[23 ] 



16 



On motion of Mr. Seaton, it was 



Resolved, That Dr. Owen be requested to proceed to visit the said quarry, 

 and also the marble quarries in the vicinity of Baltimore, and to report 

 thereon to this committee; also, that he be requested to aid Mr. Renwick 

 by preparing the drawings for the chemical department. 



The chairman stated to the committee, on the part of Dr. Owen, that 

 any services performed by him for the institution would be gratuitous; his 

 actual travelling and other necessary expenses only being paid. 



On motion, the committee adjourned. 



THIRD MEETING— March 1, 1847. 



Present, Messrs. Seaton, Hough, and Owen. 



The chairman laid before the board the following letter from Mr. Samuel 

 Worthington, of Maryland, brother of the ex-member of Congress of that 

 name : 



Baltimore County, Fejbruary 26, 1S4T. 



To the Bidlding- Committee of the Smithsonian Institution : 



Gentlemen: I will agree to furnish, and have placed on cars at Cockeys- 

 ville, any quantity of marble for rubble work, from the quarry, undressed 

 other than broken as near the required size as practicable, at $1 25 per 

 perch; or, if by the ton, at $1 per ton. Any marble that may be wanted 

 other than the above, 1 will deliver on cars, as above, at TO cents per cubic 

 foot for all sizes under forty feet, and for all above forty feet 85 cents per 

 foot. 



Respectfully, your obedient servant, 



SAM'L WORTHINGTON. 



The chairman laid before the committee a reply prepared by him to the 

 above letter, as follows: 



Washington, March 1, 1847. 



Sir: I yesterday received your letter of the 26th of February, addressed 

 to the building committee of our institution, and shall lay it before the 

 committee, which meets to-day. 



Will you have the goodness, in addition to the proposals contained in 

 your letter, to state to us at how much per perch of twenty-five feet , mea- 

 sured in the building, you would be willing to rent to us the quarry-right 

 for so much marble as we may require for our building — say about five 

 thousand perches in all. 



I think the Maryland marble, including the specimens I have seen from 

 your quarry and from others in the neighborhood, is of very fair quality, 

 and only needs a reputation to bring it into general use. But it is neces- 

 sary for us to get the quarry right low, or else the New York marble, which 

 is also of excellent quality, will come into competition with it. The owner 

 of the Hastings quarry, on tlie North river, has offered the quarry-right, for 

 the sake of the reputation it will obtain if selected by our institution. But 

 I think the freight from there may be a trifle higher than that by railroad, 

 if the railroads come down, as I think they will; to 2\ cents per ton per 

 mile. 



