THE YOUNG PROFESSOR 127 
The following letter to his brother describes the 
progress on the new workshop. William at this time, 
having left Washington, was practising law in Reading. 
From Spencer F. Baird to William M. Baird. 
CARLISLE, Sept. 30, 1845 
Dear WILL, 
Mother requests me to write and acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter enclosing the check, which came very opportunely. We 
can now Sauce Doty to our heart’s content for delaying so much. 
The house is not done yet, and will not be until next week. They 
are painting the woodwork, but there are all the shutters to put up, 
the balcony, and the locks on the doors, 16 in number, Yet to do. 
If I were the girls I would not come home until the beginning or 
middle of next week, if they wish to get the coup d’oeil, in fact I 
would advise them to that course. Mother says that if you have not 
got the carpets, not to do so unless they are very pretty and cheap. 
She will get them in Philadelphia in the event of your not having 
taken them. Bishop McCoskrey urges me to write to Dr Houghton 
who is surveying some government copper land about Lake Superior, 
for a situation in his corps which will start out next April. He is 
sanguine of my success. If Uncle Tommy goes to Schuylkill Co. I 
would like to visit him for a few weeks to learn some of the practice 
of Surveying. Won’t Lake Superior be a great place. Every body 
is preparing for Shooting Partridges to morrow. They are very 
abundant. Other game is however very scarce. I killed a Short- 
billed Marsh Wren last week in the Poor house meadow, and saw 
others, but could not get them. Write soon. Yours truly 
Spencer F. Barrp 
Nothing seems to have come of the Lake Superior 
proposal. October 4th his brother Samuel and his cousin 
William Penrose went to Lancaster to stay, the former 
to undertake teaching and the latter the study of law. 
Spencer hard at work on Spanish, Italian and German, 
besides Trigonometry, etc. 
