The Sunday Oregonian., January 13, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 48, Image 48

48
THE SUNDAY ORECiONIAN, PORTLAND, JANUARY 13, 1907.
o
Head of the Smithsonian Institution to Succeed Prof.
Langley to Be Cko&en Tku.MOftth.
.
Pathetic Story of the Eminent Founder j of America's
Leading Scientific EstaUishmenL
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"1" their annual menting; to be held.
according to statute, on tne
fourth Monday of January, tne
rcjronta of t he SmithionUn Institution
are expected to elect Secretary S. f.
l-anglr.y's successor as secretary and
directive head of that great scion tific
cxtHbllKhntcnt
The iipw secretary will be the rank
ing soionlint oC the realm. Ilia exalted
posit Ion will assure him greater pres
t Isre a ltd Influence than could the prei-
idency of any university or of any sci
entific institution of the new world.
ProfMinnr Joseph Henry, while nervine
an the flrt secretary of the Smlthson-
lan. declined the presidency of 'Prince-
ton at double his nalary. Professor
Lanirley nuecesnor will he Uncle
Sam's tutor and chief advisor on scl-
entitle, m.ittfrs. his guardian over the
sac re J treasures and works of science.
which it were unsafe to intrust to the
hands of men dominated by political
motives, lie will enjoy, the privileges
f tlm floor of tne Senate and 1 Ike a
Cabinot officer will he ofaclally ad-
ftrcs.ieU ns "Mr, Secretary." He will
draw a salary of tToOO a year, if the
rRpnts elect to nllow him the same
compensation as drawn by .Processor
Langlyy at the time of his death.
At stitte functions held at the White
Mouse " elsewhere he will, according
to the tstabllKhed order of precedence,
take rank Immediately after the jus
tlees of the Federal court of claims
anci b-fore the briu-adier-generala of
the Army.
A Verttbale Potentate.
No othvr personage in the official life
nf the capital will ;njoy h rosltlon
more Independent, unless it be the
Chief Justice himself. Neither the
Fresldent nor Congress will have the
power to remove him, no elidUe or clan
of pol 1 1 1 of ans can disturb him. and he
will not he benolden to Congrean for
his salary. He need bow his head to
im tarthly authority other than toa
"h(;ard of regren tn of the Smithsonian
Institution." which elects him. and al
though th is body has the power to re-
move Mm his appointment is under
stood to be for life, as was that of
esch of Mm predecessors. Me will not
only he I he secrotury, but the princi
pal executive officer of the board, of
regents, which consists of the Vice-
President. Chief Justice, three Senators
appointed by the President of the Sen
ate), three Hepresentatlves (appointed
hv thf: Speaker) and two citizens ot
Wash In Moii, together with four dla-
tlntruished dtlsi?iis of separata states
appointed by Joint resolution of Con-
gress).
The meetings of the regents are pre
sided over by the Oh lef Justice, des
i Knitted as its "chancellor," and there
is also an "executive committee of
the board consisting of three regents.
The. rearent s are supposed to receive
the "advice and instruction" of a blether
toody, "the establishment," consisting
th President of the United States.
Vice-President. Chief Justice. Cabinet
nd "Pvtral honorary members. Thn
"establishment" ueeel to meet at stated
intervals, the President of the United
States presiding, but has not been
called together for 30 years, and as a
factor In the affairs' of the institu
tion It has become obsolete. In spite
of nil of this formidable organization
the secretary's administration of the
institution Is practically supreme. He
is real!y the director of' the institution.
the title of "secretary" having beon
orlKlnnlly adopted because in, Wash
ington It deals-nates the hlgrheat srrattes
of executive responsibility below the
Fresldcnt of the United States. The
new secretary will make all appoint
ments on the staff of the inst Itution.
will be responsible for its runas and
the custodian of its property and treas
ures. Although the iriiardlan of many Gov
ern merit interests and the admlniBtra
tlon of ficer over hundreds of Govern-,
ment employes he will be neither a
Government official nor will be receive
Govern mrnt salary. The Pmlthson
lan Institution is a corporation . en-
lowed hy a private fund administered
rv the Government, whose acceptance
of such a trust is the only Instance of
urli an action In our history.
