62 JOHN WESLEY POWELL. 



As a speaker Powell is deliberate and effective. When no 

 manuscript has been prepared, he frames his sentences clearly and 

 completely, and in the style characteristic of his essays. His voice 

 is of moderate strength, but sufficient for the ordinary lyceum audi- 

 ence. Warmed to his subject, his gestures are frequent and withal 

 spontaneous and unconscious. When he speaks in Washington, 

 where he is well known, the audience room is always filled, and he 

 is equally popular on various lecture circuits of the country. In 

 the early years of his governmental work, when he expended his 

 entire appropriation in exploration and drew no salary, he sup- 

 ported himself by lecturing, arranging for a tour whenever his^ 

 finances demanded it. 



As a debater he is peculiarly ready, not with repartee but with 

 ideas. Indeed the term "debate" ill applies to the discussions in 

 which he ordinarily participates, for these are at the meetings of 

 scientific societies, where the general object is the discovery of 

 truth and not rhetorical victory. His remarks are especially char- 

 acterised by the originality of their point of view, which usually 

 rises above the special subject and presents some phase of his com- 

 prehensive philosophy. 



He often attempts to illustrate what he says -by marking with 

 crayon on a blackboard, just as in conversation he frequently marks 

 with pen or pencil on a sheet of paper, but such attempts serve 

 only the purpose of gesture, correlating a certain amount of mus- 

 cular activity with the mental activity of the moment. The lines 

 he draws rarely bear any relation to the subject. 



His hours of labor and hours of recreation and rest have little 

 relation to official hours of business, and he pays small heed to the 

 mandates of the sun. His executive duties indeed require his pres- 

 ence in certain places at certain times, but his scientific work has 

 no fixed time. It recurs to his mind after each interruption, and 

 holds his attention until the next. Recreation in the earlier years 

 of his governmental work was given no regular place, although his 

 life was far from devoid of it. It consisted chiefly of the conversa- 

 tion of friends and family, but included also games. He was fond 

 of whist, euchre, and cribbage, being an expert at the last, and 

 billiards was a favorite entertainment until a disease of the eye im- 

 paired his skill. He also drove much, being fond of horses and an 

 expert reinsman, despite the loss of his right hand. These various 

 recreations filled only hours of comparative leisure, and were relin- 

 quished for days and even weeks whenever his energies were spe- 

 cially demanded by a crisis of affairs or the formulation of a scien- 



