48 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLIV. No. 1124 



scientific men, learned societies, colleges 

 and universities, he began his administra- 

 tion under the most favorable conditions. 

 During the earlier years his work justified 

 the confidence reposed in him, but in the 

 meantime, unknown to his friends and per- 

 haps unsuspected by himself, he had be- 

 come the victim of an insidious disease 

 which weakened the power of both his will 

 and his intellect. Undoubtedly advantage 

 was taken of this fact by others and an in- 

 vestigation of the affairs of the Survey 

 brought to light certain irregularities in its 

 business management that were at first be- 

 lieved to reflect upon the integrity of not 

 only the superintendent, but of many of 

 the older assistants, especially those em- 

 ployed in the field. The superintendent 

 resigned in 1885 and a long and brilliant 

 career thus ended in almost a tragedy. 



The investigation referred to was made 

 by a committee of three employees of the 

 Treasury Department with Frank Manley 

 Thorn, chief clerk of internal revenue, as 

 chairman. 



Mr. Thorn was placed temporarily in 

 charge of the Survey, and afterwards by 

 appointment of the President he con- 

 tinued to act as superintendent until the 

 close of the first Cleveland administration. 

 The unprejudiced historian can not fail 

 to accord to Mr. Thorn great credit for the 

 way in which he managed the affairs of 

 the Survey during this trying period. In- 

 spired by a prospect of participating in the 

 spoils of office, a number of witnesses had 

 volunteered testimony that was either 

 grossly misleading or absolutely false, and 

 this had been incorporated in the report 

 of the commission of which he was chair- 

 man, along with a severe arraignment of 

 the business methods of the Survey and of 

 the integrity of several of its principal 

 officers. During the nearly four years of 

 his administration he learned much about 

 the methods and requirements of such a 



service as the Coast Survey of which in the 

 beginning he had been totally ignorant. A 

 man of sterling integrity, he had the cour- 

 age to revise this report by innumerable 

 additions and annotations, practically vin- 

 dicating the men against whom charges had 

 been made, most of which were merely tech- 

 nical. 



In spite of the unwholesome conditions 

 existing in the beginning of Thorn's ad- 

 ministration the operations of the Survey 

 were continued without serious interrup- 

 tion and much important work was ac- 

 complished. 



A much more regrettable state of affairs 

 prevailed during a considerable period of 

 the administration of General William 

 Ward Duffield, who served as superintend- 

 ent for about three years following his ap- 

 pointment in the autumn of 1894. Not 

 only was the influence of the spoilsman 

 again paramount, but for some unexplain- 

 able reason a number of men were dismissed 

 from the force whose places could not be 

 filled from any source whatever. Men of 

 long and faithful service, whose reputation 

 was international, were lost to the Survey 

 at that time, though a few men afterwards 

 were reappointed. It is charitable to as- 

 sume that the superintendent, who was by 

 profession a civil engineer with a record of 

 good service in the Civil War, had passed 

 the years of discretion before receiving his 

 appointment. That the paralysis by which 

 the service was then afflicted did not be- 

 come complete was due entirely to an un- 

 wavering loyalty to its best traditions on 

 the part of those who remained. 



The historian would gladly pass over 

 these unpleasant episodes, but a due regard 

 for the good name and fame of many indi- 

 viduals involved demands brief reference 

 to them. 



I come now to the living, whose connec- 

 tion with the service is quite within the 

 memory of most of those interested, and 



