ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION. HOT SPRINGS RESERVATION, OFFICE OF SUPERINTENDENT, Hot Springs, Ark., July 14, 1888. SIR: I have the honor to submit a brief statement of the work done on this reservation since my annual report of last year was forwarded. When that report was written there were five unoccupied bath-house sites, which four years previously had been leased by the Department, but on which no improvements had been made. More than a year ago the Secretary of the Interior notified these lessees, through this office, that the time had come when they would be required, in compliance with the terms of their leases, to erect upon the sites leased substantial bath-houses, to be open to the public by a prescribed time, and from that date, or earlier if the houses were sooner finished and receiving water, to pay the customary water rent. Accordingly, four large, handsome houses have been built, fitted with porcelain-lined tubs, and suitably furnished with all the requirements of ease and comfort. Work upon the fifth site was begun and prosecuted vigorously till the foundation was prepared; but why all further work has been suspended for some weeks I do not know, as the lessee is a non-resident and has not communicated with me. It is in this connection proper to state that though no building has been erected, and of course no income can come from it to the lessee, yet the Government suffers no pecuniary loss, as a check for the water rent on the number of tubs allowed that house (20) has been regularly received by me from the lessee since the 1st of January last. Perhaps it should also be stated that the four new houses beforementioned were none of them completed by January 1, the day fixed by the Secretary for the first payment of the water rent, on the supposition that they would be in operation by that time. But when called upon for the amount due, the owners paid it without serious objection or protest, as though the baths had been in use by the public and water had been supplied. The bath-houses may be divided, with respect to situation, into two classes: Those located on what is commonly called the Permanent Reservation, [Hot Springs Mountain,] and those built elsewhere in the town. In the first class are the following-named houses, which stand, in the order mentioned, from north to south, on the west slope of the mountINT 88-VOL III-40 625 ain, with the number of tubs permitted to each and the water tax accruing monthly therefrom set opposite their respective names: The free bath-house, containing pools instead of tubs, is just back of the interval between the Horseshoe and Magnesia, and yields no reve nue. The Little Rector has no existence in fact, not even a building site, but pays rent on five mythical tubs. Neither is the building assumed to be on the "unnamed" site yet up or furnished with water, but the water rent is paid as though such were the case. The number of houses on the reservation-counting the last two mentioned is 13, containing 312 tubs, on which a rental of $780 is collected monthly. The houses off the reservation, with their respective number of tubs and water rents, are named as follows: Avenue Rockafellow Grand Central Hot Springs, Sumpter .20 tubs... $50.00 .20 do.... 50.00 .11 do.... 27.50 12 do.... 30.00 4 do.... 10.00 4 do.... 10.00 Eighteen months since the French was destroyed by fire, and has not been rebuilt; and the Sumpter is really a hotel without tubs. Including these two, there are 6 houses off the reservation paying a waterrent on 71 tubs of $177.50 per month. The total number of tubs here on which a tax is assessed is 383, and the monthly income therefrom amounts to $957.50. On account of the change in water rent from $15 to $30 per tub per annum, as provided by the joint resolution approved March 26, 1888, and the increase in the number of tubs by the opening of new bathhouses, the monthly collections for the last twelve months have not been uniform; but for the fiscal year ending June 30 the aggregate sum received, including $1,000 ground rent from the Arlington Hotel, was $7,241.40. My expenditures for the same time in the care and management of the reservation amount to $7,188.73, thus leaving an unexpended balance of $52.62 from this source. The prospect is bright that Congress will at an early day provide the means for building reservoirs for the storage of the waste water, and for the building of a new and commodious free bath-house for the benefit and relief of the poor and infirm. Water has now to be provided to supply one hundred and thirty-six more tubs than were ever in use here before; and when all the estab lishments are worked to their full capacity-as they will be in the business season-it is satisfactory to know that a larger source of water will be at hand to draw from. The necessity for larger and more comfortable accommodations for the unfortunates to whom the Government undertakes to furnish these waters without charge is made manifest daily. Two years ago the -number of this class who frequented the free bath-house where pools of hot water for both sexes are provided did not exceed 300 per day; last year it ran up to 400, and now sometimes as many as 500 poor and infirm seek relief there daily. A glance at this small, mean structure will convince any one that it fails to answer its purpose under its enlarged and growing clientage, and that humanity appeals for the erection of a more suitable building. From the time when the Government first assumed control of tais property the water rent was at the rate of $15 per tub per annum. Within late years at least it was felt by every one familiar with the subject that this tax was far below what should be imposed; indeed the lessees, who were more nearly concerned than any one, conceded it; but as that rate had been fixed by law