C-OvernnieiU Bureaus Under lllm.
Hat by virtue of his office the new
secretary will be alo the adminlstra
tion head of five Government tnstltu
tioriB, the National Museum, bureau ot
American ethnolOfry. bureau of inter
nal lonal exchanges, astro-physical oh
servatory and National Zoological
Park.
Tho real function of this great moth
er-hen of science, the Smithsonian ln-
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MtMMALJlALL -
to I-f unprerford'M children, ''legitimate os
1 llpRltlniatP." If any ; hut in the event oC
IIunRerford's dentil it was to go to the
United Statog for the founding of tilt
Smithsonian Institution. I -I is nephew sur
vived him hut six years and died child
less, Freslilcnt Jackson commissioned
Richard Rush of Phihulelphia to bring:
the funds to the lTni,ted States. After a.
;ult in chancery Hum li rt nmed to Amer
ica with the whole ainuunt. fOS..tl.46, m
Congrpss liap:rled for oijehteen years
over the dlspoHltlon of the bequest, and.
number oC our statesmen objected to
tltution proper, is understood by a
surprisingly email proportion of the I
public. The majority of visitors to
Waahingrton depart with the impression
that its chief work is the collection of
natural history specimens, a miscon-
reption due to the fact that the many-
towered Norman castle occupied by the -
office, of the secretary is. owing- to
the crowded condition of the present
National Museum building, also used
largely sb a, repository for the over
flow collection of the museum. When
asked to define the functions of the
Smithsonian Professor Henry once an
swered: "To assist men of science m
making- original researches, to publish
them In a serlen of volumw and to
jrive a copy- of them to every nrst-ciass
library on the face of the earth." The
Smithsonian- has not only made grants
of monT-y to many investigators
throughout the world, but has supplied
books, apparatus and laboratory ac
commodations to thousands. Its aid Is
not limited to Americans, but is just
as accessible to the citizens of one na
tion as to those of another. This broad
scope of Its usefulness seems to be ex
pressed In the will of James Smlthson.
who- bequeathed hi fortune "to found
at Washington, under the name of the
Smithsonian Institution, an establish
ment for the Increase and diffusion, of
icnowledce among: men. . The last two
wotdi? have been Interpreted to mean
"among: ill mankind."
LL
T&rDXPA JVATSOJUAL MUSEUM
Pathos In Founder's Life.
Tn Knirlana there flourished during
the seventeen hundreds a powerful
lord. Huf-h. first Duke of 'Northumber
land. In 1740. when this peer had been
Sir Hugb Smlthson of SUnwick. he
had married Elisabeth Seymour, of tne
illustrious ' family of Percy. Tweyty-
slx years later his dukedom was cre
ated for hltK by Georpte rtt. Thirteen
yee after hie marriage this lord had
a lTi?on with Elizabeth, "heiress ot
the Hun-rerforJa of Studley and nieco
to Charles, the proud rulce of SomerA
WHEN AT xMFd2
set." At the time of this liaison this
former Miss Huntley was Mrs. Made.
The issue. In 17-54. was an illegitimate
son, Jams. who was givn his. moth
er's family name. Made. His father
provided a liberal allowance for his
support and education, and entered him
at Oxford, where he excelled in the
study of chemistry, to which lie de-
voted evfcn Ills acaUons. At his gnul-
uatlon, still under the name ot. Janus
Lewis Made, he received the degrt ee of
A. M.. and the next year he became a
fellow of the Royal Society.
This young man brooded ever the cir
cumstances of his birth, shunned society
on their account and wandered restlessly
over Europe, seeking necluflion and forget-
fulness. While In London he lived in Ben
tick street, pursued his studies and inves
tigations, and passed his leisure with
authors, artists and scientists of note, but
for Ion? spells he circulated principally
between Paris, Berlin, Florence, and
Genoa. During; these trips he made fre
quent excursions for the collection of min
erals, carrying Into the field portable
laboratory. "He could draw a platinum
wire aa fine as a spider's web. and con
struct a aralvanic battery in a thimble."
according to a contemporary. His author
ity on mineralogy and chemistry was
Quoted by the leading- scientists of Eu
rope,- and he was an intimate friend oC
Arago. After 1TS1 he adopted his father's
name, and hence was thereafter known
as James Smlthson. A new mineral which
he discovered after that time is called
Smlthaonlte in his honor.
