DANGERS AT CORNELL -1868 -1872 373 



small building on the north side of the university grounds, 

 near our main water-power. Then came a piece of great 

 good fortune. Among the charter trustees of the univer- 

 sity was Mr. Cornell's old friend and associate in tele- 

 graphic enterprise, Hiram Sibley of Rochester ; and at the 

 close of the meeting Mr. Sibley asked me if I could give 

 him a little time on the university grounds after the ad- 

 journment of the meeting. I, of course, assented; and 

 next morning, on our visiting the grounds together, he 

 asked me to point out the spot where the proposed college 

 of mechanic arts might best be placed. On my doing so, he 

 looked over the ground carefully, and then said that he 

 would himself erect and equip the building. So began 

 Sibley College, which is to-day, probably, all things con- 

 sidered, the most successful department of this kind in 

 our own country, and perhaps in any country. In the 

 hands, first of Professors Morris* and Sweet, and later 

 under the direction of Dr. Thurston, it has become of 

 the greatest value to every part of the United States, and 

 indeed to other parts of the American continent. 



At the outset a question arose, seemingly trivial, but 

 really serious. Mr. Sibley had gone far beyond his origi- 

 nal proposals; and when the lecture-rooms, drafting- 

 rooms, modeling-rooms, foundries, shops for ironwork, 

 woodwork, and the like, had been finished, the question 

 came up: Shall our aim be to produce things having a 

 pecuniary value, or shall we produce simply samples of 

 the most highly finished workmanship, having, generally, 

 no value ? Fortunately, Professors Morris and Sweet were 

 able to combine both these purposes, and to employ a 

 considerable number of students in the very best of work 

 which had a market value. The whole thing was thereby 

 made a success, but it waited long for recognition. A re- 

 sult followed not unlike some which have occurred in 

 other fields in our country. At the Centennial Exhibition 

 of 1876, an exhibit was made of the work done by students 

 in Sibley College, including a steam-engine, power-lathes, 

 face-plates, and various tools of precision, admirably fin- 



