Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1863-10-17
Prot. Jas. Date Owen.


cannot be otherwise than interesting to ee
rsadefs-scms Of them 10 particular. H
left our city, 1t will be remembered. for tn
purpose Of wrsakirg summary veBgssn
upon the editor Of the Dubuque Hssald
whose -ublime "cussedness' led him TO Civ
the pstrio-solent i6s James Dale ssking ns
tiss The Professor got ~ lar on his jour
nsy ~ L. Sale. Iillnois. where be had t
change ssrs to 60 10 Dubuque. uufost y
na.ely be failed to connect with the trail
that vac to have taken him ts Dubuqus
the home Of his traduesr. eesssquensly stop
ped over. and while waiting ter the neg
train vas -s-izsd with . desire 10 prosssus,
bis scientific Investigations. Therefore h,
called at the residence Of O. N. Adams, Esq.
. gentleman OF considerable geological rspu
tstioD, and the owner Of . valuable gsolsgi
cal cabinet There he became 80 involved IL
scientific affairs that he forgot The mepda.
sioas editor. The following IL from thl
Chicago Tribune.
NJ. Adams greeted him courteously, a.d
the stranger presented letter sf introd ucii iou
from Major General Curtis. com IN ending hin
To the favor OF Mr.. Adams ~ Pref Jas. Dale
Owen. son of David Dale Owen. The strau-
ger exhibited other letters and package OF
railroad passess made to the same una ag ina bic
| geologist He informed Mr Adams that q
had dinsd with the Bishop Of Dubuque and
Governor kirkwood, ana was returning fruu,
visit to W allied Lake, at Fort Dodge, a v.it
wbieh hs bad made at the instance Of sir
Cnaries Lyeil. OF London. Ia proof Of this he
would beg his friend to accept q little colsc-
tion nj agates " bich he picked up there, ac-
| coinpanying tho pres entation with interest,"
| log description o. them. he was the sou Of
David Dale Owen. and now stood n his faiths
er's shoes as Professor in the geological depart.
| msnt vi the Smithsonian institute. CoBvinc-
ed Mr. Adams that he was the bona tide con
Mr. Adams. in respect fer his father, at once
admitted the son to bis confidence, rnd pre-
| pared to give him . reception worty Of 50
ilIustrious a sire They chatted fot some time
| on vafions topios and went to ths parlor to
view some Of MIR. As specimens. There vas
one beautiful set Of fossils, illustrative Of the
archaeological character Of the basiu. which
the Professor begged as . contribution to the
lnstitets. Mr.. A. vac glad to give 1t to him,
although 1t was very valuable. embracing
| among other varieties, . fern upon . piecs Of
| eeDn el coal. which 10 exceedingly scarce, and
| u ns0talus from the roof OF the middle vein OF
| GOAL Having obtained thes, illustrations of
the basin, the next day they went out to view
| the basin itsslf. and the geological position OF
| the FOSSILS
Fully convinced that his companion was an
Owen, aud was absorbing geological knowl.
edge at = grand rate, Mr.. A. talked carbonif-
ferrous, siluarlan, strata fossils, ETC.. enthusi-
asticaiiy, and wss never 90 happy in his life.
kut he liant all aft
q remark and pot his loot 10 it, but compi istelv
covered his tracks. Mr.. A. pointed out to him
the horizon rock of the coal basin The Pro-
fessor remarked. with the cooiness Of an ice
berg and in q manner to Indicate that heri-
son rocks vera the simple rudiments in HE ge-
o;ogy "Oh yes that belongs to the Trentoa
group Of limestone" Mr.. A. was slightly as-
,onished at the Ignorance displayed By the
Professor Of the Geological Department Of tins
Smithaoninn, aud replied, OH no, the Trenton
is the upper grouP of the Silutariau ss,ist, 40
outcropping OF whioh is two miles distant,
and 10 600 feet lower than the strata We are
now looking A." The Professor blauohsd
not. He was up to snaf. Why, csrtaisly. l
osght to have known thstl But for isng
time past have been trobisd With pal lpitation
Of the heart, the same ae all our family. as you
know, and In Iowa they gave me soms dread
iul opiates which mako me dali and stupid. |
have not recovered from their use. They sf-
feet me strangely"
The walk 81 an end, and the Professor hav-
ing acknow lodged he had . very viyid idea
OF coal formations. the twain turned their way
homsward, bsguiiins the time with chat OF
different topics. As any Allusion to 1isputed
geological theories was sure to bring on pal
patton Of the heart, Mr.. A. carefully ovoided
them.
2,u dau thn 4 Ill -
conversation. In the course OF which the Pro-
fessor said that he had duplicates of LysiPs
Antiquities. Dane's Aineroloyy and Geology,
which he would send Mr. A, for . msRs trih,pg
sum. cay ~. Mr.>A. ct once advanced the
sum, and qneetions asked. The Professor
charmed Mr.. A. with some account Of his geo.
logical travels In Europe. He had been in the
field with Hugh Miller. Lysll, Sir Rodsriek
Murslisop. and others. and vas hand In glove
With them ami their families. many Interesting
Incidents Of which he related. On Sunday
evening the Profsseer bade Mr.. A. q eordisi
goodbye. and left for the southern part Of the
state. with his fossils. fern leaf. nautilus, and
eight dollsrs. rsmsrking to Mr.. A. that he must
be in Washington . week from that time, and
would then send ON the books - be had
agreed to- He departed. a0d the next dsy
Mr A. learned his real char actsr from the Chi.
csso Tribune.
The next hear Of him he arrives 1t Co.
Iona Jtstioo, ON the /. O. r. r., In eompssy
with a youug man named ingram and bic
mother, wboee acquaintance be :" cultivated I"
on the cars--doubtisss thinking he had ..struoh
. rich lead" Mre Ingram had Just disposed
Of her 10 terest in large setate and had tho
money with her. The old lady aud her sos
stopped with their friend. DR.. E. B. Smith Of
Colona. and Of courss the Professor diasd there
anA al vafn ~~lr Al 4
remain over night and "slncidate" come i'm
portant theoriss an1 discoveries 10 geoloev.
when DR.. 8. would be more at leisure In the
evening. For come reaeon DR.. Smith declined;
Mrs. Ingram end her con remained behind and
the Professor took the night train to Tsmaroa
not however until he had spent two or three
hours 10 posting the DR.. % to Who he vac.
apd showing him handful Of letters Of intro
duction. railroad passss. 10. de-, and 10 the
course OF cenvsrsationshs stated that he con-
sidsrsd geology very important ssisncs, enc
that Is wofully neglected; and that for the
sake OF encouraging the study Of geology and
The more general diGusion Of kaowIsd pertain
ing to that ecienss, be hAd 10 few instances
donated sopiss Of Lysll's Antiqoitiss. DAns's
MiDsralogy and g. eolcgy and srms geological
text books to public labFariss, and alec cold
them to individusls for . mere seminal sum.
wbich his eosseetion With the Smilhsonian
Inetituts and bic intimaey With The ssthors
and publishers (being himself an authof) en-
abled him 10 do Dr. Smith agreed that The
works he named would be valuable addition
to his library. and when the Professor 90 gene
erously offered to send them TO bin foe eO. hs
at once advanced him the money.
After paying bic rsspests 20 the learned
men OF the town, and inquiring into the a1hiss
Of the Sanitary Commisieo, the Professor left
for Jonssboro. Shortly after he left Dr. s saw
the s1pose Of the Professor, and wrote 70 1