assembled. Those who were m his 
confidence were well aware that he 
had dedicated himself to turning- the 
major portion of his great wealth into, across them at White heat spee.d. On 
Knontir orifl nap for the en- t ho mirldlP noin+nrl tmo 
objects of beauty and use for the en¬ 
joyment and education of the people of 
his own country. _ 
The enormous size and scope of the 
Freer gatherings and Mr. Freer’s rap¬ 
idly flying years admonished him. that 
he must make some prompt, definite 
and worthy disposition of his joy 
work. In January, 1904, he made his 
first and tentative approach to the 
regents of the Smithsonian Institu¬ 
tion, outlining the extent of his col¬ 
lection and unfolding his object. 
Not until January, 1905, was a com¬ 
mittee sent from the institution to 
appraise his collection. They recog¬ 
nized the great value of his immense 
and unusual collection, and so re¬ 
ported. Some legal hitches required 
the intervention of President Roose¬ 
velt and Chief Justice Fuller. In 190* 
Mr. Freer revised his former offer, 
satisfied every legal technicality and 
agreed to a fictitious sale which ena¬ 
bled the regents, without further 
question or delay, ,to accept the be¬ 
quest. For the sum of $1, and “other 
valuable considerations paid to him 
in hand,’’ Mr. Freer conveyed his col¬ 
lection to the nation “forever.” 
Those who have had the privilege of 
seeing Mr. Freer’s wonderful exam¬ 
ples of oriental and modern art mas- 
terpieces in his Detroit home and 
those he lent to museums, expositions 
and world fairs bear witness to the 
collection’s unique value and rejoice 
that Mr. Freer’s intelligent generosity 
prompted him to present his monu¬ 
mental collection to the nation in its 
entirety and forever. 
While Mr. Freer bound himself to 
provide a suitable building to house 
his collection, he stipulated that the 
structure should be near the Na¬ 
tional Museum, that the interior 
should be arranged with special re¬ 
gard for the convenience of students 
and others desirous of an oppor¬ 
tunity for uninterrupted study, that 
there were to be no additions to nor 
deductions from the collection and 
nothing else ever exhibited with it 
in the building, and that the collec¬ 
tion should never be removed from 
the building except for repairs ahd 
renovations, that no charge should 
ever be made for admission or for 
the privilege of examining or study¬ 
ing the collections, that the museum 
should bear his name in some modest 
and appropriate form, that he should 
continue his censorship and that the 
collection should remain in his pos¬ 
session during, his lifetime. 
* * * * 
born of his amazing brain, in order 
to preserve the continuous theme¬ 
lines he closed the shutters and swept 
the middle shutter he painted two 
peacocks with their feathers flying" 
toward the top, and one peacock on 
each of the two flanking shutters. 
All the work was well advanced and 
he was about to undertake the deco¬ 
ration of the wall opposite the man¬ 
tel and fjhe princess, when he sent 
Mr. Lelartd a, bill which doubled the 
amount originally agreed upon for 
his work. Mr. Leland refused to pav 
the account as rendered, but sent 
Whistler £1.000 instead of the 2,000 
guineas he had demanded. 
j|S 3jc 
"UxrHISTUER liked jam on his bread, 
but he was artist first. He 
asked to be permitted to finish the 
room. His request was granted and 
his revenge was the two frenzied 
peacocks, one with feathers splaying 
perpendicularly, clutching at a ” pile 
of gold coin, head stretched to the 
utmost height and glaring at the 
other, whose feathers sweep horizon¬ 
tally, with head as high, glaring back 
in righteous indignation and defiance. 
The witty, waspy Whistler gave them 
symbolic names, “Art” and “Money,” 
Which will forever cling to them. 
There will always be great argu¬ 
ment as to which of Whistler’s works: 
—or which one of his mediums—will 
perpetuate his fame. 
Standards are but condensed 
opinions, and time brings about re¬ 
versals, but it will always be con¬ 
ceded that Whistler was the great¬ 
est master of his time. 
The new Freer Art Gallery is his 
shrine in America. Thousands and 
thousands will make the pilgrimage 
and stand without sandals in the 
presence of his. works merely to 
feast their eyes. ^ 
Those who know Whistler only as 
the painter of “The Mother,” as 
familiar as Michaelangelo’s “Holy 
Family,” will now have, without 
money and without price,” the op¬ 
portunity and privilege of widening 
their knowledge of the art of this 
versatile master. 
The new Freer Art Gallery is not 
only .Whistler’s shrine; it is a monu¬ 
ment to the memory of a great and 
■discriminating collector and bene¬ 
factor whose passion was not pos¬ 
session, but pursuit and discovery, 
and the satisfaction of passing de¬ 
light and instruction on to others to 
whom fortune is less kind. 
T is now only a matter of transpor¬ 
tation when his dream will be in 
full realization ahd operation, defi¬ 
nitely in the possession of the United 
States for the benefit of the untech- 
nical observer, and making its ap¬ 
peal to the esthetic instincts of the 
American people. 
To the more than 6,000 objects, ar¬ 
ranged as they will be in such happy, 
j systematic sequence and easy avail- 
’ ability, Mr. Freer added his choice 
j and comprehensive art library for the 
use of students. His custom, bor¬ 
rowed from the orientals, of exhibit¬ 
ing only a few of his treasures at 
a time, will be observed in the con¬ 
duct of the gallery. Objects will be 
. taken from their tills to Special rooms 
for study. 
) Mr. Freer’s contention of the close 
A Bacteria Census. 
OT long ago there was made 
known the result of an exami¬ 
nation made by one of the govern¬ 
ment scientists of the colonies of 
bacteria residing on the surface of 
unwashed fruit taken from the mar¬ 
kets. 
This scientist computed the number 
of bacteria found on half a pound 
of each of the fruits named, as fol¬ 
lows: Huckleberries, 400,000; dam¬ 
sons, 470,000; yellow plums, 700,000; 
pears, 800,000; gooseberries, 1,000,000; 
garden Strawberries, 2,000,000; rasp¬ 
berries, 4,000,000; grapes, 8,000,000; 
grapes* 8,000,000; currants, 11 , 000 , 000 $ 
cherries, 12,000,000. 
