18923 More of Our Friends 



and had ransacked Europe for "Incunabula'' of 

 printing and block engraving. 



Afterward when I met him on various occasions, 

 our discussions always hinged on his plans for the 

 great Sutro Library of rare books and scientific 

 works, later established by him in San Francisco, 

 and finally presented to the state by his daughter, 

 Dr. Emma Sutro Merritt. Unfortunately half of it, 

 including most of the ancient tomes and ecclesias- 

 tical volumes, burned in the earthquake-fire of 1906. 



A genuine patriot, in the sense of devotion to Valentine 

 public welfare, was John J. Valentine, president of 

 the Western Union Telegraph Company. One of his 

 special interests lay in the preservation of the high 

 tone of our foreign policy. An address of mine, 1 

 having attracted his favorable attention, was pub- 

 lished by him in booklet form and distributed far 

 and wide as a tract against imperialism. William H. 

 Mills, another valued friend, long closely associated 

 with Stanford, was a man of high ability, literary as 

 well as financial. 



In Los Angeles, Caroline L. Severance, 'the A strong 

 Mother of Clubs" and center of a host of admirers, woman 

 exerted a remarkable influence on the whole com- 

 munity. Madame Severance was especially inter- 

 ested in the various phases of the struggle for justice 

 to women. 



At Pasadena lived General Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, General 

 founder of the Lowe Observatory. His life was Lowe 

 throughout that of an active and persistent inventor, 

 always with some large and usually successful 

 scheme on hand. In early manhood he constructed 

 balloons for the study of atmospheric phenomena. 



1 "Lest We Forget." See Chapter xxiv, page 616. 



