The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1895-06-12
4 LOVER OF NATURE.
President Jordans Word-Pic-
ture of the Great AgasSiz.
SECOND IN RANK TO DARWIN.
Head of Stanford University Dwelis
Lovingly on the Life OF HIS
Great Teacher.


auspices Of me Young Maj urallsts' so
clety OF Seartle
A. a quarter past S O'Clock President
Jor9san. VINO Is d man Of great dignity
and commanding presence, appeared on
tina platform accommodated by express
Gass1 Cra.ch ana Prof. o.. B. Johnson. OF
tire University OF Washington; prof.
sdAker. OF is1e Iowa Agricultural College,
and H. IL HETxtsh2E. the president of
Inc Young NaturaIlsts' Society. PreSa
dent Catch made a very happy fItr01uc
ton. explaining briefly the nature Of the
lect TIRE. Aslesre was a great clappsEg Of
ha1Essts and Pres .aelt Jordan stepped for
ward
He spoke without notes and In a con
veTsat&oTsal style. as though talking 10
Old acqlsa4noances. ard though there was
no atte,Tnpt a. ofator-y, every word was
listened 70 and uTsfsT,Sol.sd by a delighted
atsitence. The speaker remarked thas ne
hoped that his hearers wousd be patient
win hEn as he had been m rlle STOW for
the past two weeks and his voice had
suffered one could not detect signs OF
hcarseness, though. for the voice was
rich and sympathetic from the bes-HEqiTle,
To the end.
Before taking up the subject Of the
evening the lecturer read telegram just
received from the students he had recent
~ left and referring TO the coming enter
tainment 10 be given by the Stanford
Mandolin Club and the University OF Cal
Hornia Glee Club. and said that he could
assure the people OF Seattle that both were
we'll worth hearing. in particular Mr. e.
X. Field. the actor and all round Stanford
man, Just graduated. Mr.. Field had said
10 him: There is nothing in the world
i would not do for you. sir. And he had
replied: II hope So though I do not know
OF any thing In the world that / have not
already seen you do"
The lecturer said that he had been in
Seattle fifteen years ago and at that time
had caught three fish. the like of which
had not been seen before. and had always
had fondness for the town since, fish
having been the particular study of his
life. Continuing, he said
Il am here TO ak of one who was my
teacher. one whom l loved and venerated
as much as a small man can a big one
Agassiz, as you all know. or may easily
learn from the encyclopedia. was born in
Switzerland in 1907. two years before Oar
win was born. His parents were French
Huguenots driven from their native coun-
try by religious persecution For genera
lions back on Agassiz's fathers side the
men had been preachers. Agassiz did not
care TO become preacher. His incina-
ton was to natural history. but that ap-
peared in little favor with his parents. as
they were poor and in natural history
there was poor prospect of a living. A
compromise was made that the boy should
study medicine principally and his hobby
in the spare moments.
He went to Munich. where was then
the best university ia Europe as II had
the best teachers of that time The teach
ers are the factors that make a universe
ty. Let me emphasize the fact" said the
lecturer. earnestly. AT the age of is. in a
letter to his mo: her he said that ne wished
TO he a good son. a good citizen and the
foremost naturalist OF his time In the
first and second of these he succeeded.
though in the third. because he was a
contemporary OF Darwin he did not sue
coed lie must rank second to the great
est. yet that Is no discredit to Agassiz: he
~was great enough. AT Munich Agassiz
was much under the influence of the great
Ignatius Dorllnger. then the greatest
teacher OF natural history and a wonder
fully sympathetic friend of students
ION finishing the course of the university
he went to NeuchateI as professor OF the
science so dear 10 him. and there the specl-
mems collected and labeled by him may
still be seen. IT was while here that he be-
came interested1 In glaciers and made those
wonderful studies that in time brought
him into prominence before the world
During one of his trips he camped in a
hut on the ice for seventy days and com
planned ever after OF the rheumatism he
then got in his right shoulder. From Neu-
chatel he went 10 Paris and lived in the
Latin quarter. Humbo1t found him out
and the two became the warmest OF
friends. The two men had much in COM
mon
Prof. Jordan gave many incidents OF
Agassiz' life in Paris. showing his noble
struggle with poverty and his grand deter
mination TO acquire knowledge. and went
on to tell how in 1875 the scientist came to
America. first 10 see If he could not find
there more proof of the truth of his much
criticized glacial theory. and secondly to
see how free country was governed ana
what life there was like He found the lite
so pleasant that ne made this country his
home saying that men and money were
plentiful and traditions had not developed
10 hinder one: he also found plenty Of evil
Renee 70 confirm HIS theory Of a gIacia.
epoch. which was accepted finally by the
scientific world. In France he had been
| offered the highest salaried position that
the French government could give 10 a
man Of science but he preferred to teach
IN Harvard. though at that time IL was not
chief. but one among a half dozen Amer
lean colleges.
Going on with series of pictures Of
the ET>at scienttst's life. ne lee urer
cante - Hh. establishment Of the school
on the islauf Of TNsrikese R-l5ch ne said
though II was held IN a barn and hal eut
cue teacher ard lasted but three mon th$,
was tha fl~s- real university in America
frr there were trlle university principles
- e3u~atiou first clearly enuucia+ei arb
pm Into practice.
Ia~eei8tsat J.or7lss, closed with a touching
DESCRIPTION ~ she sceno that was te1e
,f,e-ue ~ fs1ar 0oern - Wffttior's. entitled
"A~2sSfE'S PRAYER" and he Quoted tAfs
r.rens rcve~e1-ly 50 thar when ne had
don" t1rre weVe few ~ any in the au-