THE STORY OF AN ENTOMOLOGIST 



Bell and greatly interested the rest of us. Mr. Miller later became 

 a member of the distinguished group of men who formed the 

 Naval Consulting Board, organized in the early days of the 

 World War. It may be stated incidentally that at an earlier date 

 he had perfected the cable-carrier system used in the construction 

 of the Gatun Locks of the Panama Canal. 



When the Great War came on, it seemed to make little differ- 

 ence at the Wednesday evenings. During the winters of 1914, 

 1915, and 1916, Wednesday after Wednesday went by, the same 

 interesting people were there, and, varying from time to time, the 

 same tremendously wide range of subjects was discussed. So far 

 as I know, never a word was said about the War. Good, broad 

 Americans, with well-founded ideas of world conditions, and 

 equally well-founded opinions of other nations based upon wide 

 reading, travel, and intimate personal acquaintance, felt them- 

 selves growing more and more restless, more and more humili- 

 ated by the inaction of our government. Few of them realized 

 how heavy a burden of shame they were bearing until April 

 1917, when America went in. 



The Wednesday night after this event the Graham Bell circle 

 broke loose. There was no previous sign of it, and no conscious 

 intent. We simply couldn't hold in, and there was no longer 

 any reason why we should. We gathered in the big room, and 

 Dr. Bell turned to me and said, "Dr. Howard, we haven't heard 

 from you for a long time. Haven't you something to tell us 

 tonight?" 



I had just that day received a letter from an Italian friend, 

 who had been forced by bronchitis to go with his wife to Capri. 

 I have referred to him at some length in another chapter. He 

 was at this time too old for military service. In this letter the 

 Duke indulged in a bit of satire that appeared to me to be so 

 exquisite that it stuck in my mind and I quoted it as follows: 



[293] 



