Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-11-18
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM.


Some Of the Wonders 20 be Seen There.
A STAR REPORTERS GOSSIP WITH AN EXTINCT
NAMNAL-ARTICLEs PREPARED FOR THE LON
DON FISHERY ExHTBTTION-A MINIATURE OF
ZUNTTowN-A STRAIN OF EOzoIC MUSIC DC.
The row of huge fossil forms that had filed
most OF the space In the center Of the main hall
of the Smithsonian Institution was gone. The
Irish elk looked In mute sorrow down the
dreary waste that separated it from the skele-
ton Of moose at the other end of the hall. A
glyptodon peered out Of dark cavernous
alcove upon the deserted place and looked as
lonely and detected as restored plaster
gIyptodon could look. Had the trump sounded
which summoned fossil remains to reassemble
upon the face of the earth, reclothed in the
flesh that returned to dust cycles agol THE
STAR reporter who gazed upon the deserted
hall started at the thought, and glanced in
stinctively out of one of the muioned windows,
half expecting to see pachydermara, edentata
and other monsters QambOling on the lawn, but
he was treasured upon behOldng only boy of
the present geological period, drawn in cart
by nineteenth century goat and two BLUR
Gated mammals, male and female, flirting
good odd Prof. Henry which looked down from
q frame. on the wall beamed with kindly SYM
pathy Ior the melancholy elk, and the lugu-
briOus glyptOdOn. Under his administration
for years, the extinct mammals had dwelt In
harmony In the main hail. enjoying an age of
peace and rest. No one will ever know what
merry times they had, when at dusk the doors
closed behind the last departing visitor. and the
specimens no longer had to maintain
their severe. unbending, exhibition dignity.
Then, perhaps, the PeiOsaurus, bored and
fatigued by the gaping wonder of the country
visitor. the silly remarks of the newly married
couple and the proddlng inqusitveness of the
professional sight-seer, climbed down from his
perch and staggered about the hall, ever con-
eciOus in his cOndeScendng association with the
other mammals that the pedigree of the aristo-
cratic Saurians dates back to the secondary
period The megatherium unlimbered his huge
bones. aching with being held in one position
all day, and hoped down upon the floor to meet
the patrician saUrian and the other extinct
mammals gathered about these monsters of the
past. No one knows what delightful, gOSsipy
tales they told about the days when they rolled
in undisturbed freedom in their Shiny OOze,
basked in t0rrid sunlight or roamed their track
less pampas before such parvenuS as man had
been evoluted or with what sadness they la
mented the fate that doomed their bones to be
dug up from natures hallowed sepulchre to be
gaZed upon by the irreverent upstart creatures
of a degenerate age. Nor will it ever be known
what antediluyian frOcs they had in hours of
mirthful recreation startling the stuffed monkeys
and birds that shared the HALL with them by the
fearful energy of their sport and the strange
cries, whose last echoes died out in the Silurian
wales hundred centuries ago.
: MOVED To THE MUSEUM BUILDING
j. "The extinct mammals" said one of the at
taches of the institution. interrupting the re-
porters reverie have been moved to the ma
tional museum building" And sure enough there
hoy Il il-a two al.
either side of great doorway. stood the Mega
therium and the PleiOsaurus. The PleiOsaurus
gave evidence of its recent journey from the
Smithsonian building. Its head had not yet
been adjusted by the professors of OsteolOgy
A fossil Saurian. however has the advantage
over its modern representatives, of being quite
rs comfortable and happy without its head as
with 1t. Nor was the meTatherium any better
oil than the Pleiosaurus, for its head was lying
on the floor beside ii. and one of its huge paws
was detached and resting q board scaffOld
which wOrkmen had built about the fossil. The
twOmOnster forms were inclined toward each
other. as IL In courteous salute. One Saurian
Ripper was extended as if to clasp in friendly
grasp the weighty paw of the fossil representa-
tive OF South America While the reporter was
gazing upon this touching tableau the joints of
the Saurian began to creak like the spars and
cordage of ship in a gale. thrill of motion
ran along the ridge of the vertebrated TAIL the
huge limbs slowly moved and the Saurian, step
ping down from its stand. clapped his head on
and then wagged it rOguishy Then he looked
Op at his ancient companion with an air that
plainly said, Meg. old pard, keep one of your
FOSSIL eyes on my umbrella until / return"
After this DantOmime the Saurian winked at the
reporter, and jerking his thumb, or rather his
big toe, towards the megatherlum observed in
an .aside, Belongs to the Edentata family.
Rather low caste you know. Not so old as the
Saurians. / have to endure him Of course. He
will do as a piece Of geological bric-a-brac. A
good faithful fellow. but awfully lazy, Ta-ta,
Old lumber legs" This to the megatherium.
'ounh, the awkward fellow who wired my tail
on, has got it too tight. COnfound theml Once
they mixed my legs up, and the mistake wasn't
discovered for several years. Well, you want to
Bee the museum, suppose. don't mind going
through with YOU"
MAMMAL HALL.
The reporter, put at ease by the friendly man
ner of the Saurian, looked about him aud found
himself surrounded by strange medley from
the animal creation. This was the hall of man.
mails. and it was still closed against the in
truson of visitors by the notice mo admit
taHee' posted up at the various entrances
Eyeryw where was confusion. Cases and boxes
were strewn about family of stuffed sea-
lions, near the door looked as unhappy as any
family would look upon moving into a new
home and finding things i'm hopeless confusion
In a little recess between some cases were two
kangarOOs shrinking out of sight like some
little performers, who had inadvertently ex-
posed themselves at the wings before their time
To come on the stage. Then there was Fore
paugh's baby elephant wedged irfamong some
boxes and staring in stupid wonder at a dis
Consulate walrus. There were ant eaters
prairie dogs, and other curious creatures
In al sorts of strange places. There were cases
and cases of smaller animals from the playful
chipmunk, which. however, here has long and
nigh sounding name, to the rarest creatures
from the widest jungles of the most distant
lands. 1t looked Ike one of the rooms in the
workshop of creation. the only remaining oper-
alton being to blow the breath of life upon the
1nani'nate forms. Swinging alOft was a life-size
model OF a bumped back whale. "A whale" ex-
Claimed the saurlan cOntemptuousy after
spelling through the label. .'D0 you cali that
whale? In our day We called those fellows
minnows.' Sanntering out. the Saurian and the
reporter stopped a few seconds in the rotunda to
get general view of the museum, with its
vistas of graceful columns and arches "The
exhibits In the museum" said the saurian,
picking up his label, which had fallen OFF, and
fastening 1t again in its proper place on his lett
mind leg, are not all systematically arranged
yet They have been placed in the halls with
out much regard to classification. There is still
vast amount of material in the packing rooms
BY and bye the whole thing will no narfactlv