vote of thanks to Herbert Parker for his courtesy in giving the Club the benefit of his legal opinion; and it was

Voted, to incorporate this opinion in the records of the Board of Governors.

July 19, 1916, it was

Voted, to establish reciprocal relations with the Minneapolis Athletic Club.

At this same meeting it was

Voted, to ask the House Committee to revise the House Rules so that they will conform to the present needs and interests of the Club. September 19, 1916, it was

Voted, that the President should appoint a Forum Committee to establish a new activity in the Club.

At this same meeting it was

Voted, to extend a vote of thanks to Mr. Alexander Steinert, for his gift of a Victrola and records for use in the main lounge of the Clubhouse. At this same meeting it was

Voted, to approve the action of the House Committee in engaging Mr. Westerman as superintendent of the Clubhouse in place of Mr. Bacharach, resigned.

October 17, 1916, it was

Voted, to increase the resident membership of the Club 200. This makes it possible to have a Club membership of 7,000,-6,500 resident and 500 non-resident members.

The further report of the Board of Governors will be given by the chairmen of the different standing committees.

REPORT OF THE HOUSE COMMITTEE

The first year in our new Clubhouse has shown great improvement in the revenue and profit from rooms, bar, billiards, bowling and barber shop departments. In the Restaurant Department, it is hoped that we will about meet expenses. The showing of the Restaurant Department is due to the high cost of materials and the wages paid for labor (and the cost is constantly increasing), coupled with the fact that it is impossible. for us to get the added cost from the members. We have tried to keep prices down, realizing that raising prices is unpopular.

A number of improvements have been made in the Clubhouse this year, such as the waterproofing and rebuilding of the ice room, and also the rebuilding of the private shower-baths and two of the public baths, as well as the painting of the main dining-room on the eleventh floor.

These improvements were considered absolutely necessary, and there are many other improvements which should be made, but the House Committee did not feel warranted in making them until the Club was in a financial condition to justify the expenditure they would entail.

The main lounge has been renovated for the comfort and convenience of members, and further improvements are to be made immediately. The Club was enabled to do this through the generosity of our President, Mr. James J. Storrow, who donated to the House Committee the funds required to make these changes.

LOUIS E. KIRSTEIN, Chairman.

REPORT OF THE ENTERTAINMENT COMMITTEE

The Entertainment Committee respectfully submits the following report for the year ending November 1, 1916:

From November 1, 1915, to November 1, 1916, 55 entertainments were given. Thirty-nine of these were evening affairs and 16 were luncheons. Twenty-eight different men have presided at these functions. The effect of these entertainments has been most gratifying both from the standpoint of attendance and from that of the Club's finances.

The general appropriation for the season was the same as that of the previous season, namely, $3,500. This season we have given fifteen more entertainments than we gave last season, and our expenses have been proportionately greater; but, even so, we have come out with a credit balance of $8.69. As to the effect of the entertainments on the Club's finances, I should like to state that the average gross receipts of five days on which entertainments took place was $1,817.76. The average gross receipts of five days taken at random, but days on which there were no entertainments, was $900.15. This would seem to justify the continuance of our entertainment policy.

I wish to gratefully acknowledge the coöperation of the Treasurer and the Comptroller, who furnish us a detail account of our receipts and expenditures each week; the work of our Secretary, who has so ably carried out the details of the different functions and through whose efforts we have been able to secure the eminent men who have addressed us; and last, but not least, the earnest and harmonious way in which the individual members of the committee have worked for the entertainment and welfare of this Club.

GEORGE B. GLIDDEN, Chairman.

REPORT OF THE ART AND LIBRARY COMMITTEE

The Art and Library Committee begs to submit the following report for the year 1915-1916:

The appropriation to the Art and Library Committee for general

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The committee during the year has met six times. The subjects taken up for discussion by the committee, and passed upon, have included the cataloguing of the library, various propositions for the increase of shelving space and of enlarging the present room, the administration of the newspaper room, the care of various art exhibits throughout the year, and the general promotion of the comfort and convenience of members so far as the enjoyment of the books and pictures belonging to the Club is concerned.

We have received during the year, by way of donation, two hundred books and the following pictures: Bas-relief of President Wilson; photo taken from the roof of the Clubhouse; twenty-five photos of Colonial doorways; water-color by Miss Harriott Newhall; remarque proof of the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew; engraving of Benjamin Franklin at the Court of France; photograph of the 22d Battalion, Second Canadian Expeditionary Force.

In addition, through the donations of Rev. Rufus B. Tobey and others, many rare documents and curios have been received. The committee has undertaken to secure a collection of bookplates, and the request made in the BULLETIN has met with a large response, several hundred rare and unique bookplates having been accumulated, which are to be classified and arranged at the earliest opportunity.

The insistence of the committee in bringing to the attention of the Board of Governors the necessity of a librarian has justified itself in the improved conditions resulting from such librarian's appointment. The loss of books by accident or mistake has absolutely ceased. This was a serious matter before the appointment of the librarian, and bid fair largely to ruin our collection of books in sets. Through the librarian we have been able to rearrange and classify the library by shelves, to keep the room in immaculate condition and to improve the arrangement and management of the newspaper reading-room. The librarian has also very largely reduced the expense of hanging the picture exhibits through his personal efforts.

The committee has held a series of art exhibits by Boston artists throughout the year, and these have attracted attention from members and their friends, the galleries being open from 9 to 11.30 for inspection by ladies, as has been the custom since the opening of the Club in 1906.

While the committee is able to report the work of the year with very great satisfaction, it must place on record the fact that the appropriation which it receives is wholly inadequate to meet the proper requirements of our members, so far as new books are concerned. We have constant requests for current new publications, especially in fiction, history and travel, and our Club members have a right to expect the best-known of these new books shall appear in due course upon our shelves. The size of our appropriation, however, as hitherto granted, does not permit of any expenditures in this direction.

We cannot close this report without bringing to the attention of the Board of Governors the fact that the present library accommodations are wholly inadequate and unsatisfactory as the library of a large metropolitan men's club. The room is too small, it is badly ventilated, it is badly placed, and is even to-day overcrowded. Some time since, the room known as the Assembly Room was granted to the Library Committee, but now has been appropriated for other purposes. The pleasant, comfortable, homelike attractiveness of the Reading-Room in the old Clubhouse is a delightful memory with every member who belonged to the Club at that period of its life. We very much wish that some means could be taken to approximate the attractiveness of that refuge in the library at the present Clubhouse. Very probably this will not be thought necessary at the present time. We deem it proper, however,

to emphasize the fact that the present room is not what the library of a gentlemen's club should be, and to suggest that the time must come when a change will be made.

HUGH W. OGDEN, Chairman.

REPORT OF THE MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE

As chairman of the Membership Committee of the Boston City Club, I submit the following statement:

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In addition to the resignations before indicated, we have 137 which have not been formally accepted by the Board of Governors, and consequently have not been deducted from the membership.

During the past year, the Board of Governors have raised the limit of resident membership from 5,500 to 6,500, the total possible membership at the present time being 7,000; namely, 6,500 resident and 500 non-resident members.

JOHN WHITE, Jr., Chairman.

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