
ripe old age are suggested, too. They 
are men who have not engaged in the 
stress of business competition, who have 
avoided the tribulations of amassing 
wealth, and who are occupied with the 
work they love. They are contented, 
but not static; curious, but not acquisi- 
tive. Unlike business men they do not 
work to be able to stop work, but they 
outline long programs of investigations, 
study and research which keep them 
young in the anticipation of accom- 
plishment. 
* * * * 
rNR. L. O. HOWARD, who has served 
this country in war as a member 
of the committee on agriculture of the 
National Council of Defense and in 
peace in the Public Health Service, the 
Bureau of Entomology and the Na- 
tional Museum, and who is also an offi- 
cer of the Legion of Honor, pays a 
tribute to the wives of members of the 
Cosmos Club. He says that they are 
women who have understood the am- 
bitions of scientists and artists and who 
have not urged them into grooves where 
they must concentrate on building up 
fortunes for social advancement. _ He 
adds that whereas careers can be ruined 
or turned away from real achievement 
by constant pressure for money or social 
position, they can be made by sympa- 
thetic understanding. 
On the other hand, this statement 
may be another tribute to the scholar, 
because he exercises wisdom in select- 
ing a wife. 
Although membership did not increase 
rapidly, because of the conservative pol- 
icy of the club, it increased steadily, j 
and in a few years it was necessary to j 
move the headquarters from Pennsyl- j 
vania avenue. 
In 1883 the Cosmos Club was moved 
i into the neighborhood where it has 
grown and prospered ever since. A 
. house was rented on Madison place and 
! later Dolly Madison’s house, on the j 
: corner at H street, was purchased. At ! 
the present time the club property is | 
. composed of three units— 1 -the Dolly 
: Madison house, the main building, 
which joins on Madison place, and the 
next-door residence, the Benjamin Ogle 
Tayloe house. 
Even the houses which provide the 
headquarters have as brilliant records 
as the members. The widowed Dolly 
Madison lived in the one at Madison 
place and H street for 12 years, attract- 
ing a salon that might compare favor- 
ably with a board meeting of the club. 
: Senators Don Cameron and Mark 
: Hanna have at different times occupied 
the Tayloe house, named for the co- 
temporary of the colorful Dolly. 
; However, in spite of the fact that the 
buildings have been altered and equip- 
ped to serve the increased membership, 
the time has come when the Cosmos 
Club is faced with the . choice of not 
receiving into membership men who 
: are most decidedly worthy of the honor, 
1 or obtaining larger quarters. It is just 
: possible to serve the needs of the ap- 
proximately 1,700 members, who are 
about equally divided into resident and 
| non-resident. Sleeping, quarters are 
provided, meals are served, separate 
I dining and reception rooms are main- 
lined for members’ families and the 
usual clubrooms are at the disposal of 
the members. In addition, a hall is 
furnished for the meetings of societies 
affiliated with the Washington Acad- 
emy of Sciences and rooms are avail- 
able for their board and committee 
meetings. It has always been the policy 
of the club to co-operate in every way 
with scientific organizations. 
* * A- sjt 
'■J'HIS golden anniversary celebration 
is not the first anniversary to be 
honored. In 1903 a formal occasion 
was made of the twenty-fifth birthday 
of the club. Joseph Coverton Horn- 
blower presided and 260 members were 
present. The volume which contains 
the records of the history otf the club 
and of the . celebration in 1902 is 
illustrated with a page decoration 
showing the seal of the club, the dates, 
1878-1903, the name of the organiza- 
tion, and the words. Science, Litera- 
ture, Art and Law. This was a fitting 
heading for the signatures of those 
who attended the commemorative ex- 
ercises. 
DR. WILLIAM H. HOLMES, 
FOUNDER AND SPEAKER AT 
THE TWENTY-FIFTH AND FIF- 
TIETH ANNIVERSARIES OF THE 
COSMOS CLUB. 
G. K. Gilbert commended the op- < 
portunity for men who are quite de- 
cided in their views to exchange ideas 
with those of opposite beliefs without 
antagonism. He pointed out that 
meeting opponents only in the arena 
does not give the same opportunity, 
for developing broadly as exchanging 
views in the club, and that personal 
relationships promote mutual appre- 
ciation. Binding scientific men by 
social ties promotes solidarity of their 
work and influence, according to him. 
He called the occasion the silver anni- 
versary of science and culture. 
Dr. William H. Holmes spoke on that 
occasion 25 years ago, and will be the 
only one on that program to repeat to- 
morrow. He called himself one of the 
pre-Cosmian elements which crystal- 
lised into the Cosmos Club, and was 
gratified because the club was becom- 
ing known as a promoter of art and art 
interests. 
The 50 years that have seen the 
growth of a club devoted to intellectual 
men have also seen stupendous changes 
in the world without. Many of them 
can possibly be traced to the work of 
the scholars who are members of this 
organization. Progress in radio, , elec- 
tricity, aeronautics, medicine, public 
health, agriculture, art and literature 
has been facilitated by the men who 
have dedicated themselves to culture. 
It is impossible to imagine what 
changes will have taken place when 
the Cosmos Club celebrates its hun- 
dredth anniversary, although many of 
these scientists, with their long-range 
reasoning, might be able to prophesy 
even now. 
On this occasion Dr. S. P. Langley, 
known as head of the Smithsonian 
and a pioneer in aeronautics, spoke 
of the pleasure he had enjoyed in 
this scientific home. He compared. the 
Cosmos with more formal clubs to the 
advantage of the former. He was 
gratified that there were representa- 
tives of the church among the mem- . 
bers because “one of the best prepara- 
tions for a proper mind in which to 
meet such possible changes of' scien- 
tific doctrine lies, then, in the cath- 
olic spirit in , which we may look out 
on all life, not on the Scientific life 
alone, and this spirit is fostered in 
a club which opens its doors wide 
to all thought, and whose motto might 
be ‘Nothing human is foreign to me.’ ” 
The address of Maj. E. C. Dutton, 
U. S. A., was read, in which he wrote 
of the reasons for the founding of 
the club. He referred to the double 
meetings of the old Philosophical So- 
ciety and the informal gatherings at 
the home of Prof. Henry at the Smith- 
sonian and with Prof. Baird. They 
were the forerunners of the club, for 
men with kindred interests. He be- 
lieved that the policy of selecting . only 
members whose tastes and habits con- 
form to the standards of the club was, 
the reason for its success. Prof. Simon 
Newcomb, in' the naval service, con- 
gratulated the members upon their 
conservatism and the development of 
an organization to which not wealth, 
but art, literature and science are im- 
portant. 
