Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-28
Defends Reputation

"Mr. Lummis states furtnef Indl
| He had made no attempt to destroy
my reputation He succeeds in estap,
fishing to his own satisfaction that
had no reputation, and of course hC
could not destroy thing which did not
exist Reputation and the means by
which it may be acquired involve
possibility of variant solution. 10 nus
trate: An individual in search Of
reputation, and unaware of not possess
ing the qualifications upon which en-
viable reputation is builded assumes
the dual character of historian and
scientist. If he shall then proceed to
solemnly promulgate the vagaries of a
distorted Imagination as an unimpeach-
able record of scientific fact and his
toric truth, he will certainly accumu-
late a reputation.
"There are however, regulations OF
another sort, and acquired by other
methods. AS an illustration l submit
the following letters and statement
by Mr.. Lummis:
\" From William H. Holmes, Chlet,
Bureau OF American Ethnology.
I" Washington, d. c., May 25, 1907.
"'Dear Sir-As the time for the meet
ing of the International Congress OF
Anthropology in Cologne is approach
ing 1 am forwarding for your use
copies of the circular announcing the
congress. Will you be present at the
meeting? Do you desire to present or
have presented a paper?
"'As I am expected to report during
the spring to the secretary of the con-
gress, 1 shall be glad to hear from
you at least by the end of June. Yours
truly, w. H. HOLINESS
"'The American committee appointed
to further the interests of the con-
gress is as follows: w. H. Holmes,
chairman; f. Boas, c. Peabody w. j.
McGee F. w. Putnam, A. L. Kroeber,
C. A. Dorsey, c. V. Hartman, ]. c.
Merriam, G. f, Wright, j. w.
Fewkes, S. CuIin, David Boyle, A Hrd-
licl1a, F. NJ. Palmer, c. A: Peterson
and G. G. MacCurdy. w. H. H
Lauds DR.. Palmer
From F. w. Putnam, professor
American archaeology, Harvard uni
versity, and curator of the Peabody
museum:
Cambridge, Mass, Jan. 4, 1907.
Mr.. James d. S. Chalmers, Los
Angeles, Calmly Dear Sir: In reply
to yours of January 8, l have seen
DIR. Palmer at work in his museum. l
have read what he has written on the
archaeology of California and the re-
ports of his explorations in Arizona.
! have also heard him lecture in Bos-
ton on the archaeology of Southern
California. l have no hesitation in
stating that I believe DR.. Palmer to be
a reliable explorer and gatherer of
archaeological objects. His knowledge
of the archaeology of Southern Call
fornia and of collections illustrating
the same is wide and detailed. His eX-
plorations in Arizona in connection
with the Archaeological Institute of
America showed great natural ability
and careful work.
"'Dr. Palmer has a ready pen and is
able to express in entertaining and in-
structive manner the results of his
researches. He is also a very able
lecturer and holds the attention of his
audience. AS a museum curator, /
Judge him to be indefatigable and well
qualified. 1 am very sincerely yours.
OF. w. PUTNAM
From Frank Virgins, secretary OF
Los Angeles chamber of commerce:
Los Angeles, Cal, March 5, '09.
Mr.. James d. S. Chalmers, 706 Grant
Building, City:
Dear Sir: In response to your
request for statement relating to DR.
f. NJ. Palmer, curator of the South
west museum of this city, l do moi
think l can better illustrate that gen,
tleman's worth than to quote Prof
Francis w. Kelsey, president of the
Archaeological Institute of America.
introduced to Palmer
Some four or five years ago Prof
Kelsey was introduced to me at the
Los Angeles chamber of commerce. He
stated he had just finished a thorough
inspection of the Palmer collection OF
Southern California archaeology.
Knowing that Prof. Kelsey was
undoubtedly qualified to give an eX-
pert opinion, l asked him what he
thought of the collection. He replied
that it was beyond question the most
perfect collection of Southern Califor-
MIA archaeology in the world. He
stated further that he knew of no col
lection ever made in any other part oi
America which so thoroughly illus
trated the archaeology of a given To-
cality. cThis collection is thoroughly
representative of San Luis Obispo
Santa Barbara, Ventura and Los An
geles counties; also all of the ISLANDS
off the coast. The era covered Is
equal to the combined areas of foul
average eastern states.-Palmer)
Prof. Kelsey further stated thai
he had been particularly impressed pS
DR.. Palmers classification of the OBJ,
tects contained in the collection, thai
strict attention to details when dls-
tinguished the scientist.
"'There is nothing we can add tc
the above, as it fully covers the sub
iect and does not give DR.. Palmer any
more credit than is due him. we con-
slider his collection the main attrac-
tion of our exhibit hall and prize il
beyond expression.
" Yours very truly,
FRANK WIGGINS, Secy.'
Testimonial from Mr.. Lummis
an letter dated March %, 1907
from Dr. Edgar l.. Hewett to Mr.. Lum-