672 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters. 
Building, Law Building, and Gymnasium. The legislatures of 
1889 and 1891 had made notable! and noble appropriations. In 
1893, $140,000 was added, making possible the adequate com¬ 
pletion and outfit of the edifices already under construction. 
In 1895 came the phenomenal appropriation—one-fifth of a 
mill tax additional (i. e., interest on $2,000,000) for two 
years, and $180,000 for the Historical Library. 
“In 1897 the one-fifth mill tax was made permanent and the 
amount for the Historical Library was increased to $420,000; 
ml899 $135,000 was appropriated for a, new Engineering 
Building and for the agricultural heating plant and to com¬ 
plete and equip the Historical Library $200,000 more. In 
1901 about $200,000 was appropriated, of which $150,000 was 
to go to the construction of Agricultural Hall, the remainder 
to the general university fund and to' engineering improvements. 
From! 1890 to 1900 was the building era of the university. 
* * * The increase of the students and faculty has been 
quite commensurate with the improvements in building. In 
1892 the number of students was 1,092, now 2,800; of instruc¬ 
tors, and other officers in 1892, 73 ; now, 168. * * * He 
is a man of fine presence and distinguished bearing, affable, a 
good conversationalist, has for many years been given to enter¬ 
taining notable people, and so, while utterly unassuming, has 
the air of one who is at home in the best company. People 
who do not know him well have sometimes called him an aris¬ 
tocrat. On the platform lie never makes a poor speech, and 
sometimes a great one. As presiding officer at a banquet he 
has few equals within my knowledge. In social matters his 
administration has been a pronounced success. * * * But 
he is also a great executive officer. I have heard him say that 
American people do big things better than they do little ones. 
Lesser men can turn off routine business quite as well as he; his 
pre-eminence is in planning and accomplishing large things. 
“The best evidence of this outwardly is the great Historical 
Library; the best proof of it inwardly is the vast extension of 
facilities, not simply to inleet the great increase in the number 
of students, but to make possible the most advanced work and 
to cause the ablest men to feel that Wisconsin is the best place 
to stay and labor in. Some of the newspapers have criticised 
sharply at tim.es, and some legislators have come from: the peo¬ 
ple to make a fight; but in the end the majority of the legislar 
