HOW PROFESSOR MITCHELL BUILT HIS OBSERVATORY. VISITORS to Cincinnati are surprised to find in the enchanting environs of that busy city an astronomical observatory, provided with a costly telescope and all the requisite apparatus for observing the stars. A chemical laboratory or a school of engineers would not excite astonishment; for such establishments would accord with the industrial character of the place, and promote the acquisition of wealth. Nor are we surprised at the existence of libraries, a gallery of art, and the beginning of a museum, since these things can be enjoyed by a large number of the people. But an observatory, which so few can use, and the results of which so few can appreciate, is something which we should suppose Cincinnati would have been disposed to wait for a century or two longer. There it stands, however, on a lofty hill overlooking the city, and piercing the skies it is designed to explore. The observatory resulted from the zeal, the tact, and the. indomitable perseverance of one man, the late Professor O. M Mitchell, who died during the war, a general in the service of the United States. The Cincinnati observatory is a monument to his memory; and there is nothing in the annals of the city so curious as the story of its erection. Probably there was not in the world another man who could have accomplished such a task in such a place, at such a time, and in the face of so many obstacles. A poor Kentucky boy, born in 1810, he attracted notice by his intelligence and vivacity, and, obtaining an appointment to the Military Academy, reached West Point at the age of fifteen, with a knapsack upon his back and twenty-five cents in his pocket. Graduating with honor at the academy, he served awhile in the army, from which, while still a young man, he retired, and in 1840 we find him professor of astronomy and mathematics in the Cincinnati College. During the operations about to be related, he performed all the duties of his professorship, working hard for five hours every day at the college, and expending as much vitality in that five hours' work as most men have to expend in all. The first thing attempted was the purchase of a telescope, which was to cost nine thousand five hundred dollars; and the directors were resolved not to raise the building until the whole of this sum had been collected and sent on its way to Europe. To give éclat and publicity to the enterprise, however, the corner-stone of the edifice was laid in November, 1843, by John Quincy Adams, amid a great concourse of people, to whom he addressed an eloquent oration upon the charms and utilities of science. At that time, although the whole of the purchase money for the instrument had been subscribed, only three thousand dollars of it had been paid, the remainder being due in Germany in the following June. The western people are excellent subscribers when business is brisk; but a few months, or even a few weeks, at that day, often changed the prospects of business men; so that money freely subscribed was paid slowly and with extreme difficulty. A "low stage of water" in the rivers was sufficient of itself to bring business almost to a dead halt, since Cincinnati could neither get coal for her steam-engines nor iron for her foundries, nor goods for her customers. It so happened that this season was one of extreme depression, and the collector for the telescope reported that the subscribers could not pay, and that it was a mere waste of time to call upon them. Professor Mitchell, whose whole soul was in the enterprise, took the affair into his own hands, and went systematically into the business of collecting money. Every day, after the duties of his professorship were performed, he began his rounds. Some of the subscribers could not pay, saw no prospect of being able to pay, and, in fact, repudiated the obligation to pay. Such were stricken off the books, and new subscribers were sought to make up the deficiency. Others could not pay then, and asked delay. The pro fessor would take out his book and enter the day, hour, and minute when he would call again, and, though the time was in some instances four months distant, he never failed to appear at the appointed moment. In collecting some of the subscriptions, he called as many times as there were dollars to collect. Some men had no money, but could pay in merchandise, and this merchandise he had frequently to sell for other merchandise, and this again, until four or five barterings had occurred before the money was obtained. In the course of seventy days the sum of three thousand five hundred dollars was obtained and paid over to the treasurer, leaving three thousand dollars still to be raised for the instrument alone. Cincinnati appeared then to have been drained dry of money available for such a purpose, and almost any man but Professor Mitchell would have given up the affair. He The indefatigable professor now changed his tactics. drew up a list of rich men, who had already subscribed liberally, and placed opposite the name of each the sum of money which he meant to get from him. Eight men had the sum of two hundred dollars placed opposite their names; ten more were put down for one hundred dollars; twenty for fifty dollars. With this list in his hands, Professor Mitchell renewed his rounds exhibiting it to each of the persons in turn. One of the two-hundred-dollar men refused absolutely to give anything, and another name was substituted. Another hesitated awhile, and then offered one hundred dollars; but, as his eye glanced down the catalogue once more, he said it was a pity to spoil so beautiful a scheme for so small a sum, and handed over the full amount. One or two of the fifty-dollar men were tardy in paying. With these exceptions, the programme drawn up by Professor Mitchell was carried out; and thus, by the tenth of May, 1843, one month before the money was due in Europe, the whole amount was in the treasury, except one hundred and fifty dollars. When this report was presented to the directors, they adjourned a week to give time for completing the sum required. At the expiration of the week, the professor was obliged to report that there was still a deficiency of twenty-five dollars; but in the course of that day this sum was obtained, and the purchase-money was despatched just in time to catch the steamer. But a telescope of that magnitude is of no use without au bservatory on which to mount it. The building of the observatory, which would cost about six thousand dollars, was the next difficulty which the professor had to face, and he set about it without delay. The treasury contained not one dollar. Two or three thousand dollars had been subscribed toward the building, all payable in materials and labor; but cash there was none, and none seemed likely to be forthcoming. Nothing daunted, the professor drew his plans, prepared his estimates, and endeavored to induce mechanics to contract for the erection of the edifice. No mechanic could be found willing to undertake the work, without some more substantial guaranty for payment than any which Professor Mitchell could furnish. No matter; the invincible man determined to be his own contractor, as well as architect. -- In June, 1844, about the time the purchase-money for the instrument reached the other side of the Atlantic, he hired two masons and began the work. These two men could have built the observatory in about twenty years, and the edifice had to be completed in exactly one year, or the site was forfeit, the ground having been given on that condition. A beginning was made, however, though the professor had no more money than would be needed for the wages of his two men for one week. A little more money came dribbling in, and, as soon as it seemed safe, another man was added, and another, and another. Such enthusiasm as his is contagious, and the pressing necessities of Saturday night added new force to his solicitations; and still the work went on; and still the number of workmen increased. It was vacation at the college, and the professor was thus enabled for several weeks to devote his whole time to the business. Several unexpected difficulties arose, in overcoming which he displayel consummate generalship. Enormous charges were made for delivering lime at the summit of a steep hill, four or five miles from the city. He opened a lime-kiln on the spot, which soon yielded an ample supply. Sand had to be drawn |