100 McGEE MEMORIAL MEETING 



The breadth and comprehensiveness of his convictions are best illus- 

 trated by the policies of waterway improvement which he advocated 

 and very largely initiated; his ability to grasp and to make clear prob- 

 lems of far-reaching complexity is shown by his manner of dealing 

 with complicated conservation questions; and these were the two great 

 things with which Doctor McGee was most deeply concerned. Work 

 which he had outlined for himself was often neglected in order that 

 he might take time to help another. Whenever asked for criticisms 

 or suggestions, they were always given freely and frankly, without any 

 evidence of jealousy of the results of his own efforts, and were always 

 either constructive in their nature, or merely offered in the form of 

 commendation. It was in this phase of his work that the remarkably 

 wide field his interests covered was indicated ; he seemed interested in 

 practically every branch of science. The material published over his 

 own name represents but a part of his work. A great number of con- 

 tributions were made by him in the form of interviews with other 

 writers or material prepared for the use of co-workers, so that for an 

 enormous amount of work the Doctor himself never received personal 

 credit. He never hesitated to depart from beaten paths, conse- 

 quently he was not without enemies, who, however, in most cases 

 seemed by directing criticism toward a mode of approach or a single 

 step in a far-reaching plan merely to emphasize their own limitations. 



Physically Doctor McGee was a big, strong, well-preserved man. 

 His energy and endurance were remarkable; even during periods of 

 temporary inactivity he reflected a dormant potentiality. Although 

 apparently in excellent health, he had noted for twelve or fifteen years 

 certain physical infirmities, the nature of which he never definitely 

 understood until during the summer of 1910 he submitted to an opera- 

 tion. At this time the true nature of his trouble was discovered. 

 After this operation his health failed steadily, and in June, 1912, he 

 suffered a fall, which, to use his own expression, put him on his back 

 and gave the great trouble its innings. It was seen then that it was 

 only a matter of weeks when the end would come; and it was during 

 this last sad chapter of his life that his true character was most clearly 

 shown. Confined to the room at his club which he made his home, 

 attended by a few friends only, and neglected by those who by all the 

 laws of nature should have been nearest him, the courage and cheer- 



