the scene were thrown into the lake in their college pranks, but without injury.

On May 26, the third annual meeting of the William Pryor Letchworth Association was held in the park. About 50 members were present. (See page 92.)

Dr. Horace Fletcher, a member of the Belgian Relief Commission, visited the park July 14 and 15.

On the 23rd, twenty-two members of the City Council of Chicago took dinner and expressed themselves as charmed with the park.

On the 25th, more than 200 persons attended the annual meeting of the medical societies of Wyoming, Livingston, Genesee and Allegany Counties, held for the second time at the park. Dinner was served in a large tent erected on the lawn. Dr. Meltzer, Director of the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, delivered and address on "Resuscitation by Means of Artificial Respiration," and by sacrificing a cat demonstrated the working of the apparatus used in producing artificial respiration. An interesting illustration of an operation on the hip joint was given by means of moving pictures.

On August 3, 1916, Governor Whitman, accompanied by Assemblyman (now Senator) John Knight, Mr. Matthews of Wyoming and other prominent men of Western New York visited the park. Mr. Humphrey received the party. The Governor expressed himself as desirous of returning to the Park and making a longer stay.

The Livingston County Historical Society held its summer meeting there on August 22. There were upwards of one hundred people present. Assemblyman Knight delivered the address and Mr. Forman, President of the Rochester Historical Society, spoke briefly.

On the 23d Chairman IIumphrey, accompanied by Mr. Mason C. Hutchins, Clerk of the Senate Finance Committee, and Mr. Leon P. Demars, Clerk of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, spent a portion of the day at the Park.

Letchworth Memorial Association

The William Pryor Letchworth Memorial Association held its third annual meeting at the park on May 26, 1916, the ninetythird anniversary of Dr. Letchworth's birth. The day was glorious. About fifty members were present. A business meeting was held in Dr. Letchworth's study at eleven o'clock in the morning. The officers of 1915 were re-elected. Owing to its inability to find a suitable boulder upon which to place a tablet in memory of Dr. Letchworth, the Tablet Committee was also continued for another

year.

The meeting called at 2:30 o'clock in the afternoon was held under a large maple tree planted on the grounds in 1863 by Joseph Bubendorf who was present and told of the condition of the tree and the circumstances of its planting. After a welcome on behalf of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, the President of the Memorial Association introduced Dr. Rush Rhees, President of Rochester University, who made the principal address. Brief tributes were paid to Dr. Letchworth's memory by Dr. Mary T. Green of Castile, Miss Elizabeth P. Gordon of Boston, Hon. John Knight of Arcade, Judge Doty of Geneseo and Mr. Edward F. Walsh of Buffalo. Assemblyman Adler of Rochester and Mr. Elmer Adler of the Rochester Historical Society also spoke briefly.

Judge Doty of Geneseo supplemented his remarks with the reading of an account of the burning of the Erie Railway bridge at Portage in 1875 written by Dr. Letchworth. Mr. Edward F. Walsh of Buffalo added interest to the occasion by stating in his remarks that it was he to whom Dr. Letchworth dictated the description of the fire as they stood on the edge of the Glen Iris lawn and watched the conflagration at four o'clock in the morning. He said he was Dr. Letchworth's stenographer at that time and that Dr. Letchworth had called him hastily and told him to come down to the lawn, bringing pencil and pad. Dr. Letchworth directed him to kneel on one knee and he took the dictation on a pad resting on the other knee. He was directed to saddle a horse and go to Castile and wire the description to the Buffalo papers. (See next heading.)

A further tribute was paid to Dr. Letchworth's memory on this anniversary of his birth by placing on his grave in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Buffalo, in the name of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, a wreath of beautiful white flowers, the Cornus florida, gathered in Letchworth Park.

Early in October, 1916, a granite boulder weighing approximately eight or ten tons, was moved from the hillside above the Glen Iris plateau to Inspiration Point, and the tablet to be placed upon it, bearing an inscription commemorative of Dr. Letchworth's gift to the State, is in process of preparation. We expect that it will be ready for dedication on the 26th of May, 1917, the ninetyfourth anniversary of Dr. Letchworth's birth.

Erie Railway Bridge Fire in 1875

The Erie Railway bridge fire, alluded to in the foregoing pages, occurred on May 5, 1875. (See our Annual Report for 1915, plate 66.) Following is Dr. Letchworth's account of the destruction of the viaduct:

"I was aroused from sleep at ten minutes to four o'clock and in a few minutes was standing upon the lawn at Glen Iris, from which point every portion of the bridge was visible, as well as the Upper Falls, the river, and the Middle Falls. The spectacle presented at precisely four o'clock was fearfully grand. Every timber in the bridge seemed then to be ignited, and an open net-work of fire was stretched across the upper end of the valley. Above the bridge and touching its upper line, a black curtain hung down from the sky, its lower edge belted with a murky fringe of fire. The hoarse growl of the flames and crackling of the timbers sounded like a hurricane approaching through the forest. At this time the Upper Falls seemed to be dancing in the silver light. The water in the river was glistening with the bright glare thrown upon it, and the whole valley of Glen Iris was illuminated in tragic splendor. Now and then could be seen an outstanding brace dislodged and sailing downward These huge brands would fall on the river below with a great splash.

