Evening star., 1951-07-01

IIAAA0AdOC0 t141OQSII lllC Cl1Ol 10 VI
the medical fraternity of the
United States and has cost the
Government comparatively moth
ing.
I'm the museum department
there are Illustrations of the ef-
Ifects of gunshot wounds and in
juries received in battle, such as
medical students and the medical
profession can have access to in
no other way. That museum and
library should be kept by itself i,
and should be kept in a building
where it would not be exposed to-
danger by reason of its surround
ings. To the medical fraternity of
the United States it has been for
years, and is now, an object of
special solicitude that this proper
ty should be put in such a posi-
ton as not to be constantly ex-
posed to the danger of being lost
or destroyed. The building in
which it is now located has al
ready begun to tumble to the
ground. The rear wall is more
than IL inches out of plumb, and,
as I said before, no private indi-
vidual would think of leaving such
property in such a building for
any length of time" The build
ing in question was the Ford
Theater building.
The remarkable part of this
statement is that the Govern
ment should have permitted this
building to be used to house it's
clerks and records, knowing it's
walls to be so far out of plumb.
1t surely proved to be a most ex-
Ipensive and regrettable error.
Professor Mason
Another unusually able and
cordial man whose helpfulness
and kindliness endeared him to
every one was Otis Tuition Mason.
Prof. Mason, as he was always
called, had been an instructor for
many years in the Columbian
College when it was out on Four
teenth street, and when he came
to the National Museum he be-
came curator of the Department
Iof Ethnology, and remained in
that department until he died.
1t was while Prof. Mason was in
charge of this department that
John Garland Pollard, later Gov
ernor of Virginia. came to work
in the museum under DR.. Walter
Hough, the present head curator
of the Department Of Anthro-
|pology.
If the writer's recollection is
correct. the professors daughter
married the brother Of Gov.
Pollard, who was a Baptist clergy
man and for years stationed in
this city, and it was, no doubt,
due to this relationship that
young Pollard came to work in
the Museum around 1890.
The writer. VINO then had
charge of the Museum printing
office. became well acquainted
with the future Virginia executive,
both being young men and of
about the same age at that time.
Herbert Boird Stimson
Herbert Baird Simpson, then
connected with the Museum IL
brary, also a law student and a
companion of Mr.. Pollard, collab-
Grated with the latter in the Pom
K. Sob story. Simpson later
Ipracticed law in Baltimore and
became a writer. One of his books
was called Regeneration" and
was a story of the South. His
brother. Billy" Simpson, who
also worked in the Museum at an
early date, studied medicine at
Columbian College and made 100
on his final examination, and
later distinguished himself in|
medicine.
Many years ago the National
Museum did not have a large force
of employees. The writer does not
happen to have handy a list of
that period before him, but many
of those employed there were
working in the Museum at an
earlier date. A list of the en-
ployes of 1892 follows: A. F..
Adams. Cyrus Adler, w. M. Ash
ley, Miss S. s. Atkinson, B. A.
Bean, Miss N. c. Beard, j. E.
Benedict, Joseph Berres. S. H.
Bond, John Boyle, w. H. Brels-
ford, Paul Brockett, A. H. Brown,
j. H. Brown, S. c. Brown, Mrs.
H. w. Burnside, A. Howard Clark.
Miss c. Cornell, w. v. Cox, Miss
M. E. De Ronceray, j. J. Desmond.
C. w. Diggs, M. S. Diggs. and