CONTENTS PAGE W A FAMOU GR S E EK-AMERICAN-MichdA nagnos . . 11 THE MAN WHO INTRODU U C S E T D O THE BIRDS OF AMERICA-John James Audubon . . . . . . 20--3 INVENT O O F R TH E T E L E P H O N E - A GT- . . . . . . 30-THE M ANW HO MADE T HE FIRST R EALN EWSPAPER- James Gordon Bennett . . . . . . . . 40 ANOTHERG REATI NVENTOR-Emile Berliner . 46 6 - THE MAN WHO MADE THE MOST OF OPPORTUNITIES - Edward Bok . . . . . . . . . . 58 THE MAN W HO SAVED TH E UNIONN AVY I N 1862-JohnEricsson. . . . . . . . . . . 73. .-A SCOTCH-AMERICAPHNI LANTHROPIST-Andrew Car- negie . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83- 4 A FRENC A H M ERICAWN HOA IDED T HE UNITEDS TATES - Stephen Girard . . . . . . . . . . 94 f THEB UILDER O F QHE PANAMCA c - G e o r gWe ash-Goethals . . . . . . . . . . 100 STATESMA OF N THE WORLD-Samuel . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 - A JOYO M U U S S I C I A N - A ldCsi dg e Grainger . . 118 A PLANETX PLORER-AM Ebbesen Hansen . . . 123-vii viii CONTENTS - AN EMPIR B E U ILDER-James Jerome Hill . . . 138 THE INVENT O O F R TH E FICTIO S N Y NDICATE-Sam el Sidney McClure . . . . . . . . . . 155 ---THE MAN WHO REVOLUTIONIZETDY PESETTIN Ottmar Mergenthaler . . . . . . . . . 167 A GREAT A M B - s s A D O R - HM o rg e nthau . . . 175 I THE F ATHE O R F THE YOSEMITE-John Muir . . . 184 FA JOURNA A L N I D S PTH ILANTHROPIST-JOS P itzer . . . . . . . . . . . . 194 FROM A SYRIA V N I LLAGE TO BOSTON-Abraham Mitrie Rihbany . . . . . . . . . . . 208 - A GREAT AMERICAN SCULPTOR-Augustus St. Gaudens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 227 6 F n l o u s f cH NT-AlexanderT urney Stewart . 259 THE SAVIO O R F BABIES-Nathan Straus . . . . 266 REAT ORCHESTRAL A R-TheodoreT homar . 272 AN ELECTRIC AILZ A R D - - - N Te sl a O . . . . 284 OUR FOREIGN BORN CITIZENS THE FIRST NATURALIST OF HIS TIME LOUIS AGASSIZ, WISH it may be said of Louis Agassiz that he was the first naturalist of his time, a good citizen, and a good son, beloved of all who knew him. Such was the expression of the lifepurpose of a young man at the age of twentyone, and in every way Jean Louis Rudolphe Agassiz attained the goal he had set before hirnself. Switzerland was the land of his birth. His father was a clergyman, his mother the daughter of a physician. They were his only teachers for the first ten years of his life. His love of natural history was early evident. The pet animals he had were not only an amusement and a pleasure,, but also a source of information, for he wa, s ever eager to observe their habits. From the freshwater fish in the Lake of Morat, on the shore of which was his home, he gained the beginnings of the wonderful knowledge of their characteristics which later in life so astonished the audiences to whom he lectured. 1 LOUIS AGASSIZ At the age of ten he was sent to the boys school at Bienne, where nine hours of study daily, alternated with intervals for rest and play, kept him busy and happy... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.