The Stns of tlie Fathers."
So sensitive was he over his birth that
he never married. lie died - In 1S29 at
Genoa, and there, far away from home
or kin, he was hurled in the little ceme
tery of the English church, on the heights
of San Benlgno & solitary spot shadowed
by cypress trees and overlooking: the Gulf
of Genoa. - Professor Langley several
times made pilgrimages to the town and
saw that it was cared for. Three years
ago it was decided to remove the remains
to Washington, and Professor Alex. Ura-
ham Bell one of the regents of the Smith
sonian, volunteered to attend to the re
interment, at his own expense. On open
ing: the tomb he found that the wooden
coffin had molded away, but that the
skeleton was fairly preserved. The bones
and surrounding dust were carofiiAy
placed In a metal casket and inclosed' in
a coffin of strong wood, wrapped in an
American flag. After the ceremonies had
been conducted by our Consul and Dr.
Bell the remains were brought to New
Tork on a steamship and thence trans-
ported to Washington on the U. S. S.
Dolphin. The flag-draped cpffin received
naval honors at the navy yard, and a
funeral procession. Including the regents,
British Ambassador, high officials of our
Government . and a cavalry escort, con
veyed it to the Smithsonian, where cere
monies were held. Later a beautiful mar
ble sarcophagus was erected upon the
main floor of the Smithsonian building,
in a small room deorated with palms.
Here the sarcophagus, seen through an
iron-grated door. Is bathed In the dim,
religions, moonlike sheen of a Window of
Mu glass. Before the remains were de
posited in this final resting place all of
the dust removed from the . tomb was
carefully sifted and casts and measure
ments of the skull were made by an ex
pert anthropoxnetrlclan of the institution.
Such- was the fate of the unhappy stu
dent who surprised the American people
by bequeathing into their trust a t gen
erous fortune to be devoted to "the in
crease and diffusion of knowledge among
men.
This clause of his will seems to have
een inspired by the very similar phrase
of Washington's farewell address. That
he entertained antl-monarchial Ideas is
indicated by a letter which he wrote "from
Paris Just before the revolution. In this
he compared a nation with a kins to a
man who takes a lion for a watchdog.
While he evidently sympathized with the
American ' patriots In their struggle
against the land of his father, his half
brother. Iord Percy, the legitimate son
of the duke, commanded a brigade of
red coats at Bunker Hill, and is said to
have circulated in England a report that
the patriots scalped their British pris
oners. That his noble kinsmen perhaps
thig brother also held themselves aloof
from him is indicated by Smith-son's oft
quoted prediction : "On my father's side
the best blood of England flows through
my veins: on my mother's I am descended
from kings; and although I am deprived,
by the bar sinister upon my escutcheon.
from assuming family honors, my name
shall live in the memory of men when
the titles ot Morthumberland and Percy
ar.e extinct and forgotten."
Manuscript Rejected ; Changes. Will.
America owes its acquisition of the
Smlthson bequest to an author's pique
over the rejection of his manuscript, ac
cording: to persistent tradition, tt is said
that Smithson nrst bequeathed his tor
tune to the Royal Society, which for years
had published his papers in its Trans
actions." but tliat In 1819 the soctetv re
jected one ot these papers, whereupon the
highly sensitive author made the will by
which tne fortune came to America.
land which he never had visited. Jn this
document, drawa in hia estate was
left to Henry James Hungerford, his mil
tenia! nephew, who evidently had be
friended him. Thtt utats was to descend
English sovprpiRns.
