The coastland times with which is combined the pilot and herald of Belhaven and Swan Quarter. [volume] (Manteo, N.C.) 1959-1973, 1960-07-29
SMITHSONIAN IS
OUTDATED; CALLED
NATIONS ATTIC
But Is Remarkable Showcase OF
History and Progress in the
United States

attic" is fast becoming the Nations
showcase.
The Smithsonian Institution,
which Mark Twain once referred
to as a "mildewed old FOSSIL" is
undergoing vast modernization
and building program. The new
Museum of History and Technolo-
gy, scheduled for completion in
1862, may we'll be the worlds
finest museum building.
"In our exhibit shops dozens of
artists, cabinetmakers, painters,
electricians, and piastics experts
are preparing new exhibits that
will match the splendor of the
building" DR.. Leonard Carmichael,
Secretary of the Smithsonian,
writes in the June National Geo
graphic. DR.. Carmichael is TruS-
tee of the National Geographic
Society.
IL Million People Yearly
AS conservator of Americas
cultural heritage, the Smithsonian
maintains for public use three
museums, three art galleries, and
a zoo.
Together they constitute the
largest museum complex in the
world" DR.. Carmichael said. "More
than II million people annually
view it's exhibitions. What they see
represents but the choicest frac-
ton of the 81 million catalogued
treasures-worth we'll over bill
lion dollars-which the Smithson-
ian preserves"
There are huge objects-the big
gest of elephants and the biggest
dinosaur bone ever found - and
such minute items as hummingbird
eggs. There are live animals ian
observation hive of bees) and dead
ones, including Winchester, the
horse General Sheridan rode in the
Civil War.
A 2.573-pound meteorite, a two
story colonial farmhouse from Mas
sachusetts, the original Star
Spangled Banner, Egyptian num-
mics, a $4,000 bill, a nugget of
Suffers gold, half million postage
stamps, and the Wright Brothers
plane are among other items that
MIKE the Smithsonian Washing
toms foremost tourist attraction.
The Smithsonian's beginnings go
back to 1926 when an Englishman,
James Smithson, penned a will
leaving his fortune of half a mil
lion dollars to the United States
"to found an establishment
for the increase & diffusion of
knowledge among men," This was
done in 1916.
"Whatever Smithson's motives
may have been, he achieved spec
tacularly his ambition to preserve
his name," DR.. Carmichael said
"The Institution he founded has be-
come one of the worlds most in
fluential scientific and cultural
centers."
The Smithsonian has played a
major role in the surge of Ameri
can scientific progress. 1t has as
sisted at the birth of many modern
sciences, including meteorology,
aeronautics, and rocketry. 1t has
sent some 1000 expeditions over
the face fthe earth. Its Astro-
physical Observatory in Cam
bridge, Massachusetts, is expand
ing the frontiers of mans know
ledge about space.
Top Authority on Indians
The Smithsonian is the absolute
authority on the American abort
CINE. Two magnificent halls show
rich and varied collection of his
toric Indian materials.
Some of the Smithsonian's plas-
ter figures of Indians were made
for the Columbian Exposition in
Chicago in 1893. The figures were
so realistic that an irate visitor
wrote her Congressman: "Some-
thing must be done to stop the
Smithsonian from shooting and
stuffing all those Indians!"
The Smithsonian hasn't single
stuffed Indian, of course. But il
does have a collection of 10000
human skulls which have told
volumes about the life of man in
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