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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION    1218

Institution will attain the 100 year mark on August 10, 1946. As the summer season is unfavorable due to weather and to the absence of interested persons, further events will be set later, probably for a day in November, when there will be a convocation with appropriate ceremonies before specially invited guess. A booklet giving the history of the Institution and its accomplishments is in preparation, to be well illustrated, in a sufficient edition to allow wide distribution. At the same time, it is expected that the report of the Committee on Policy, mentioned above, will be presented.

STATEMENT ON RECENT ACTIVITIES.

The Secretary addressed the Board as follows:

The close of the war found the Institution with a considerably depleted staff due to absence of younger employees and the passing of some of the older members. In recent months men absent in war service have begun to return and the man-power situation, though still far from good, shows steady improvement. During the war period several older staff members who normally would have retired at the age of 70, by request, remained at their posts to carry on their respective activities as no replacements were available for them. These will leave the service between now and the end of the fiscal year on June 30 next.

With the establishment of an official 40-hour week, the offices and laboratories now operate on an 8-hour day basis for 5 days per week, from Monday to Friday inclusive. The public halls remain open from 9:00 A.M. to 4:30 P.M., daily straight through the week, from Monday to Sunday inclusive. They close for the day on Christmas Day only.

The Institution is short of funds for personnel to restore our staff

A.W.