the Department was powerless to alter it without the sanction of Congress. The attention of that body having been urgently drawn to the matter, an act was passed last March just doubling the old rate. Since then my monthly collection of funds is nearly three times what it was previous to 1888, as the total is swelled not alone by the bigher price charged, but also by the additional number of tubs brought in by the "Superior," "Horseshoe," "Magnesia," and "Lamar" bath houses, which, as before stated, have been built and thrown open to the public this year. This assured revenue makes the reservation self-sustaining so far as its ordinary disbursements are concerned, and in time there will accumulate a small surplus upon which to draw for the payment of such slight improvements or ornamentation of the grounds as circumstances may warrant. The number of persons who have come to this health resort during the period embraced in this report is largely in excess of any previous year, and I think it can safely be said that a marked improvement is apparent in the fittings and appointments of the bath houses, and that they offer in a clean, orderly way all the comforts and conveniences that one can reasonably expect to find in such establishments. I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, The SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR, CHARLES W. FIELD, Washington, D. C APPENDIX. [Public Resolution-No. 7.] JOINT RESOLUTION to enable the Secretary of the Interior to utilize the hot-water now running to waste on the permanent reservation at Hot Springs, Arkansas, and for other purposes. Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Secretary of the Interior be, and is hereby, authorized and directed to utilize the hot water upon the reservation at Hot Springs, Arkansas, not necessary for the Army and Navy Hospital, the bath-houses erected and to be erected upon said reservation, and the bath-houses now erected and furnished with hot water by authority of the secretary off said reservation, by permitting its use by not exceeding three bath-houses to be erected by individuals below and off said Hot Springs reservation (the expense of obtaining said water to be borne by the proprietors of said bath-houses), said water to be furnished under the same restrictions and regulations as now govern the supply of hot-water furnished to the bathhouses above and off said reservation, and that the water-rents for all bath-houses be increased to thirty dollars per tub per annum: Provided, That the new bath-houses which may be so erected shall not be owned or controlled by any person, company or corporation, which may be the owner or interested in any other bath-house on or near the Hot Springs Reservation; and if the ownership or control of any such bath-house be transferred to any person or corporation owning or interested in any other bath-house on or near said reservation, the Secretary of the Interior shall, for that cause, deprive said bath-house of the hot-water, and also any other bath-house in which any such person or corporation shall he interested and shall cancel any lease from the United States which any such person or corporation may hold or be interested in. Approved, March 26, 1888. REPORT OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF THE YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK. OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDENT YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, Mammoth Hot Springs, Wyo., August 15, 1888. SIR: I have the honor to submit for your information the following report of the operations of the office of the Superintendent of the Yellowstone National Park for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1888, and to the present date. When my last report was rendered, August 20, 1887, the hotels of the Park were filled with tourist visitors, and many camping parties, with every description of outfit, were scattered throughout the Park. All possible efforts were made to see that these numerous visitors were made acquainted with the rules and regulations established for their guidance in the Park, and that they were observed and respected. In the enforcement of these regulations several arrests were made, and in one or two instances, where the offenses were flagrant, the offenders were summarily expelled from the Park. In the exercise of the authority which is devolved upon the office of the Superintendent of this National Park great care has been taken to keep strictly within the limits sanctioned by law and to avoid all appearance of a harsh and arbitrary exercise of authority. No person has ever been expelled from the Park who had not admitted the commission of the offense for which the penalty was enforced; and whenever there has been reason to believe that the offenses were committed without intention or through thoughtlessness, or when a sincere regret was perceived, the persons have been permitted to go unmolested, after suitable instruction and admonition. This explanation is made in view of the unwarranted and unjust comments of the Montana newspapers, which, copied by Eastern exchanges, have tended to disseminate the idea that the National Park is subjected to harsh and arbitrary military rule, and that visitors are liable to humiliation and annoyance from a capricious exercise of power. While these strictures of the press were generally expressed in vague and indefinite terms, they appeared to be founded chiefly upon the two following cases: John Noack, who was arrested at the Upper Geyser Basin, September 18, 1887, for writing upon the geyser formation, in violation of the rules and regulations; and Frank Chatfield, who was ar rested near Heart Lake, October, 2, 1887, for killing an elk. In the case of Noack, he was arrested by the soldier on duty at the Upper Geyser |