Activities of the General Mechanic for the month of July are as follows:

Painted Chevrolet dump truck, USDI No. 8116.

Installed new gas range in Custodian's quarters.

Spent two days repairing, cleaning, and loading out equipment to go to Mount Elden CCC Camp.

One day spent grading new utility area; another in moving equipment to the new location in the utility area.

Laid linoleum in park naturalist's residence.

Made a time-card holder for custodian's office and repaired door to the herbarium case in same office.

Ground valves on the caterpiller tractor which was to be sent to Mount Elden.

Made a trip to Mount Elden CCC Camp with grader and bulldozer for use at the camp.

In addition, carried on all the regular servicing and repair jobs on motor equipment at headquarters, and helped Frank Chase on some of the CCC repair work.

No new equipment was received during the month.

Transferred grader, bulldozer, and miscellaneous small tools (CCC) to Mount Elden CCC Camp.

******SWM******

Park Naturalist King was on duty at headquarters during the month except for a 3-3/4 day trip, July 10 through July 14, to Chaco Canyon and Aztec Ruins National Monuments on an inspection of the work being done by the Mobile Unit. Junior Archeologist Steen was on headquarters duty until July 21 when he was detailed to Tumacacori National Monument to assist with the museum installation project there. Junior Naturalist Natt N. Dodge spent the whole month at headquarters.

Temporary Ranger-Historian Gertrude Hill spent the month at headquarters on work connected with the Southwestern Monuments Loan Library.

Following is a resumé of the time devoted by members of the staff to various projects:

VISITORS

Project Superintendent William Stevenson, Project Superintendent H. B. Chase, Custodian Robert Budlong, Vernon Yelton of the Biological Survey, Maintenance Man George Shelly of Bandelier, Assistant Director A. E. Demaray, and Regional Wildlife Technician McDougall.

SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS LOAN LIBRRAY

Lantern slides in the filing cabinets were re-filed, and the collection for the first time placed in good order.

REPORT OF THE HEADQUARTERS LOAN LIBRARY, by Gertrude F. Hill, temporary Ranger-Historian.

Work on the Headquarters Loan Library progressed very rapidly during the period from June 29 to July 25. A large portion of the material remaining unclassified for so long has been cataloged and placed upon the shelves, ready for use.

Efforts were concentrated on the typing of author and subject analytic cards for articles in the library's files of the American Anthropologist, American Antiquity, and Southwestern Lore. Helpful material on anthropology and archeology is thus made more easily for reference.

The "Books Wanted" file begun last month was increased by the addition of 242 new entries, most of them annotated as to the type of book, the publisher, date of publication, price, and where a review of it is available. Additions were made to the bibliographical files anent the Southwestern Monuments, and a second file for materials pertinent to the work of the Branch of Education (such as references on museum planning, visitor contacts, etc.) was begun.

The acquisition of 26 new steel book cases greatly facilitated the work on the Ranger-Historian this month, as space for newly cataloged books has been practically nil. Half a day was spent in rearranging the shelves to provide for future growth of the collection.

Summary of activities from June 29 through July 25, 1938:

The above distribution of work covers the period June 29 through July 25.

REPORTS

Junior Naturalist Natt N. Dodge accomplished the compilation of the annual report to the Director concerning the activities of the Southwestern Monuments during the fiscal year 1938. An innovation this year was the inclusion of photographs, pertinent to major projects accomplished, in five copies of the report. The activities of the Mobile Unit were stressed, and photographs were also shown of the White Sands museum building, and some of the installations at the museum at Bandelier National Monument.

PUBLICITY

When it was learned that the San Diego Words Fair Montezuma Castle diorama was available to the Southwestern Monuments office, efforts were begun to place this diorama where it will be of use in promoting visitor interest in Montezuma Castle National Monument. It is expected that this diorama will be placed on exhibition at Chamber of Commerce offices either in Flagstaff or Prescott, Arizona.

OFFICE REARRANGED

With the arrival of additional library cases, the naturalist offices were rearranged and the library put in shape. There is now sufficient library shelf space for a year, or possibly two.

An inventory was also made of all educational equipment throughout the monuments. Summaries were in the process of preparation at the end of the month.

MUSEUM PREPARATION AND CATALOGING

A proposal to the Santa Fe Indian School was made concerning the possible preparation of exhibit material for Bandelier National Monument by that institution. The reaction of the school to the proposition was not learned by the end of the month.

Arrangements were made to obtain 16 additional case fronts for the Bandelier Museum.

Further steps were taken in the program of obtaining Merriam Turkeys for the turkey diorama at the Bandelier museum. It now appears that we shall be able to acquire three-quarter grown poults, but acquisition of an adult hen turkey must wait until the hunting season.

