Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1889-06-06
Life of Matthew F. Maury.

The following interesting review, which
we have been obliged somewhat to abridge,
appeared several weeks ago in the Lynch
burg Daily NeaVs We intended to repro
duce it at the time it came out but the pa
per was somehow mislaid 1t will, however,
we'll repay perusal now.-ED GAZETTE
The recent biography of Matthew Fon,
taine Maury, by his daughter, Mrs. s. Well
ford Corbn, OF King George county, has
been admirably done in nearly every re
spect. The authoress has had the fine taste,
ot only to state on the title page that the
book was compiled" by her, but to make it
very largely compilation in fact, in which
the subject speaks for himself in letters, on
the one hand to public men, or eminent men
Of science. and en- the other to bis personal
friends and the members o. his own family.
One of the first things that etrikes the eye
on opening this instructive book, is the fact
that it s printed and published in London
fact full of painful suggestions. There
were doubtless excellent reasons why che
found herself under the necessity Of placing
tbe memorial of her distinguished father in
the hands of q London publishing house, in.
stead of one in this country ; for,
while 20 word Of explanation from her is
found in the book tseif, enough appears OF
the generous appreciation with which Capt.
Maury's achievements In practical science
were held by the Humbolte, the LeVerriers,
Ouoteets, Janaene, Fiiz Roys-hosts Of The
frat scientific men of The w0rd-and by the
rulers of every clv.iz I'd laud on The ear; and
also of the vicious malig Dity towards him in
the northern States, because when Virginia
called on h.r sons to stand by hes in her
agony he obeyed her call at he sacrifice Of
every consideration ia human life save duty
and houor. This contract, between the &C
claim with which savants and princes de-
lighted to honor and asRist the man whose
scientific labors had made him one of the
worlds beneiactors and the jealous enmty
and venom of email natures In the United
Statea, furnishes ground fer a shreGd con.
lecture why Mrs. Corbin published her book
abroad. Yet no man born in the United
States within THE century has been compar-
able to Maury as benefactor of the world.
Great as he become, he owed his emf.
nence to his almost unaided exertions. His
education was of the slightest. When he
borrowed horse to ride from Tennessee to
Washington, with thirty dollars for hie out.
fit, to enter the navy, he was youth of
eighteen, whose education consisted in the
little other that an "old field schoop and
country academy could bestow. There was
co government school for midshipmen at
that date (1S25). But he was determined
to make himself not only thorough master
of seamanship, but mathematician and
philosopher. While keeping his watch on
deck he would chalk diagrams on the can
non balls, and master the problems ofspber.
ical trigoDometry from them. The first
| fruits of these incessant studies was the
publication, while he was still only mid.
shipman, and twenty EIGHT years of age, OF
his work on navigation. 1t was favorably
| noticed by the highest nautical authorities
In England, and was adopted as the text
| book of the United States Navy
In October, 1889, while on journey from
| his fathers home, in Tennessee, to New
York, to join his ship, the stage in which
he was travelling was overturned near Som
erset, Ohio, by which accident his right
| leg was badly fractured, an injury which re-
suited in disability for duty at sea, and q
slight permanent lsmeness. Az 30 often oc-
ours, this seeming catastrophe was provi
Dental to him and to the world About
1912 he was put in charge of the depot of
Charts and Instruments" st Washington, q
storage.office, which he speedily developed
into the National Observatory and Hydro
graphical Department of the United
States at Washington. Recurring to
his long considered idea of mapping
the winds and currents of the ocean,
he collected together all the old log-books
of the government sbips, which for years had
been laid away in the dust s5 rubbish, went
carefully through thousands of them, with
the aid of the young men under him, noting
the entries as to winds and currents and by
enormous labor and untiring energy and in-
tdustry worked out mis- famous "Charts and
Sailing Directions" The immediate effect
| of them was to shorten every voyage of ev.
ery ship on the ocean on an average about
| fifteen per centum thus saving to the COM
merce of mankind untold millions in every
year. He might have copyrighted these and
made himself rich. but he was not that style
of man. He net only made his great dis.
coyery free gift to the world for the bene.
fit of mankind but By his own unassisted
exertioGs he brought about the conference
at Brussels in 1853 for the development of
meteorological research, ip which England,
Russia, Belgium, France. Holland, Sweden
and Norway, Denmark, Portugal and the
United States participated. soon to be joined
as CO operators by other powers. No sooner
had he thus united the civilized world
in ore bro! herhoed of observers of the me-
teorocpv of the seas than he bent bis efforts
to extend the system to the great lakes and
to the continents. he travelled through the
Northwest and West and South delivering
lectures in advocacy OF a vast system Of obser-
vations of winds and temperature and bsro-
metric conditions, pointing out their utility
to agriculture as hardly less than theg had
nroyed to maritime commerce. By these la
bors were laid the foundations CT the present
system of weather reports and signals.
Meanwhile he was deeply interested in ex.