Peterson, Instructor in History, Evander Childs High School. Mr. Peterson's studies have made him thoroughly familiar with the manuscript volumes which it is proposed to publish.. My inquiries indicate that he is admirably fitted by training and scholarship to be entrusted with this important and difficult task under the general direction of the Publication Committee which will have the advice and counsel of the Honorary Committee."

The gentlemen accepting the Mayor's invitation and constituting the Honorary Committee and Publication Committee are as follows:

HONORARY COMMITTEE

John B. Pine, L. H. D., lawyer, editor, Clerk of Columbia University, ex-member of the Art Commission of the City of New York, etc., Chairman.

Frank B. Bigelow, Librarian of the New York Society Library. Hon. Henry H. Curran, City Magistrate.

Hon. James P. Davenport, Assistant Special Deputy Register of New York County.

Edgar Dawson, Ph.D., Professor of History and Political Science at Hunter College.

Robert W. de Forest, LL.D., lawyer, President of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, President of the Art Commission of the City of New York, etc.

R. T. II. Halsey, banker, author, and specialist in old New York history.

Robert II. Kelby, Librarian of the New York Historical Society.

Hon. Francis P. Kenney, Chairman of the Finance Committee of the Board of Aldermen.

Hon. George McAneny, formerly President of the Board of Aldermen.

I. N. Phelps Stokes, architect, author of "The Iconography of Manhattan Island," specialist in old New York history.

Hon. William G. Willcox, President of the Board of Education.

PUBLICATION COMMITTEE

Hon. Victor Hugo Paltsits, Keeper of Manuscripts of the New York Public Library, former State Historian, Chairman.

Marshall S. Brown, Professor of History and Political Science at New York University.

Edward Hagaman Hall, L. H. D., Secretary of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. .

Hon. Lamar Hardy, Corporation Counsel of the City of New York.

Austin Baxter Keep, Ph.D., Professor of History at the College of the City of New York.

Herbert L. Osgood, Ph. D., Professor of History at Columbia University.

Hon. William A. Prendergast, Comptroller of the City of New York.

Paul C. Wilson, Assistant Secretary to the Mayor.

SECRETARY

C. C. Williamson, Ph.D., Librarian of the Municipal Reference Library.

EDITOR

A. Everett Peterson, Ph.D., head of the Department of History of the Evander Childs High School.

After the enactment of the original authorization of $15,000 for the beginning of the work, the Committee prepared careful estimates of the cost of printing all of the unpublished manuscript volumes, 68 in number, and calculated that the whole work could be done in the Committee had $45,000 at its command. Appreciating the importance of the work in hand, the municipal authorities voted to transfer to this work $30,000 of unused balances in other funds, thus, with the original authorization, completing the needed $45,000. The Board of Aldermen and Board of Estimate also extended beyond December 31, 1916, the time within which the obligations for the work were required to be contracted.

The Committee has therefore contracted, through the Supervisor of the City Record, with the Martin B. Brown Printing and Binding Co., for the printing of the minutes. The books will be printed on Library Record paper, containing 100 per cent rag stock yielding not over 2 per cent ash. It is estimated that the 68 volumes of manuscript will make about 21 volumes of about 750 pages each. Probably an additional volume will be required for

the index. Three hundred and fifty sets will be printed, and the Committee has deemed it to be in the public interest to make them available for those who need them by selling to subscribers at $3.00 a volume, which is less than cost.

The method pursued in preparing the printer's "copy" of these minutes is interesting. As before stated, two manuscript volumes have already been transcribed and printed by the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society. The printed pages of these volumes have again been compared carefully with the original text and placed in the printer's hands. Fortunately, the chirography of the suceeding 66 manuscript volumes does not present so many difficulties as the old handwriting. The pages of these volumes, therefore, are being reproduced by the photostat process, which supplies a fac-simile copy of the original writing in white on a black background. These sheets are carefully read by specially trained readers and any obscurities in the original are corrected with white ink on the margin. If the readers have any doubt as to the spelling of any word, it is queried in the margin. The sheets are then examined by the Editor, and finally revised by him. The "copy" now being perfectly legible, it is placed in the hands of the compositor. After the printer has read the proof, the final step to ensure accuracy is taken by the Editor, who reads the proof again, comparing it this time with the original manuscript volume.