Steps were also taken to establish a method by which bird and mammal bones recovered in excavations on the monuments can be identified by an established authority.

A memorandum was prepared for the Superintendent, who forwarded it to the Director of the National Park Service, concerning the possible acquisition of the sculpture, "Arrowed Death", by Sculptor John Terkin of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Inasmuch as this sculpture was inspired by Bandelier's "Delight Makers" and deals so directly with the monument, it is hoped that by some method the sculpture can be acquired for the Bandelier National Monument.

Junior Archeologist Charlie Steen spent six days on the catalog of the Casa Grande collections and finally put this catalog in workable shape.

At the end of the month, Steen was at Tumacacori aiding Custodian Caywood with the glazing of the case fronts and other necessary installation work.

MUSEUM PLANNING

More museum planning was accomplished during the month of July than has been done for several years. This exceedingly important work has been postponed by press of deadline projects, and it is only now that the naturalist division is commencing to make forward progress rather than merely maintaining the status quo.

The White Sands museum plan was finished at the end of the month, except for mimeographing. All plates were drawn and mimeographed, but typewritten data still waited in the over-worked stenographic department. The same is true of the revised plan for Bandelier museum cases 21 through 25. The completion of these finished up the working plans for Bandelier museum. Inasmuch as a general plan has already been approved by the Director, so more planning need be done for Bandelier until the preliminary installation has been in use for a while, and visitor reaction to it has been checked.

The White Sands plan, however, requires approval by the Director before any preparation can be done.

ACCESSIONS FOR JUNE

One tripod for 5 x 7 view camera; one 5 x 7 view camera, Eastman No. 2 B, in fiber carrying case; two extra lens boards; two extra flanges; twelve 5 x 7 Eastman cut-film holders to fit the above camera. The triple converter protar lens, cable releases, and filters are still to be delivered.

Seventy-two negatives and 144 prints were processed by the Western Museum Laboratories for the Branch of Education during the month.

Two 2-compartment bird traps, five hundred field labels for natural history collecting, twenty-five steel book case sections, four tops, five bases, two 6-drawer 3 x 5 steel filing cabinets, and one 6-drawer 5 x 8 steel filing cabinet.

CASA GRANDE SIDE CAMP EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM

The usual classes were held: Photography, shorthand, conversational Spanish, conservation, typing, building construction, and auto mechanics.

Playing of softball was resumed after one night's play was missed. The team is making a creditable showing in the Coolidge Commercial League.

RUINS STABILIZATION

An inspection party composed of Assistant Superintendent Miller, Engineer J. H. Tovrea, Regional Landscape Architect Charles Richey, and Park Naturalist King looked over the work which has been done by the Mobile Unit at Chaco Canyon National Monument. The general accomplishment of the Unit was approved, and Foreman Gordon Vivian complimented on his work. Several suggestions were made concerning minor improvements, and the work was layed out for the next few months. The inspection party, with the exception of Mr. Tovrea, also visited Aztec Ruins National Monument to look over work which will be done there by the Mobile Unit in the near future. Plans were discussed and started for the improvement of appearance of the two kivas in the plaza, for re-roofing several original rooms in the ruin, and for plaza drainage.

NATURAL HISTORY

Bird banding schedules for 1938 were filled out and mailed to the Biological Survey in Washington. The annual report for bird banding will appear in a future supplement to the Monthly Report.

Regional Wildlife Technician McDougall reported adversely on the proposal of stocking with beaver the upper part of Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument, due to the lack of suitable food plants.

SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS ASSOCIATION

Copy for the first booklet, which will be a guide to the Southwestern Monuments, was completed and sent to the field for criticisms and checking. At the end of the month all copy had been returned to headquarters except that for El Morro and Tumacacori National Monuments. Returned copy has been revised and placed in readiness for final typing, which will be done on non-Government time. The booklet will be placed in readiness for mailing to the printer.

Approval of the Southwestern Monuments Association was made by Secretary of the Interior Ickes on July 22.

******SWM******

OFFICIAL MAIL COUNT FOR JULY, 1938.

******SWM******

VISITOR STATISTICS FOR JULY

By The Boss

Our closest estimates for the month of July give us 42,282 visitors to the Southwestern Monuments; considerably more than last year's 28,178. Part of the large increase is added at White Sands and Capulin. Smaller increases are shown at Aztec, Bandelier, Casa Grande, El Morro, Gran Quivira, Natural Bridges, Pipe Spring, Sunset Crater, Walnut Canyon, and Wupatki. The other monuments show small losses of 100 to 200 and on down to less than 50.

