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shy and retiring man, and induced him to come to a meeting, promising him that should he not look favorably on our prospectus, we would annoy him no more. Luckily he immediately took practical interest in the proceedings and at the resignation of Alden Weir as president, was induced to take over that office.

At this point it is important to remember that so far this group had thought no further than to stage somewhere, a large exhibition of American art, with perhaps a few of the radical things from abroad to create additional interest. No one at this time had the slightest idea where the money would come from, or even if any sort of an exhibition place could be found. Discussing this latter point, the old Madison Square Garden was discarded as prohibitive in size and cost. All other places seemed too small or otherwise unattractive. Some of the members mentioned casually about the possible availability of an armory, several of which permitted tennis playing for a fee. With this hint I visited several armories, talked to their respective colonels and finally found after a conversation with Colonel Conley, then commanding officer of the old 69th Regiment, N.G.N.Y. (The Irish Regiment), now the 165th Regiment Infantry, that his armory, Lexington Avenue at 25th Street, would

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possibly lend itself to our purpose.

In the meantime my friend, John Quinn, who until long after, thought the whole scheme a crazy one and had up to then shown no interest in the new art manifestations, agreed to take over all legal matters. So at last, with borrowed money, the president, vice-president, and myself, signed the lease with Colonel Conley, $1,500 down, balance of $4,000 to be paid before opening of the show on February 17, 1913, the exhibition to continue for one month. Most of the members, knowing that the thing was on its way, and no one aware as to how in the world it was to be accomplished, retired to their various studios and hoped for the best.

An undertaking of this importance usually calls for underwriters. Some of the better known collectors and art lovers were approached without any marked success. The task seemed more and more hopeless as the weeks passed by. At this time began my friendship with Arthur B. Davies, which close association remained over a period of sixteen years until the end of his life. During the spring of 1912 he and I had many conversations debating some sort of program for the projected exhibition. The general opinion expressed by knowing people in New York, showed scant hope of securing any

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