New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-09-01
TIE CAREER or HENRY SHAW.

Henry Shaw who was buried at st. Louis yes
terday with all the Accomplishments Of respect
and honor that grateful city could bestow
upon him, was less widely known in the East
perhaps, than in the West, but his name was
none the less familiar to all lovers of nature,
among whom he had made himself pre-
eminent and to all who study the annals
of philanthropy. He could not have been more
highly honored wherever he was known but
it was doubtless his own modesty that kept his
personality from the knowledge of many to
whom his name would have been household
word if he had the willingness to be openly
appreciated Of a large class of public bene-
factors. His life conveys some lessons which
ought not to be lost upon this modern world
Of hurry and striving, and especially in our
country, where so many rich men go on to the
very end of life giving up every faculty to
money making because they have lost or never
acquired taste for any other occupation. Mr..
Shaw's career proved that it was possible to
achieve conspicuous success in business and
at the same time to devote a large part of life
to the enjoyment of the pureSt pleasures, chief
among them being the satisfaction Of working
for the good of others.
Mr.. Shaw was an Englishman who settled
in st. Louis, and retired from business when
he was forty years old with an estate of about
a quarter of a million. This was in 1910, and
that was a large fortune in t. sc days. Still his
willingness to withdraw at a time when he
was still young, and when he had demonstrated
marked capacity as a money maker, showed
that he was endowed to an unusual degree
with the phlosophic spirit. lie might easily
have yielded to the temptation to enroll him
self among the famous milliOnares of the
country. 1t is easy to believe that he could
have accomplished this when we are told that
be increased his estate merely by judicious III
vestments, so that, after deducting large gifts
for public purposes, it is now estimated to be
nearly ten times as large az il was when he re-
tired from business. lie spent about ten years
in foreign travel. Then returning to ST. LOuis
he devoted himself TO the study Of botany.
He established the Missouri Botanical Garden
said to be the finest in the country, and to rank
with those Of London and Paris. The flower
garden is said to contain almost every flower
grown in the latitude; the plant-houses shelter
thousands of exoticS; the experimental fruit
garden has every variety of fruit growing in
the open air in this climate, while the ar
boretum presents every ornamental and forest
tree known TO this country. Besides these
there is fre-proof building containing a
museum and botanical library. 1t was TO the
development of this institution, which he hoped
TO make of great service in promoting the
study of botany and horticulture, that Mr..
Shaw devoted the years that might have been
passed with only the m0ney-rke in hand. 1t
may well be believed that he found the pursuit
fascinating one 1t is difficult TO conceive
Of a purer or more serene atmosphere than
that in which he passed his old age, with the
flowers and the trees for his daily and hourly
companions. Mr.. Shaw maintained this in
sttution as his private property spending
money upon it ayishly, but it was always open
to the people, and so has been to all intents
and purposes public place. The title to it
passes now upon his death to the State of Mis-