Of the 42,282 visitors, about 30,050 were unattended, principally because they went to monuments where we have not yet been able to place men to care for them. Some of them were at one man posts when the man was off duty or away on business.

On the remaining 12,000 visitors, we made 17,359 contacts, each contact consisting of a field trip or a museum lecture. We took 10,252 persons on 1,952 field trips, the average party being 5.2 persons and being out 52.4 minutes. We gave 1,388 museum talks to 8,031 persons, the average party being 5.7 persons and the average time being 21.9 minutes.

We have two interesting "Picture talks" under experiment; one at Canyon de Chelly and one at El Morro. We class them under Museum Talks because they are, in effect, a showing of exhibits inside a room. We are surprised at Mr. Budlong's showing of an average of 102 minutes on 24 such talks, which is much longer than he can hold his field parties over at the actual inscriptions themselves; the average time there being 70.4 minutes.

******SWM******

VISITOR STATISTICS FOR JULY, 1938
SOUTHWESTERN MONUMENTS
(click to see table in a new window)

CASA GRANDE VISITOR RECORDS

By The Boss

I don't know why the average trip time of the guides at Casa Grande should be up in March, down in April, up in May, down in June, and up in July, do you? Not only does the total trip time fluctuate regularly this way, but when you separate it into the field-trip time and the museum-trip time, you get the regular fluctuation in each of them.

Last month I very cheerfully accounted for a "down" period by saying: "In 110 degree weather we just can't expect the visitor to walk and stand around as long as when it is pleasant, so we can look for a drop in his staying power." That sounds as if I knew all about it and made pretty good reading, just like the big shots who study visitors write. The trouble is that July has been as hot if not hotter than June, yet the average visitor remained with us several minutes longer than he did in June. Explain that one if you can!

At last Coyle has overcome Rodgers; less than a minute in the museum and more than a minute in the field. He set out to do that last March, but if you think it is easy to add a few minutes to your average time when you have once struck your pace, you are very mistaken.

Coyle and Holt worked 23 days each. Coyle had the greatest number of parties, 70 in the ruins and 55 in the museum, giving them a total time of 2,684 minutes in the ruins and 1,314 in the museum. Coyle handled the greatest number of visitors in the ruins, 474. Rodgers handled the greatest number in the museum, 381.

Of the past six months, July shows the least number of days worked, 90 man days, as against 102 in February; the least number of parties in the museum, 237, as against 338 in February. The number of visitors in both the ruins and the museum is slightly higher than last month.

The figures all show that we are in our dull season at Casa Grande and August or September may show the beginning of the upturn toward the winter season.

AVERAGE TRIP TIME

******SWM******

Gilbert Philp is the new temporary ranger at Chiricahua, having entered on duty July 1. He seems to be taking hold in good style and the report is that he and Jane like it down there very much. Gil. is an artist at preparing and mounting skins, and we hope to add to the museum collections while he is at Chiricahua.

Frank Morales has gone from headquarters up to Camp NM-5-A during the month where he will keep them ship-shape in a clerical way. We miss his smiling face and pleasant manner.

Laurence Mungerro is the newest recruit at the CCC desk in the headquarters office. He has had experience in other camps and takes hold like an old hand.

We all enjoyed very much the little visit of Mr. Demaray, of the Washington Office. Hugh and the Boss met him in Phoenix and took him to Casa Grande, Saguaro, and Tumacacori National Monuments and on into Nogales. Here Tov. picked him up for the journey to Tombstone, Chiricahua, and thence north to Globe while Hugh and the Boss returned to headquarters to meet a representative of the Budget Bureau. Another exchange at Globe put Hugh with Mr. Demaray to visit Tonto, Montezuma Castle, Tuzigoot, Walnut, Sunset, and Wupatki. As this is written, we are hoping he will cut in again on our circuit in a few days and visit El Morro, Bandelier, Gran Quivira, and White Sands before he goes back to Washington.

J. H. Tovrea and Polly were up in the Pines at Flagstaff part of the month on CCC matters and incidentally enjoyed the fine weather at that 7,000 foot elevation. Tov. has had a lot of work to do on the proposed water supply for Walnut Canyon and the entrance road lay-out. At this writing he is again in the field over at Kingman, but Polly and the pup are at home.

Mr. And Mrs. Charles Carter of the Regional Office were welcome visitors on the 23rd. Mr. Carter will have his office with us a little later on when some of his field work is cared for, and they will live in Coolidge. Mrs. Carter, known to many of as as Patsey Griffen, spent several years in Chaco Canyon where Mr. Griffin, her father, was custodian.

