374 MINNESOTA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



the University of Wisconsin, he was the one selected to represent 

 Minnesota. Excellence in scholarship, fidelity in friendship, purity 

 in morals and sincerity in religious convictions gfave him a power 

 both for self control and for influence in society. 



Having completed the required studies before commencement 

 time, he was called in the spring of 1896, before he had completed 

 his twenty-first year, to fill the responsible position of superintend- 

 ent of the North-East Sub-Experiment Station, at Grand Rapids. 

 His vigor, wisdom, tact, generosity and honesty in the discharge of 

 his complex duties here soon won the confidence and friendship of 

 all whom he met. 



His plans for reforesting burned areas, draining swamps, devel- 

 oping cranberry, hay, stock and agricultural interests, gave promise 

 of transforming thousands of square miles of waste expanse into 

 highly productive fields and forests. One year of planning and ex- 

 ecution had drawn the attention and won the approval of officials 

 in both the state and national departments of agriculture. 



During his last year in college and this first year in executive 

 work, he had felt occasional attacks of severe pain which he attrib- 

 uted to indigestion and of which he made so little coinplaint that no 

 one suspected that a cancer was consuming his vital organs. He 

 spent the winter of 1896 97 in the School of Agriculture studying the 

 scientific principles and practical applications involved in the de- 

 velopment of his work. More frequent attacks of pain drew the at- 

 tention of his friends, but he still called them spells of indigestion, 

 took simple remedies and passed them by. 



Courageous and hopeful, yet weak and nervous, he left early in 

 April for his responsible and arduous duties. But his devotion to 

 his work and his silent endurance of pain could not long sustain 

 him or blind his friends. Excruciating pain and weakness from de- 

 fective nutrition at last compelled him to return home, as he thought, 

 to rest. But his work was done, his sufferings were soon to cease, 

 he was to leave his cherished plans to the execution of others, and 

 to graduate, so young, only twenty-two years old, from this life of 

 toil to the life of perfect peace. 



In his death we all suffer a great loss. The family mourn a lov- 

 ing son, a gentle brother; the school and university miss a disting- 

 uished scholar, a cherished alumnus; the state and nation lose a 

 brilliant scientist, a practical executive. To his station and his 

 community his death is felt as a calamity, and through the columns 

 of the Grand Rapids Herald-Review the following beautiful and 

 touching tribute is offered to his memory: 



"Warren W. Pendergast is dead, and throughout the state the story 

 of his life is told: his efforts to obtain knowledge, his abilit}', his 

 character, his capacity and power and, above all, that splendid dis- 

 position that brought him close to the hearts of all with whom he 

 came in contact. The state press, speaking from the great cities, the 

 country villages, the hamlets and towns, has told us of the boy and 

 man, has told us of his boyhood days, his college life, his entry into 

 the great field of usefulness to his fellow men — and we know that he 

 gave promise of great things; from him we expected much. 



