THE HUTTON MEMORIAL FUND

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 14285, 1 February 1907, Page 6

THE HUTTON MEMORIAL FUND

At the annual meeting of tho New Zealand Institute yesterday; the Hutton Memorial Fund was mentioned and the special committee which had been appointed to supervise tho collection of moneys made certain practical recommendations for marking the public appreciation of the late Captain Hutton’s services to tho colony. It is a pity* that the North Island has not responded as liberally as it should have done to; the committee’s appeal, but doubtless the absence of enthusiasm in that part of the colony is due to a lack of knowledge of the man and of his work. It was only natural, of course, that the bulk of the subscriptions should have come from Canterbury, the distinguished scientist having made his home in Christchurch, and having won tho esteem and affection of'a wide circle of personal friends. His gentle courtesy endeared him to everyone in his own little community,-but while his splendid , work compelled the recognition, of scientific circles, his innate modesty prevented him from achieving that “ loud impertinence of fame” which men call notoriety. 'He was, indeed, one of these workers of the plain heroic breed who loved the silences of Nature and the whispep of her children more than the clamorous applause of the multitude. He claimed no reward for his labours, made no boast of his work and was content if here and there in the great hock of Nature he could elucidate a'doubtful passage or illuminate a written page. The memorial to such a man need not be in sounding brass or in lasting marble, and his own wish would have been that if his country cared to commemorate his worth it should do so in same such way as the committee has suggested. A new country inevitably hastens to get rich, and the hurry of pioneering leaves little time for personal application to the arts and sciences. The ordinary colonist thinks more of sheep than of diatoms, cloud pictures affect hinrtonly as they signify rain or fine, and wild flowers find no welcome beside his barbed wire fences. But with maturity conies a recognition of tli© grace of knowledge, and tho inner history of the causes of Nature as written by its students is after all quite as practical as it is theoretical. No moro fitting memorial could be suggested in tho case of Captain Hutton than to apply the .income from the money that has been raised to the prosecution of scientific research, and we trust that the Institute will accept the recommendation of the committee, and devote the fund to this high purpose.