The Washington herald., 1907-04-07

TO a friend on Broadway the other day.
1T went be long before you'll hear Of
his buying a few famous paintings, or a
delicately tinted peachblOw vase or
two, or an exquisite group Of statuary,
just for the name of il; simply TO win
recognition in circles that are supposed
10 care nothing for a man just because
he is rich.
Possibly he won't turn 10 art col
iecting. however; he may go into the en-
doWment line. beginning on few beds in
a hospital. if his impulses are charitable,
or scholarship in a university if he
wishes recognition from the scholarly. II
his efforts 10 get his name up take the
form of buying pictures, or vases. or stat
uary. it will be because he likes artistic
things, of course; If he enters the en-
dowment or charitable field it may be
partly because he wants TO help others
less lucky than himself but most folk will
believe his chief motive a desire to get
his name up, whatever he does"
1t is good for the world that men are
moved in order to force recognition and
the praise of their fellows to do many
things which they need not do. The de-
sire for the worlds attention has result
ed in the enormous enlargement of the
worlds knowledge, in the endowment Of
schools and universities, hospitals, mu-
seums, and art galleries. in the establish
ment of many of the most useful and
necessary charities.
This desire has impelled men of wealth
10 use their money TO pay the salaries
and expenses of scientific investigators;
10 equip and send expeditions to little
known regions in order that the secrets
of geography and geology might be
sought out; to establish astronomical
observatories that the mysteries Of the
heavens might be resolved; in a thou
sand ways the almost universal desire for
recognition has worked out TO the great
benefit of mankind.
James Lick's Way.
Some men who want recognition are so
constituted that they are willing TO wait
for it until after death. James Lick was
one of these. and his way was highly
successful II viii insure recognition
from astronomers as long as they CON
tinue 10 study the stars. and from the
rest of the world as long as Mount
Hamilton. on the summit Of which the
Lick Observatory stands, escapes the Cal
ifornia earthquakes
Lick started out in active life with a
grim determination TO win recognition.
not from the great world at first, bat
from a queer old Pennsylvania Dutch
man. "a miller for whom he worked when
"a boy The miller had money in plenty
and a pretty daughter. Lick had 40
money, but he wanted the miller's daugh-
ter and told the miller so. The latter
wouldn't put up with any such nonsense
as his daughter marrying a poor young
man, even if she was in love with him.
To impress the situation upon Licks mind.
he reminded the young man Of the mill
and asked:
You see that mill Jimmy2 When you
can show me through as good a mill,
which you own, then you can come TO me
and talk about marrying my daughter;
but rot tin then"
Young Lick had nothing further to say
about the girl. He learned the trade of
piano and organ building, and went into
business for himself in Hanover, Pa;
Baltimore. and Philadelphia, successive
is after which he abandoned his native
country and located in Buenos Ayres. He
worked like "a nend at his business 10 get
enough money together to convince the
old miller that he was we'll enough OF
10 marry tie girl. Not progressing fast
enough he added stinginess to his hard
work. and became close almost 10 miser-
Illness He remained in Buenos Ayres
some years, and got moderately ahead of
the game. In 1871 hoping to do better,
ne returned TO the United States, settling
near San Jose Cal
lie was then "a year past fifty. a soli-
rsfA of Iir-f.F Z
10 friends TO speak of, and about whom
nobody even dreamed that there was a
shred Of romance.
Before be had been in California long,
however ne showed that he had never
forgotten the girl he had loved thirty
years earlier and also that the oveTmas-
tering idea oi his life had been TO make
her father sorry Tor the course he had
taken Licll's method Of carrying out his
idea took the form of "a Touring mill,
which was admiringly termed 'palatial" BY
the Californians. since he spent 100000 or
more upon 10, laying floors of mahogany
putting i'm dividing walls and ceilings of
other rare woods. and lavishing no end
of care and attention upon its machm-
ery and construction.
lie knew that he couldn't win the
hand OF his Oldtime sweetheart then, for
she had long been married. but as soon
as the mill was completed he had a
whole series of photographs taken, which
he sent 10 the miller.
Apparently Lick was unsatisfied with
his long deferred and empty triumph Al
all events, be planned the observatory
which bears his name with direct refer
enCe To winning the recognition OF the
entire world. This was shown by the
wording of the first Lick will drawn up /
that contained an observatory clause. |
since IL stipulated distinctly that the OBJ
seTVatOTy should contain "a powerful !
telescope, superior to and more power
ful than any telescope yet made He
was so anxious that there should be no
hitch about 1t that he had the will re-
drawn repeatedly. 1t served its purpose !
in its final form, although the execu- !
tors had to make big concessions to his /
brother before they got through with him
Lick made a dozen other requests. |
varying from 5000 to $4,000 for less
spectacular objects. one of which was
the erection OF a monument in San Fran
cisco TO the memory of Francis Scott
Key. author of the Star Spangled BAN
ner,' and another 20 found California
school OF mechanical arts. None of these
other requests carried with it a stipula- /
ton that the institution benefited should
bear his name, but such a clause did go
with the one providing for the observa- /
tory.
Nobody ever knew why he decided
upon an Astronomical observatory for his |
monument; it wasn't because of any
special interest he had either in the stars
or telescopes, but he could have selected
no better way of getting his name up
after his death than by doing exactly as
he did.
s-r-H