Congrpss iiaprgled
over the dtspositlor
a number of our s
Its acceptance. William C. rrcston, in
the Senate, said that if tho money was
itol over-y wh I pre'rn.pp-r vaenbnnd
that had been t rjuliK-ln k our -country
mlfiht think proper to linve his name dis
tinguished In the SHine way." At lenjrtn.
an et was paswii orsanixingr tho Smith
sonian Tnntltutii.il. Tlie money brotigrnt
from ISngla.l'l had nrst boet Invested in
Arkansas bonds, and was now. In WIS.
lent in perp-etuity to tho Tnitd Stte
at prr cent Interest, which li hl rlrio
supported the institution. Savings from
thin Income and added requests nave
hrouqrht the permanent fund up to ovP
srMTO.OCM. v the net of establl-hlriE the lr
flit n t ton -'all objectn of un and of for-
Cign and curious research and nil objects
of natural history, plants and geological
or miner.iloRlral specimens' heton-elnj: t
the government were to he then and.
thereafter installed in the inatitutton.
The architect of the beautiful building
was James Ttenwlelt. who had mmleleH
Grace Church. New York. Me fashioned
the Smithsonian after the I-ombaxd or
later Norman castle.s of the twelfth ren-
ttiry. The (-nrnorstone was laid in "1R47
and the building was completed at a -ot
of J2.11.0CH). The exhibits or the "national
cabinet of curiosities" were transferred
to it from the patent office in and
instnlled in a Rreat hall 2O0x5O feet. de
Signed as the original National Museum.
Another large T-shaped hall, 15 feet long.
was provided aa the National Gallery of
Art. the ctiPtorty or wnicn nan niwny
been a function ot the Smiths-onisj Insil-
tution, according to the recent ruilng ot
the Attorney General In the recent ca?
of the Harriet IjLne Johnston art heaviest
to the government. In 1865 a lire nurne.l
out thr tall north and south towei j and
tne upper story nf the main building. In
this conflagration James Smlthj;ona own
collection of 10.000 minerals was destroyed
The Mother Hen's Clilckp.
After the centennial of 1S76 the Govern
ment found Itself the -possessor of hun
dreds of thousands of exhibits donated
by the various industries and foreign gov-
ernments exhibiting: at that exposition.
So Congress appropriated 230.000 for the
erection Of the present National Museum
adjacent to the Smithsonian on the fa.'t.
The National Museum was placed in
charge of Professor Spen.-er "F. Balril.
then secretary or the Smithsonian, al
though Conuresn has since appropriated
for its maintenance and tmmedla te sd
nilnistration. The first use of this far
sprcadingT brick building of 300 feet square
was for the Garfield inaugural ball.' Since
its opening as the National Museum soon
afterward Km exhibits have multiplied
thirty-fold, until they today Include over
000 objects. Its space Deing ennraiy
inadequate, a new building la now In
course of erection, and its total cost will
be 53.500,000. It is proposed to convert the
present museum building into a National
Museum of Mechanic Arts, an outgrowtrt
of the section of mechanical technoloev
In the National Museum. As oon a s
thfi new building has been completed it
will receive the overflow museum collec
tions. After these spaces have been
cleared and reconstructed it Is probable
that the present nucleus of the National
Gallery of Art, consisting of the Johnston
collection of masterpieces in oil. th
Marsh collection of engravinfrs and other-
valuable collections, will be installed
therein. Included In the general scheme
of the National Gallery will be the sr-
arate buildinir for which Charles 1 Kreer.
of Eetroit. hu toequeathed J50O.00O to the
Smithsonian for the installation or hi
885 Whistler paintings, his peacock room
by Whistler. his 50 additional framed
canvaaes, over SO treasures of China and
Japanese art and nearly 1W0 pieces of
ancient Oriental pottery. This great eoN
lection is now valued at tfiflO.000 and Mr.
Freer aitrees to make additions to the
extent Of -WO.0(K, so that at his death
the Smithsonian will receive a Jl.ooo.OfO
collection, besides the tSOO.AOO building' in
shelter it. The success of the hitherto
undeveloped National Gallery of Art be-
Inf? now assured, Americans have a re
pository for such private collections hi
they wish to bequeath to the Nation
as a whole rather than to a city or
gtate.
JOHN ELFRETH. WATK1XS. -
Washington. T. C. January 5.
The largest wooden ship was probably that
built by Ptolemy Phllopaterv It was -O
feet lonp, US feet broad and 48 fet -deep. It
"carried -tOOO rowers.
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