filled in the interest of the Woman's Relief Corps. Accept my thanks for the same.

To all members who helped on the Francis Scott Key Memorial we are grateful. You did what you could to preserve this historic landmark.

Thanking our National President, Jennie Iowa Berry, for the honor conferred in placing my name upon her staff, and, as National Press Correspondent, allowing me the privilege of launching the new press blanks. The craft is now off the "ways" and on the Press Sea of the Order, calling at the ports of Departments. We trust the returns to the haven of Headquarters, freighted with the best of "stuff" from the fields of the Woman's Relief Corps, will tell the story that our work is growing before the public eye.

The record of the year's work is before you; it has gone into the past.

To you, my chief, I return the trust. Thanking you for the privilege of serving you, I pledge anew my allegiance to the Woman's Relief Corps.

Respectfully submitted in F., C. and L.

MARGARET GAREY WRIGHT,

National Press Correspondent.

REPORT OF CHAIRMAN

ANDERSONVILLE PRISON BOARD

GEORGIA WADE MCCLELLAN,

National Secretary, W.R.C.

TOLEDO, OHIO, August 1, 1910.

Madam: I have the honor herewith to transmit to you, and through you to the Twenty-eighth National Convention, the report of the Andersonville Prison Board for the past year.

On account of the great distance, it has never been possible to hold a meeting of the Board at Prison Park. On that account the responsibility of the care and improvements has rested chiefly upon the Chairman of the Board. I have endeavored to keep in close touch with its members by writing, and am proud to say that I have had their most loyal support in all that seemed necessary to be done.

Early in April I was directed by the National President to go and make all necessary repairs and put everything in good order before making the transfer to the Government. Upon my arrival there I found work which detained me over three weeks. Both wells were in bad condition, the quicksand had to be drawn out and a new curbing put in; their depth now is ninety feet, with fifteen feet of water. Much to our surprise, the pump at the windmill during the winter froze and burst, necessitating the purchase of a new pump. The tank was also newly painted, and now there is an abundance of good water for use at the house and at the rose garden.

Providence Spring was never in such fine condition as now. I had the floor of the pavilion newly cemented. The water is running through the fountain furnished by the Ex-Prisoners of War Association into a basin, and into a pool in the floor, and out through the pavilion, clear and sparkling as when it first burst forth to quench the thirst of the starving prisoners. The ground around is beautified by growing ferns.

The pecan orchard is well cared for, and in a few years will be bearing nuts for profit. The grounds are well kept, and the Woman's Relief Corps can well be proud of what has been accomplished by the indomitable will and perseverance of her whose monument stands

under the folds of the flag near by the rose garden she loved so well, Lizabeth A. Turner.

During the past year four hundred and eleven visitors have registered, thirty-eight ex-soldiers and eight ex-prisoners.

The caretaker, Comrade Bickell, and his wife have proven themselves the right people in the right place. Having been a prisoner there, he is interested in preserving all the landmarks, and the wells where the boys dug in vain for water. These wells, some seventy and eighty feet deep, are well preserved and will stand forever in memory of those who made the great sacrifice loyal and true to their country and died for the cause of freedom, and whose bones are washing out of the ground on the hillside at every heavy rainstorm.

Mrs. Bickell, a typical Southern woman, proves herself an agreeable hostess; she is loyal and fully in sympathy with the oft-repeated story of starvation and suffering, as told by the ex-prisoners while visiting there, and repeats the truth of the same to those who would fain believe that such inhuman cruelties never could have existed in a civilized country.

The Wirz Monument, standing in the village, is its own condemnation. It need only stand there; a time will come when the South will be glad to bury it from sight.

Our gifts this year are not numerous, but much appreciated. Through Kate G. Raynor, National Patriotic Instructor, the Sons of Veterans Auxiliary gave cocoa matting for the main hall in the cottage.

The Department of Ohio, through its President, Mary C. Wentzel, gave a large wool bunting flag for the flagpole which was dedicated on Memorial Day.

Mr. William Easterlin has promised to give land for a boulevard to connect Prison Park with the Cemetery, making a deed to the Government when the transfer is made.

To make and keep our country great and strong, education must go hand in hand with patriotism; and as the Woman's Relief Corps transfers to the United States Government her sacred trust of preserving the hallowed spot where thousands suffered martyrdom because of their patriotism, what more fitting use could be made of a part of the fund, set aside for Andersonville Prison Park, than to use it to encourage this grand moral sentiment? The Memorial University, located in the geographical center of the United States and dedicated to the veterans and loyal women of 1861-65, is only in its infancy and needs our patriotic and loving support. We now have the opportunity of helping to build this living monument to a size as "big as the biggest. I therefore offer

Recommendation No. 1. That we set aside five thousand dollars from the Andersonville Permanent Fund, holding it in trust for the