Parke Soule and his boys in the office had a grand time this month closing out the old year and opening up the new. At this writing they are beginning to come out from under, but there is still plenty to do. Jean Soule, by the way, cut the stencils for the Supplement this month, donating the work as a matter of getting practice and helping us out.

Charlie Steen is down at Tumacacori helping with the installation of the museum exhibits and likely to be there another two or three weeks. Mary remained at home in Coolidge.

Dale and Hortensia King have the latest air-cooled quarters on the headquarters lot. As this is written, we are starting to put a cooler in the three educational rooms which are in the same building, the old Bob Rose quarters.

It won't be long until Eugene Stonehocker moves from his old shop out to the new garage which has been built by enrollees of the side camp from Chiricahua. He and Teddy Savage will enjoy that fine, large building with its convenient benches and overhead crane.

Our utility man, Mr. J. L. Baehr, returned from his vacation just in time to get bitten by a centipede. The bite was on the foot and the resulting swelling has kept Teddy laid up for the past week or ten days. And, of course, it would be just this time that Davey Jones would clip and send in a scientific article to the effect that the centipede and scorpion are not poisonous. Dale King was stung by a scorpion a few weeks ago and both he and Teddy Baehr think centipedes and scorpions have something more irritating than goose-grease in their bite or sting.

There is some jubilation around the office today because the "ruins" boys beat the "CCC" boys six to three last night in a soft ball game.

Luis Gastellum spent several days of the past month p at NM-5-A, in the pines, helping with the inventory and getting the store house started. He enjoyed the cool weather.

Harry Reed is done full time at Arches this month and, he being an expert photographer, we sent him about 300 feet of color film to add to our files his very lovely and interesting monument.

Carroll Miller took a little time off during the month and Alfred Peterson came down from Hovenweep and Yucca House to help Jimmie Brewer run Aztec. Traffic is heavy at Aztec this summer.

Alfred and Bernie Peterson report the plague of gnats as having lessened somewhat but the wind and flies continue to make camp life one thing after another.

Betty Budlong reports, in a recent letter, that she received several books from that repeal we sent out last month for her El Morro library, but I am sure she has some shelf room left if any of you haven't sent her at least one book. By the way, the head of a Denver museum read our report and promptly mailed her a book. Bud came in to headquarters during the month and for several hours we drilled wells and built houses all over that reservation. We have a job ahead of us to develop that monument without over-developed it.

Don and Ruth Egermayer had a visit of several days this summer with Father and Mother Egermayer who were making a trip through the Southwest.

A letter from Hap Dodge says she and the kids are having a fine time up at the old home place in Colorado. While she doesn't really admit it, I think she is a little homesick for southern Arizona.

We want to welcome Mrs. Ed Alberts, of Montezuma Castle, to our force of Honorary Rangers Without Pay and hope she likes us and the outfit which she has now joined.

Al Bicknell has been as busy as the proverbial bee this month only he has done his flitting hither and thither and yon on a big ten wheeler with anything up to nine tons aboard. He has been on special detail supervising the delivery of the heavy stuff to the new camp at Flagstaff.

A note from Bina Bicknell says she is getting along all right over on the coast but I think she is getting ready to come home.

We have some new guide badges for the CCC boys. Holt, Coyle and Rodgers look fine in them and have been accused of sleeping with them on.

Many of us who knew him felt a personal loss when we heard of the death of Charles Hutchins at a sanitarium in Colorado Springs the first week of July. He worked for our Service at Carlsbad Caverns until his health broke. We agreed to take him into the Southwestern Monuments and put him on open air duty, but when he went before the medical examiners they ordered him to the hospital. For over two years he has been fighting a great fight as gamely as any man could, but the disease was too well entrenched before it was discovered and he had to lose.

Mother Pinkley celebrated her seventy-eighth birthday on July 30. The neighbors from Coolidge dropped in on the 29th with the makings of a big dinner. Chris and Jenn engineered another big dinner on the 30th, and KOY of Phoenix sent greetings on its morning program, so it was a birthday long to be remembered. Mother Pinkley lost her first tooth this last year, so old age must be coming on.

"Doc" Gipe's many friends will be glad to know he is up and around after his recent operation and, although still a little weak on his pins, its coming back to normal in good shape.

Ira Goodwin had a foot operation for an ingrown nail for which he did not take time out.

Hub, and Ruby Chase were welcome visitors at Headquarters from the Bandelier CCC camp the early part of the month. They stood the heat of the low country much better than they had expected and we certainly enjoyed having them with us for a few days.

******SWM******