The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1901-12-08
THE SUN, SUNDAY. DECEMBER 8. 1907.
DR.. STRECKER'S BUTTERFLIES
HIS COLLECTION SAID TO ne THE
FINEST IN THIS COUNTRY.
Achievement OF the Tombstone sculptor
Who Died at Reading. pa. the Other
Da,-72s .OOO Specimens In n. Some
Worth 81. 900 Each His Traits.

u fNtttt W wv ''htp''
Aha Died at Reading, pa. the Other
lba,-72s .ONO Specimens In n. Som
Worth = $1,000 Each His Traits.
READING, Pa, Dec. DIR. Herman
Strecker. the sculptor Of monuments for
cemeteries. who died here tho other day,
had a collection Of butterflies and moths
which il said 10 be the finest in the United
States and one Of the fhest in the world
II represented the work OF fifty years.
To get Il together he was In coriespon.
dence with eutomologlsts in every cfime.and
he received packages from every postal
route on the globe Central Africa Greenland,
| Iceland, Labrador. Samoa. New Zealand,
| North Cape, the mouth OF the Lena, Alaska,
the Philippines. Guam, Australia, the Holy
Land, the Nile country, Tibet, India, New
Guinea. the Amazon country, Patagonia,
sent DR. Strecker butterflies
II was a common thing to see him go
home on a street car with o box on his
lap. Asked where II was from he would
answer Zanzibar, Straits Of Magellan
The Hebrides." or some other shore
On weekdays he always appeared in
the dusty work suit Of his marble yard
/ He was busy upon statues or headstones
from morning until evening His break
fast was light. noon luncheon fairly bounti-
ing among his butterflies from 7 p. NJ.
until II O'Clock or perhaps midnight. he
invariably partook Of hearty meal. Then
he would retire for the night.
His butterfly collection il in the top
story OF his residence on Mineral Spring
road and the cabinets cover all the walls
from floor TO ceiling There are 225,Oo
specimens. all mounted on cards and
labelled in glass-covered drawers. The
labor needed 10 take care Of them and keep
cut %verIHiu and Other enemies vas great,
vet to pr. Strecaer II was n lahor Of love.
Sauna tlma Ann ls wanted rIa pit an-
thorities to change the castle-like county
prison In City Park to a museum. Had
they lone 40 he would have presented his
butterfly collection to the city The project
was never adopted. leyi Mengel, who Ina.
a collection OF o. 900 Specimens OF bugs.
DC. will take care Of DR. Strecker = col
lection until ether arrangements are made.
DIR. Strecker was q wel-built, white
whiskered man OF 8s and had many strange
ways. He attended the Episcopal services
on Sundayiu the forenoon and devoted part
Of the afternoon and night to his flies.
IL he read an article in n newspaper which
he did not like he invariably sat down and
wrote the editor a letter about il. not caring
what the editor did with it.
Il guess they'll think I'm some old crank, '"
he would say. but that don't matter. I'd
rather tell him honestly what i think OF
his views than harbor my thoughts or
speak TO Others about it,"
OF course, a positive character like DR..
Strecker nlatt ntmit as wei IA ltlcilus'
Among the latter WAS George F. Baer,
President of The Reading system and the
Jersey Central Railroad. They were neigh
bors, and DIR. Strecker spent an hour on two
with Mr.. Baer every Sunday.
Mr.. Baer is a flower and plant lover. and
the two combined their hobbies 10 the inter-
est and edifiCation Of each AZ they smoked
and chatted in Mr.. Baer's greenhouses.
II DIR. Strecker made an enemy by his
positiveness Of character and o~utspoken
-. l. ..-All .-.-A 49, ia.
offended person later and explain:
Here. old fellow, let US bury the Ratchet
and begin over again. | bear no III will.
and you should not no u%nfriendly 10 me. =
Such renewed friendships we're more
firm and lasting than ever before.
One OF the most difficult iole Of printing
ever submitted to an Office here wa all
index OF the technical names of every butter
Nv and moth in The world, which DIR. Strecker
prepared. Some Of the printers got head
aches doing the work OF spelling out the
almost unpronounceable vocabulary.
Years ago he determined To- print All
illust rated book Of butterflies. He engraved
the flies on tone. for he was quite an artist
sent the plate 10 New YORK. had 500 copies
printed. and then had the stone returned
when he engraved a new series Of illustra-
tons on the same stone. Then he returned
II 10 the PRINTER.
In this way the plate made many trips
before the work was ready 10 he bound.
\ it AlllAb NfNNNFNTh Va NNp III eAh ~
were sold.
DR.. Strecker's collection was begun
here shortly after he left Philadelphia.
where he was born. He published several
books on the study of his life. He would
frequently say
Yes, il seems 20 he folly, but I'm ia IL
now and cant we'll gei out Of II. Nhsr
a collection ls the delight of a mans lie
his whole heart l. ia II. and there you are
While ! have spent a greal deal Of money
la cOlleci ing my moths and flcs, ] am glad
20 know thai ] have neglected nothing
W. are all comfortable, and when !
die come one may come along 20 take up
tho work where | leave on and keep on ADD
ing 90 the collection from the Isles OF the
South Pacific and other lands that have
not vet contributed to ANY collection
Dr Streck-f's collection contains som.
fi-s valued a. o. ~ rari They are pet
feet Some catered ries Of the ssm.
species iu other collections are held al
tl,O0 .scii, a-p.
Som. Russian Grand Dukes were III
monthly correspondence with hiut hi'
largest butterfly s about Twelve inches
arTos- VA. wmgs aud came from Pralil
Il He huttsrny library CONSISTS ~ mOrs
than 90 very lafgr volumes Ia s~NefHI
language
H. rarely. n ever. spoke on hi- fa,orits
suhjeci to auN ui. nut q rl'utisi w
fact. J." dl.iHLrd to UuuNsIss Nnb a..
learned people nu any s'lsnilnc -ihIs''
snd n va WITH g-st GlroultN tha ~
uuuid 10" Induced 40 siNr even he Flur'r'
ansaoTs Do relation ~ hs Dull@ri loI
d. SifrsArI isAyes a WIDOW a grand.
sau And a mSiftd daughter
IOH q, PR0spi mn