"At fifteen minutes past four the superstructure of the west end of the bridge sank downward, and the depression rolled throughout it length to the east end like the sinking of an ocean wave. The whole upper structure, including the heavy T rails, went down with a crashing sound so terrible as it came to our ears on the wind that it surpassed the prolonged roar of the falling avalanches

As

one may hear at times in spring upon the declivities of the Wengern Alps. Timber, rails, bolts, abrading and dislodging burning coals as they fell, crashed downward into indistinguishable ruin. the stupendous mass fell a dark red cloud intermingled with crimson flame usurped the place of the brilliant lacework of fire, and a darkened shadow lay over the glen. The silver light reflected from the Upper Falls was gone, and the foaming current changed its appearance to that of rosy wool. Out of the huge cloud that then filled the end of the glen there arose a vast and beautiful canopy of seeming gold-dust. This was lifted upward and extended from hill to hill on the right and left, shutting out every glimpse of the sky. The breeze wafted the seeming sparkling dust nearer to us, and as it came it grew brighter and the particles larger and still larger until the whole heavens in every quarter seemed filled with the falling stars. These coals, many as large as hen's eggs, fell in the pine grove at the Indian Council House at the farther end of the glen. They seemed innumerable and filled. the sky with inconceivable splendor. Burning fragments of the bridge fell all about the upper end of the valley, covering the hillsides apparently with steadily burning signals. At this time a strange weird light illuminated the river and brightened in an unearthly glare all of the surroundings. Although the main open structure of the bridge fell at fifteen minutes past four o'clock, lighter portions of the framework still remained. Through the lurid smoke glimpses of fragmentary sections of the bridge might be seen. Forked crimson flames shot up along the ground line of the gulf and river bed. At the left still brighter flames illuminated, like a vast beacon, the summit of the cliff on the Livingston County side. Blazing timbers still continued to fall uninterruptedly, and the rocks becoming heated, exploded in loud and almost continuous bursts of sound. These might be compared to a rattling fire of musketry, except that they were much louder, sometimes resembling the discharge of artillery. The falling and burning timbers lodged between the piers and the water settling back on this burning mass produced strange sounds. At twenty minutes past four the explosions of the heated rocks blended into an almost continuous roar. At half past four o'clock the shower of golden. sparks passing over the glen, as well as the smoke from the burning timbers, had perceptibly diminished. A mass of burning

timber on the canal bank threw an intense glare on the Genesee River below. A bit of blue sky was discernible on the western side, and the wind partially lifting the curtain of smoke revealed a blazing tower dazzling with fire. This was the central pier of the bridge, the top still wreathed in crimson smoke. A few minutes later it is again obscured; a little later still the curtain of smoke

is once more lifted, the tower staggers, another roar and crash, now commingled with the explosion of bursting rocks, and the tower sinks down into the burning mass among the stone piers, and Portage bridge is a thing of the past.

Ten minutes later might be seen the bare rocky cliffs upon the west side. The whole outline of the valley stood in a black line against the smoke and flame. Nature in this fearful struggle had asserted herself and this vaunted achievement of man had been melted into ashes. Daylight revealed an inky basin at the base of the Upper Falls which had been discolored by the coals. The Fall itself was amber tinted, and the river below flowed dark from discoloration of the burning masses that it had swept down. The chasm since the fire seems broader and deeper than before, and, had we never seen the bridge, what now remains would appear an incomprehensible ruin.

Library and Museum

Miss Caroline Bishop, Librarian and Curator of the Museum, reports that the contributions to the Letchworth Park Library make it very desirable that more shelf space for books be provided in the Museum building. Some of the charitable institutions continue to send their annual reports. The reports of the New York State Board of Charities, dating from 1867, are complete to 1916. Those of the Craig Colony and some other institutions are also complete. In 1915 we succeeded in obtaining a copy of Dr. James Hall's report on the Geology of the Fourth District of New York, 1843, for which there had been inquiry. Among contributions in 1916 were Dr. C. Stuart Gager's valuable work entitled "Fundamentals of Botany," presented by the author, and two volumes, namely, "Fiftieth Anniversary Celebration New York Veterans, Gettysburg, 1913," and " Major General James S. Wadsworth at Gettysburg and Other Fields," kindly presented to the library by Mr. Herbert L. Bridgman.

As time goes on, there are more and more requests for information from the Letchworth Park Library. Some persons come to the Park for the puurpose of examining books; others make written applications for information. Speakers before historical societies, members of literary clubs, students about to graduate from high schools, and others, make frequent application for historical facts about the park or some subject connected therewith,