other persons, men and women. The Board of Managers consists of 19 members including the ex-officio members just named. The meeting-house contains an historical museum and is the headquarters of the Old South Work in History. Mr. Richard W. Hale, Treasurer of the Association, informs us that the name "Directors of the Old South Work" under which the management has for many years been known is simply a trade name inherited for historical reasons. The association publishes the Old South Leaflets of which 207 have been issued on as many different subjects relating to American history. It also gives summer lectures for school children in American history; also a Washington's Birthday oration and two other winter meetings. On Washington's Birthday prizes for historical essays by high school students are awarded. The association also conducts a series of "forum" meetings in the Old South each winter. In every way, the managers seek to make the building such a center of inspiration as a Sanctuary of Freedom" should be. As to financial support, Mr. Hale informs us that the original charter of the Old South Association granted it a little land adjacent to the meeting-house and the right to use that and the basement for business purposes. This has been so thriftily managed that the association has a real estate income of about $8,000. To this is added the receipts from admission fees, and the income from $20,000 received from the estate of the late Mrs. Mary Hemenway. The revenue derived from these sources pays the cost of maintaining the meeting-house and carrying on the patriotic and educational work of the association. PUBLIC RESERVATIONS IN MASSACHUSETTS We offer our congratulations to the Trustees of Public Reservations, a Massachusetts corporation, which in 1916 passed its Silver Anniversary, having been incorporated in 1891. In this period of a quarter of a century, it has had but two Presidents, the Hon. George F. Hoar from 1891 to 1904, and Dr. Charles W. Eliot from 1905 to 1916. This body is Trustee of eight reservations, namely: In 1915, the Trustees declined to accept a large tract of woodland in Cohasset which was tendered by the executors of the will of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Wheelwright and Mr. Henry A. Wheelwright, because the trees were infected with the gypsy moth and the fund left for the care of the property was not sufficient to meet the probable expense of controlling the pest and saving any considerable portion of this once attractive wood. REPRODUCTION OF JOHN HANCOCK HOUSE An interesting example of official interest in historical matters was afforded by Governor McCall of Massachusetts in his annual address to the Legislature in January, 1917, when he recommended that as the State had acquired the site upon which stood the historic John Hancock mansion, the house and grounds be reproduced for use as the Governor's residence. He said that the destruction of the original house "was lamented almost as a piece of vandalism." A faithful copy of the old house can be made, for the architect's plans exist; and the landscape gardeners reproduce the grounds if they so desire. SCENIC SURGERY AT FRANCONIA NOTCH The operation of what might be called, "scenic surgery " by which the famous profile rock known as "the Old Man of the Mountains" on Mount Cannon, at Franconia Notch, N. H., was preserved last year was an unusual, if not unique performance, and aroused wide-spread interest. (See plate 62.) The profile, presenting the rude outline of the human face, composed of five layers of granite, measuring 40 feet and 5 inches from the top of the forehead to the bottom of the chin. One of these ledges forms the chin; another the upper lip; a third the nose; and the fourth and fifth the forehead. Owing to the action of the elements, the top layer had been gradually loosened and moved over five feet from its original Not more than 40 per cent of its under surface rested on the ledge beneath, while 60 per cent projected into space. So evenly balanced was the mass that it was estimated that one or two men with crowbars could have dislodged the 30-ton mass, the fall of which would utterly have ruined the profile. It is said that some 39 years ago, Col. C. II. Greenleaf, President of the Profile and Flume hotels, had apprehensions concerning the security of the ledge and had it examined by workmen, but decided that nothing could be done, owing to the great bulk of the rock. In 1906, the Rev. Guy Roberts, then of Monroe, now of Whitefield, N. H., became interested in the preservation of the rock, and after ten years of agitation realized his hope. In September, 1915, he guided Mr. Edward H. Geddes, a practical stone mason and manager of the Hardwick Granite Quarries of Quincy, Mass., to the rock, and together they devised the plan of anchoring the slipping ledge back in place by means of "Lewis blocks" and turnbuckles. During the following