%\t IJatiiraliiit, 
VOL. IV. 
KANSAS CITY, KANSAS, APRIL, 1890. 
NO. 9. 
Major Powell CondeniiiPd by the Press: 
Criticisms by Prominent Scientists. 
His Views not Endorsed ev the 
Leading Archaeologists. 
Representatives should Oust all i 
Officiai Humbugs." 
In the December, 1889 issue of this 
paper we published an article on "An- 
tiquity of the Mounils" from the able 
pen of Mr. Warren Watson, of Kansas 
t'ity, Mo., in which he justly censured 
certain "official" scientists connected 
with the Smithsonian Institute, for the 
l)art they are taking in disseminating, i't 
government expense, their own precon- 
ceived ideas wliicli are unsupported by 
facts, and entirely oontradictorj' to the 
ideas ativanced by all not connected with 
Powell, who have investigated the sub- 
ject, of the" official " scientists to w hich 
we have above referred. 
Among the man}' letters received e)i- 
(lorsing Mr. Watson's stand wms one from 
•Tno. H. Frick, Prof, of Mathematics and 
Natural Science at the Central Wcsleyan 
<;ollegeof Warrensburg, iMo.,fi om which 
we quote the following: '• 1 wish esjje- 
cially locounnend the article,"Antiquity 
of Mounds."' 1 think it a downright 
■■ihame for these men r,o twist the facts to 
-^uit their preconceived ideas. T!ie ad- 
dress of Garrick Mallery on " Israelite 
and Indian" is anothei- of the same sort. 
It is a piece of the most monumental 
assumption and impudence ] ever saw 
or heard of and cannot tail but be of 
discredit to science." 
In the February Naturalist appeal ed 
the second ai ticle from Mr. Watson in 
which he comdemns Maj. Powell foi- bis 
ungentlemanly, untruthful and sneering 
attack upon the authenticity of the Ele- 
phant Pipes in the Museum of the Daven- 
port Academy of Natural Sciences. The 
Daven])<>rt Democrat under date of March 
■28, refers to the matter and quotes co- 
piously from the article. 
The St. Louis Republic says: '• Mr. J. 
W. Powell, tlie chief of the governnienfs 
bureau of alleged ethnology has taken 
occasion to renew the war in which he 
involved the United States against the 
Davenport Academy of Sciences some 
years ago. He is again heading the 
federal government for an attack on 
Davenport, its elephant pipes — pipes 
which he attacked at government expense 
in a government puplication. In review- 
ing his renewal of this attack, the Kansas 
City Naturalist says: "It Is not too 
severe under the circumstances to say 
hat the greater portion of it is untrue 
and that Major Powell knew it to be so." 
It is entireh^ praiseworthy in Daven- 
port to have an academy to promote 
science at private expense, and we dare 
say tlie least scientifif of its members is 
just as scientific as Mr. Powell, if not 
more so. But Mr. Powell is not willing 
to allow any claim to science which he 
has not specially indorsed beforehand. 
So, when the Davenport academy, in 
grubbing around in Indian mounds, found 
a couple of pipes shaped like elephants, 
with well-defined tail=i and trunks, he 
took occasion to commit the United States 
goxernment to the contention that the 
members of the Davenport academy 
were ridiculous ignoramuses, and that 
their elephant pipes were not shaped like 
elephants and were forgeries at an}' rate, 
this when he had never seen the elephant 
])ipes or even a picture of thein. The 
Daven[)oit academy pi-omptly issued ful- 
ly authenticated jiictui'es nf the pipes, 
but they luul no redress, for Powell had 
the entire government against tliem, and 
used it in the efTort to m.o'^e ridiculous 
all efforts of Iowa to advance the cause 
of science. 
There was no other oeoasion for this 
than Ills feeling that the salary lie draws 
i as chief of the official ring of alledged sci- 
entists entitles him to abuse and discredit 
all who are not members of the clique. 
The elephant pipes were jirivate proj)- 
erty. They liad well-detined tails and 
trunks, and were not offered for sale to 
the government. They were thej'efore 
none of Powell's buisness ;ind none of 
the governmenfs Imisness. If, after the 
people of Iowa have ))aid their tariff tax- 
es and economized by burning their coi-n, 
they have anything left to advance the 
cause of ethnology, it is their affair. If 
their elephant pipes had neither heads 
nor tails; i f they looked more like dodos 
than the well defined elephants thcj- do 
look like, they would still have a right 
to put them in their collections and write 
learned and scientific disquisitions on 
them. This is a great country, and Mr. 
Powell is one of the gi'eatest official hum- 
bugs in it, but he must learn to confine 
his humbuggery within bound*. If all 
the scientists of Iowa were humbugs? 
they would have far more right to hum- 
bug unmolested than he has, for he costs 
the tax-payers of the country a great 
deal of money." 
The remarks from our big contempo- 
rary are pointed, hitting the nail decided- 
Ij' and squarely on the head. 
It is probably quite out of the question 
for the Naturalist to attract the atten- 
tion of our Representatives .or many of 
their constituents, to the impositions 
practiced by Powell and his clique upon 
the taxpayers of the Country; while we 
are willing to contribute our mite to- 
wards ridding the country of an expen- 
sive unscientific r.uisance. our limited cir- 
culation precludes our doing more than 
a minimun amountof good. Such papers 
however as the Kansas City Star, St. 
Louis Republic, Chicago Times and 
others, have it entirely in their power to 
present such a mass of evidence of 
Powell's unreViability. untruthfulness, 
and misapplication of official power as to 
make him "shake in his boots" or "shake 
him out of them," entirely. 
Mr. S. A. Miller is an attornej' at law 
at Cincinnati. He is probably better 
known to the scientists of the country as 
a Pala?onto'ogist. In a recent letter he 
writes: "1 have read the article of 
^Varl•en Watson, on " Those Elephant 
Pipes," in reply to J. W. Powell, who un- 
fortunately for Science and education is 
at the head of the Geological Survey of 
this country. Watson'-i criticism is ap- 
propriate and true. I wouU} add, that so 
far as Powell's publication on the other 
branches of science have fallen under my 
notice, thej' are far inferior to those of 
his predecessors in the Geological Survey. 
A small mutual admiration society in 
Washington City, connected with a 
pseudo national academj', seem.s to assist 
to positions those who become members, 
and the rusult is a government corps of 
employes in matters of Natural History, 
so conceited and ignorant, that it is a 
pity their productions ever find a place 
in print, even though Congress cares not 
wheie the monej' goes so it tends to de- 
plete tlie Treasurj'. When will our Rep- 
resentatives realize the imposition so 
patent to every student ?" 
Mr. Miller is jiuthor of "North Ameri- 
can Geology and P;i]peontology," is a well 
read and well posted man and knows 
what he is talking about. He echoes 
the thoughts of hundieds all over the 
country who have watched Maj. Powell's 
proceedings with feelings of contempt. 
A New Clnb House at Davenport, Iowa. 
The directors of the Forester Gun Club 
are having plans and specifications drawn 
for a new club house, to be erected at the 
park this Spring. It is the intention to 
have the building completed liefore the 
State tournament, which will be held in 
June. There is considerable discussion 
among sportsmen regarding the shoot- 
{ng of ducks at this season, the general 
opinion is that there should be some way 
adopted to stop it. — Forest and Stream, 
