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AN APPRECIATION 



Perhaps, strictly speaking, neither "preface" nor "foreword" is the 

 proper term to apply to the opening lines introducing these congratulatory 

 papers presented to Dr. G. Allan Hancock upon the occasion of his 

 eightieth anniversary. Alore accurately I have called them "an apprecia- 

 tion." This testimony could well be extended far beyond these brief notes, 

 for I have never known a man whose major interests were more numerous 

 and broad and whose approach was more detailed and determined. Born 

 at a time when the material, intellectual, and spiritual worlds were ap- 

 proaching a period of the most rapid development and the widest change, 

 his advantages of birth, his alertness of mind, and his understanding 

 sympathies placed him mid-current in the onrushing stream of world 

 events. Buried in his very door-yard lay relics of past ages to be exhumed, 

 identified, and preserved for the centuries to come — a priceless heritage 

 for scientists of all time. Perhaps it was because of this circumstance that 

 he dedicated himself to the support of scientific research. Born in an area 

 still rich with the traditions of the early Spanish landholders, he grew to 

 love the science and the arts of the rancho and the new and prosperous 

 community which in time surrounded his extensive experimental acres. 



Even as a boy he enjoyed music and soon learned to regard it more 

 seriously as a medium of re-creation and stimulation. While other instru- 

 ments in turn had their appeal, his real and lasting love was bestowed 

 upon the cello — this he studied with a seriousness and earnestness that 

 soon placed him and his group of musicians among the leading orchestras 

 of the southwest. For many years, in spite of the arduous and demanding 

 interests of his agricultural, industrial and scientific life, a part of each 

 day was set aside for study and practice until he mastered the most in- 

 tricate passages of the great composers. 



A sluggish railroad with obsolete equipment which transported the 

 meagre products of the fringe land to its seaside junction became, under 

 his vision and far-sighted management, a busy transportation system 

 serving not only its one-time limited domain but also, in time of war, the 

 state and the nation. Interested in aviation from its beginning, he not 

 only became a pilot in the more primitive days of air travel but in 1928 

 sponsored the longest test flight of its time over land and sea. His in- 



