New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-01-10
JAMES SMITHSON'S DUST
10 BE Buried in City Where Insti-
tuition Named for Him Stands.

Dr. Alexander @. Bell one of the regents of that
institution. has offered to bear the expense OF
bringing it across the Atlantic and is now in |
Genoa Tor that purpose. 1t is planned to place |
the remains in the grounds of the institution In |
Washington. where there is ample room, and |
where monuments have been placed to Professor
James Henry. who first directed the work. to |
Dr. Samuel Gross the famous physician. and 10 |
L. J. NJ Daguerre. the inventor Of the earliest |
type of the photograph.
James Smithson. the man who gave his all to |
country he had never even seen. died in Genoa |
In lS29 He was buried the heights of San |
Benigno. in a little British burying ground. For |
years a stone quarry operated by the govern |
ment has been slowly eating away the hill. 1t |
has now reached the edge of the graveyard. and |
the British in Genoa have been asked TO look |
after the removal of the bodies. A committee |
TO that end has been appointed, and one of the |
members communicated with the Smithsonian |
regents some time ago.
AT first 1t Seemed that this opportunity OF
honoring a man in whose name science the world
over had been stimulated would be passed over !
In fact, the Board of Regents voted to have the
body reburied in Genoa. Then it was suggested
that Congress might take up the matter and by
an appropriation wipe out the early ingratitude
OF ten years debate the propriety of ac-
cepting the Smithson bequest When this was
not done a weight OF public opinion persuaded
the board to reconsider.
Smithson was natural son of the third Duke
OF Northumberland. a graduate of oxford. and
scientific writer of distinction. He once said:
THE best blood Of England flows in my veins;
my fathers side l a Northumberland. on ,
my mothers l related to kings, bat this
avais me not. My name shall live in the MEM
DRY of man when the titles of the Northumber-
lands and the Percys are extinct and forgot !
ten"
The circumstances of his birth caused him to
lead wandering life. somewhat embittered by
the fact that ne could not take the position in
the British arstocracy which his ancestry de-
served. He inherited his mothers fortune,
and did much work Of value along scientific
lines, but. up to the time OF his death. he seemed
to have done nothing to make good his prophecy.
Then he drew up his remarkable will, which con-
tanned this even more remarkable clause:
Il bequeath the whole Of my property to the
United States Of America. to found at Washing
ton. under the name Of the Smithsonian Institu-
ton. establishment for the increase and diff /
fusion of knowledge among men"
A nephew had the use of the money until 1879,
when he died. childess. and the United States
came into possession of it after an extremely
short contest. The amount was $4,000. which
was brought from England in 1O5 bags each
containing thousand gold sovereigns and
was deposited in the United States Treasury at
6 per cent interest. The fund now amounts to
more than 100000. and certainly fund Of
that size has done more for the world.
The actual beginning of work with the fund
was In 1916, and took the shape Of printing and
distributing free of cost personal memoirs con-
tanning actual contributions to knowledge. lect-
ures delivered in Washington, and giving
sistance to scientific Investigators. Certain
Guides were instituted which have resulted IN
much government work. among others the
scientific activities Of the government have
grown out Of il or been stimulated by it The
institution has eight thousand correspondents in
the United States and twenty-eight thousand
In other parts of the world.
Receiving the direct support OF Congress- but
under the direction Of and essential part Of
the institution is the National Museum, which is
one Of the finest of its kind in the world. In
some departments il eXcels all others The col
lection was founded on that which had accumu-
lated at the Patent Office and has grown to
contain five million specimens. over seven mill
ion five hundred thousand persons have visited
the museum, and selections Of its specimens
have been shown at every large exhibition in
this country.
present quarters, new and interesting specimens
are continually being secured from all parts OF
the world Take the prehistoric collection.