96 McGEE MEMORIAL MEETING 



fell heir. So far-reaching and detailed was the general scope as out- 

 lined in his synopsis, it would have been impossible of execution even 

 had the original leaders in the various organizations remained to par- 

 ticipate. In short, the plan seems to have fallen through from its 

 own weight. But such a failing was perhaps a necessary consequence 

 of an almost super-abundance of ideas, and it was by no means without 

 its compensating features. 



Were I to attempt a summation of his chief characteristics as they 

 impressed themselves upon me, and this in the few words that I feel 

 can be allotted me here, I would say that for wide interest in scientific 

 matters, fecundity of ideas and mental vigor, he was by all odds one 

 of the most remarkable men with whom it has been my lot to associate. 



From Senator Francis G. Newlands of Nevada: 



I greatly regretted that I was not able to speak at the Memorial 

 meeting, and to pay my tribute to the character and memory of our 

 dear friend, Doctor McGee. I had always had a great admiration 

 for his scholarship, knowledge, and attainments, but I never got a real 

 insight of his nature and character until we served together with him 

 on the Waterways Commission appointed by President Roosevelt. 



Our long journey over the waterways of the country was illuminated 

 by his vast information, resourcefulness, imagination, humor, and 

 practical judgment. Self-effacement is not an uncommon quality in 

 those who delight to serve the public, but I have never known such 

 self-effacement as that of our friend McGee. The question of personal 

 credit or repute never seemed to enter his mind. A sense of service 

 was his controlling impulse, and that without any thought whatever of 

 selfish reward either in fame or emolument. 



I saw him several times during his last illness. The sense of its 

 incurability would have depressed the mental activity of others, but 

 it did not seem to affect the operation of his great humane and kindly 

 mind. His self-obliteration was as apparent in illness as it was in 

 health. 



I have missed his aid and cooperation in the great work that we 

 have been engaged in, that of the conservation of our waters for 

 every useful purpose and the mitigation of their destructive effects, 



