igio] 'The Harriman Expedition 



group were Vernon Kellogg, Luther Burbank, Fred- 

 erick Adams Woods, and Roswell H. Johnson. 



After the initial work of organization it was my 

 privilege to act as intermediary in a very important 

 advancement of the commission's work. This came 

 about in a most unexpected manner. In my Com- 

 mencement address at Stanford I had spoken of two 

 men of great ability then recently deceased, Simon 

 Newcomb and Edward H. Harriman — the one 

 devoted to science, the other to business; one looking 

 forward to the long future, the other building mainly 

 for immediate results. Nevertheless, the comparison 

 was by no means unappreciative of Harriman, though 

 its main purpose was to honor a great investigator, 

 for " in the achievements of science we find the only 

 permanent wealth of nations." 



In 1898, however, Harriman had arranged for a Large sertf 

 scientific cruise to Alaska and Kamchatka, which he ^". ^° 

 invited me to join. Among those who went were John 

 Muir, C. Hart Merriam, and others of similar 

 standing. But having spent the two previous sum- 

 mers in Bering Sea and being pressed for time in the 

 preparation of my government reports, I felt obliged 

 to decline Mr. Harriman's tempting invitation. The 

 expedition was very successful, and one unusual out- 

 come was the personal endowment by the Harrimans 

 of Dr. Merriam as investigator, with a generous 

 yearly honorarium for life. The results of the expedi- 

 tion, also, were embodied in fifteen superb volumes. 



In the course of the autumn, while in New York, I 

 received an invitation from Mrs. Harriman to pay 

 a little visit at her country home at Arden, Orange At Arden 

 County, the probable purpose being to give me a more 

 friendly or more intimate view of the life of her 



C 297 3 