It is believed that these volumes will represent the highest development of the science of accurately reproducing old manuscript records in type.

TRINITY PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL CHURCH

New Real Estate Policy

A material change in the fiscal policy of any long standing organization having large real estate holdings in any community is sure to have its effect on the landmark history of that community, and the announcement made in the New York papers on January 10, 1917, that old Trinity Protestant Episcopal Church of that city had made a change in the business management of its real estate therefore possesses more than a commercial interest. Trinity parish is one of the wealthiest church organizations in the United

States, the title to some of its real estate running back over two hundred years.

On January 9, 1917, the Vestry elected Mr. William II. Wheelock, Vice President of the real estate firm of Douglas Robinson, Charles S. Brown Company, as manager of the real estate of the parish, and Mr. H. H. Cammann resigned the position of Controller which he had held for nearly 20 years. This change, it is reported, means a complete reorganization of the system by which the real estate properties have been managed for many years, and the installation of more modern methods. Changes in the plans of handling the real estate, it is said, have been made necessary in large part by the developments connected with the extension of Seventh Avenue to Varick Street and the construction of the Seventh Avenue subway, a large portion of the Trinity properties being in that part of Greenwich Village through which the cut

passes.

In this part of New York it is stated Trinity parish owns 360 houses, and its holdings are assessed at $15,000,000. Most of these houses are two or three story brick front buildings housing a family on each floor, and they include many of those old-fashioned structures with Colonial doorways and dormer windows, which are among the quaint attractions of the district west and southwest of Washington Square. When the property was first taken over by Trinity it was of comparatively little value, but with the growth of the city it has become a possession of enormous worth.

SAINT JOHN'S CHAPEL

Fate Undertermined

The foregoing mention of the change of policy of Trinity parish naturally renews the apprehensions heretofore felt concerning the preservation of old St. John's Church in Varick street, New York City, a chapel of Trinity Church. For the history of this interesting landmark and other references to the subject, the reader may consult previous Annual Reports of this Society as follows: 1909, pp. 72-79; 1912, pp. 146-147; 1913, pp. 154–155; 1914, pp. 143-147; 1915, pp. 110, 210-212; 1916, pp. 147-148. (See plates 9 and 10.)

The situation with respect to this interesting building is now critical. Religious services in it have long been discontinued. The street improvements consequent upon the widening of Varick Street and the building of the subway are nearing completion. The excavation for the subway has been filled up, and the roadway and sidewalks will soon be restored. These improvements alone, when finished, will greatly enhance the value of the church property. The neighborhood will soon be transformed into one of the desirable business centers in the city. The new Varick street is a beautifully wide and light thoroughfare. The new subway makes the neighborhood quickly and conveniently accessible. In addition to these assured advantages there is an almost certain prospect of another great improvement. As stated elsewhere in this Report, one provision of the plan for the relocation of the New York Central Railroad tracks on the west side of the city is the abandonment of the railroad's right of way south of Canal street and of the freight terminal occupying the block bounded by Varick, Beach, Laight and Hudson streets. This unsightly freight house, which not only obliterated the charming old St. John's Park but also preempts Hudson street with railroad tracks and the sidewalks on other sides by trucks, is directly opposite St. John's church. Its abandonment will not mean that old St. John's Park will be restored, because the New York Central Railroad Co., owns the fee of the property and there is no provision in the proposed contract with the city which changes its ownership. But the abandonment of its use for a freight terminal will immensely improve neighboring conditions. Even if the area is not reclaimed by the city for park purposes, a first class business building would be better than the freight house. With this physical situation rapidly developing, the change in the real estate policy of Trinity parish, which owns St. John's Church and the land on which it stands, takes on especial significance. The period of two years which the parish allowed the advocates of the preservation of the church in which to find means for its salvation has passed; but on Friday, March 13, 1917, the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, on motion of Borough President Marks, extending the period of immunity until July 1, 1917 and directing the removal of the encroachment unless some plan for saving the building is found