Every prominent showman has had some venture into which he has put his
whole heart. Nothing in my career touched and moved me like the great
New York Aquarium enterprise. Into this I not only put a fortune--more
hundreds of thousands of dollars than were ever put into anything of
the kind before or since--but I also invested the ambitions of my life.
I was inspired by a profound desire to promote the interests of natural
science in what appeared to me its most picturesque and attractive
field--the marine world; and everything concerned in this mammoth
undertaking exercised a strange fascination over me. All commercialism
vanished, and I was as true and devoted a student of the wonders which
I had collected as was the most erudite scientist that had ever looked
upon that strange assemblage of creatures from the depths of arctic and
torrid oceans.
Night after night I remained alone in the great museum for the purpose
of studying the habits of those fishes which displayed their most
peculiar traits while the world slept. The finale of this enterprise
was, it seems to me, in keeping with its remarkable character, and
anything less picturesque than that which actually transpired in this
connection would have fallen short of poetic justice. It is not too
much to say that never before had the scientific world been permitted
to view so comprehensive a collection of the varied and almost
numberless types of deep sea life.
Neither money nor pains was spared to the end of maintaining an
aquarium approximating that of my fondest dreams. Early in the history
of this gigantic enterprise I became associated with a member of one of
the great animal importing houses, a German, my partner, although I
undertook the active management of the institution.
The Aquarium was first opened in October, 1876, the year of the
Centennial, and I think I may truthfully say that the former received
as frequent mention in the press of the day as did the latter.
My connection with the Aquarium afforded me an opportunity to meet and
become acquainted with the leading scientists and literary people of
the day. I know of no institution of the kind that has been opened to
the public under more favorable auspices. It was looked upon as an
institution of education, and public and private schools attended in
bodies. Men who have grown rich in the dime-museum business believe
that the public do not wish instruction, but prefer to be amused with
fakes. Nevertheless, the financial success of the New York Aquarium,
during the period when it received its strongest support from the
clergy and the men of science, has proved the allegation of the fake
museum proprietors to be false.