Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-04
PUBLIC PROPERTY.

How the Art Gallery of the City is Con-
ducted-Its Cost.
Trustee Mclaughlin stated in the Board
of Trustees yesterday that large bills for
the E. B. Croker Art Gallery are rushed
Though monthly of which tia Trustees
have no knowledge, and that the Gallery
bills are growing heavier and heavier every
year. as the Gallery is the property of the
city, with the tenancy of the NJ useum AS
ISOLATION attached, and the people are en-
titled to know just what The cost. of main
tenence is, RECORD UNION reporter made
inquiry last evening of members of the
Directory of the Museum Association on
that point, and ascertained that the facts,
as they understand them, are substantially
as follows:
The Gallery is controlled BY Joint
Board, consisting of Mayor Comstock, Mrs.
E. B. Croker, Judged. w. Armstrong, Judge
w. c. Van Fleet Frank Miller Chris.
Green, George Pyburn, J. E. Mills, J. A.
w oodson, d. Lubin and F. Y. Williams
This Board meets whenever the Mayor
calls it, and passes upon all matters affect
ing the Gallery, the Mayor having one vote
and the ten Directors but one jointly. All
the transactions are of record and all bills
recorded and inspection of them is open to
the public, Sag the officers. Regular sal
airy bills and small items for necessary re-
pairs, fuel and utensils are monthly scruti-
nized by quorum of the Directors of the
Museum Association and the custodian,
and certified if correct by the latter and
sent to the city. On larger matters the
Mayor is called in before the bills are sent
in to him.
The expenses are watchman's salary SIS,
of which Mrs. Crocker pays half; gardener
and ground workman $50, of which Mrs.
Croker pays half; custodian, including all
| janitoring and care of the building and
pictures, 500. So the salary bill, say the
Directors is 1852 so a month. The men,
bers say that it is grave error to say that
any bills are rushed through, but all pass
the scrutiny first of the city's custodian,
| NJ. S. eastman, then OF the Directors, and
| lastly of the Trustees.
So careful is Mr. Cushman, said one Di-
rector, that he calculates the cost of heat
ing in winter down to the price of varie-
! ties of coal by the day, to show which is
cheapest, and submits the schedule to the
| Mayor.
The front doors this summer showed ab-
solnte necessity of repolishing to save the
| glue-work, and a polisher was hired
through c. H. Krebs by authority of the
/ Mayor, and under direction OF Director Py-
burn did the work for $4S, paying $50 for
| the material, and losing nearly ali his
| labor by taking the job too low.
The only large bill, it was sscertained
that has been put in, did not come through
the Museum Association, the Directors OF
which knew nothing about il until ii was
incurred. This last summer a swarm of
painters came down on the gallery and
painted about everything in sight" says
one Of the Directors. They painted even
| the skylights, so that the cloth screens haa
to be taken down last week to let light into
the gallery"
Mayor Comstock said last evening that
he and Trustee Mclaughlin ordered the
building painted, believing il well TO do so,
and that Mr.. Mclaughlin put most of the
men on the work. The painters bought
the material of the Sullivan-Kelly Com
panv and did good job of work.
The Museum Directors were not con-
suited, as they had a right to be, and knew
nothing of it until the bill was incurred.
One of the Directors says the painters
finally started in on the fence. and Custo-
dian Cushman hastily reported to the
| Mayor, who went down and stopped further
painting.
| Further inquiry developed the fact that