166 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSETTM, 1891. 



a central rommittec com]M>s(Ml ot citizens ol Washington, who were 

 cuipowcied to piocecil with tiie arran<;enients foi- the celeliration. 

 Having at the nnaniiuous request of this committee accepted tlie gen- 

 eral secretaryship of the organization, I ijroceeded to devote as much 

 time to matters relating to the celebration as my other duties would 

 j)ermit, feeling that a more intimate acquaintance with the inventors of 

 the country, and those interested in the manufacture of patented arti- 

 cles would result in tlie extension of such of the Museum collections as 

 relate to the development of the mechanic art. 



The ceremonies were held in Wa.shington on the 8th, 9th, and 10th 

 of April, 1891. They consisted of a series of meetings at which addresses 

 relating to the history and influence of invention were delivered by 

 prominent statesmen, political economists, and engineers. The follow- 

 ing addresses were delivered : 



Hon. Charles Eliot Mitchell, of Councctiuut, Coiiimissiouer of Patents: "'The 

 Birth and Gi'owth of the American Patent System." 



Hon. O. H. Piatt, i-L. i)., of Connecticut, United States Senator: "Invention :ind 

 Advancement." 



Hon. Carroll D. Wright, a. m., of Massachusetts, Commissioner of Labor: "'The 

 Relation of Invention to Labor." 



Hon. Samuel Blatchford, ll. d., Justice of the Sujjreme Court of the United 

 States: "A Century of Patent La^v." 



Hon. Robert S. Taylor, of Indiana: "The Epoch Making Inventions of America." 



Hon. John W. Daniel, LL. i>., of Virginia, United States Senator : " The New South 

 as an Outgrowth of Invention and the American Patent Law." 



Hon. Edwin Willits, of Michigan, Assistant Secretary of Agriculture: "The Rela- 

 tion of Invention to Agriculture." 



Hon. Benjamin Butterworth, of Ohio, United States House of Representatives: 

 "The Effect of our Patent System on the Material Development of the United 

 States." 



Octave Chanute, of Illinois, president of the American Society of Civil Eugiueeis: 

 "The Effect of Invention upon the Railroad and Other Means of Intercommunica- 

 tion. " 



Hon. A." R. Spofford, ll. i>.. Librarian United States Congress: "The Copyright 

 System of the United States: its Origin and its Growth." 



Thomas Gray, c. k., n. sc, r. R. s. e., of Indiana, professor of dynamic engi- 

 neering, Rose Polytechnic Institute, Terre Haute: "The Inventors of tlu^y Telegraph 

 and Tele])hone." 



Col. F. A. Seely, of Pennsylvania, jirincipal examiner United States Patent Oftice: 

 "International Protection of Industrial Property." 



William P. Trowbridge, ph. d., ll. d., of New York, professor of engineering, 

 school of mines, Columbia College: "The Effect of Technological Schools ui)on the 

 Progress of Invention." 



Robert H. Thurston, A. M., LL. D., DOC. EXG., of New York, director and professor 

 of mechanical engineering, Sibley College, Cornell University: "The Invention of 

 the Steam Engine." 



Cyrus F. Bracket, M. d., ll. d., of New .lersey, Henry professor of physics, Col- 

 lege of New Jersey, Princeton: "The Effect of Invention upon the Progress of 

 Electrical Science." 



Maj. Clarence E. Duttou, Ordnance Department, U. S. Army: "The Influence of 

 Invention upon the Implements and Munitions of Modern Warfare." 