year, Mr. Geddes had special steel blocks and turnbuckles made, and in the first week of October, 1916. he successfully put them in place. Three holes were drilled in the back end of the forehead stone and three into the front edge of the solid ledge. Then the heavy steel blocks were inserted and keyed in, and connected with threaded turnbuckles 31⁄2 inches in diameter, and when the latter were turned, the connection between the slipping stone and the solid rock was made taut, and the former thus made secure. The critical nature of Mr. Geddes' work, which he accomplished in eight days, is indicated by the fact that measurements taken in September, 1915, and June, 1916, showed that in the interval the forehead stone had moved 114 inches; and it was estimated that if it had moved four inches more, it would have toppled over and fallen to the valley 1200 feet below. He said that the rock often trembled while he was working on it. "The The This successful operation of mending the Old Man's head will give much satisfaction to those who appreciate these singular freaks of nature. Such natural phenomena possess a peculiar charm which cannot be equalled by anything artificial. Old Man of the Mountains" is an example of natural rock carving which is the basis of much folklore. If one travels in almost any part of the world where rocks are exposed to erosion by the elements, he will see them carved into fantastic shapes resembling men, birds and other forms in a most extraordinary way. imagination of primitive people has been stimulated by such natural forms to the invention of fairy tales and legends such as Grimm's and Hans Christian Andersen's, and like many of the traditions of our own American Indians. This primitive tendency to weave legends around the forms of nature persists even among civilized and cultured people, and is a thing not to be disparaged but rather to be encouraged for the pleasure which it gives. Among examples of curious rock-forms which may be cited are the rock carvings in the vicinity of Acoma, N. M., where the writer has seen stone shapes wonderfully like giant men and birds; and between Acoma and Laguna is the so-called Locomotive Rock, which presents the unmistakable profile of a modern locomotive engine. Visitors to the Yellowstone National Park are familiar with the White Elephant, one of the curious formations at Mammoth Hot Springs; while those who have been to Mont St. Michel in France may have noted "The Elephant" with uplifted trunk so realistically simulated by nature. At Bluff City, Utah, two great columnar rocks called "The Twins " look like rude human forms with overgrown heads, and at the Garden of the Gods at Colorado City, Col., the imagination has ample material for play. Instances of this sort might be multiplied indefinitely. The profile rock at Franconia Notch has more than one rival. In the gorge of the Natural Bridge of Virginia is a profile which is popularly likened to that of George Washington, while in Lehigh University Park, in Bethlehem, Pa., is one of the best rock profiles of Washington that we have seen depicted. (See plate 61.) But the Old Man of the Mountains, or the Great Stone Face, at Franconia Notch had a fame all of its own. It was seen by thousands of visitors every year and it was talked about by everybody who saw it and many who did not see it. Local tradition says that it was worshipped by the Indians as an impersonation of the Great Spirit; and for white men it had been immortalized by Hawthorne in his story of "The Great Stone Face." Its preservation is an occasion for general congratulation and an expression of indebtedness to Mr. Roberts for his good work in the matter. VERMONT STATE FORESTS The movement for the establishment of State forests in Vermont has made good progress during the past year. That state definitely committed itself to the policy of acquiring forest lands in 1912, when it inaugurated the practice of making annual appropriations for this purpose. It now has 12 State forests aggregating 12,000 acres situated in Underhill, Stowe, Duxbury, Huntington, Plainfield, Mendon, Sharon, Arlington, West Rutland, Cavendish, Townshend and Worcester. The purchase of 5,000 acres in Smuggler's Notch and on Mt. Mansfield by the State has given Vermont the second largest State forest in New England, New Hampshire leading with 6,000 acres in the Crawford Notch. MONUMENT TO MOLLY PITCHER AT CARLISLE, PA. In former Reports, and particularly in our Report for 1915 at pages 140-144, we have referred to the confusion between the identities of Margaret Corbin, the heroine of the battle of Fort Washington on Manhattan Island, November 16, 1776, and Molly Pitcher, the heroine of the battle of Monmouth, N. J., June 28, 1778. A monument to the memory of the latter was unveiled in the old English graveyard at Carlisle, Penn., June 28, 1916, with notable ceremonies, including a parade of 4000 persons. The |