Ferdinand von Mueller

On 23 January 1892 the Argus published the following:

PARSIMONY IN THE PUBLIC SERVICE. ENFORCED RETIREMENT OF BARON VON MUELLER.

The present Government seems bent upon carrying out the rule as to the retirement of sexagenarians from the Public Service with cast-iron inflexibility. Some time ago, at the request of several police officers who were desirous of promotion, the Chief Secretary gave notice to several experienced officers at the head of the force that they must make preparations for their retirement, and now, without any rhyme or reason beyond effecting a saving of only £275 a year, Baron von Mueller has received an intimation that he is to retire from his position as Government botanist. The widespread indignation which will be caused by this announcement was no doubt foreseen by the Government, for all arrangements for the baron's retirement and the extinction of his office have been carried on with the utmost secrecy. It is only now by an accidental discovery that we are enabled to make an authoritative announcement on the subject. Though the ordinary rule is that officers shall be compelled to retire from the service of the Government at 65, there is a provision in the Public Service Act which enables exceptional cases to be excluded from the operation of that rule by order of the Governor in Council, and it has always been taken for granted that the high reputation of the Government botanist would cause his services to be retained as long as possible. During the many years that Baron von Mueller has held the position it has been a matter of congratulation that a scientist of such distinguished and world wide reputation should be in the service of the Victorian Government. It has been a current observation that the baron would be our official botanist as long as he lived, for it was known that while he breathed he would continue the performance of duties which have ever been of absorbing interest to him, and it was never supposed for a moment that any Government would be rash enough to voluntarily part with him. Baron von Mueller is at present in receipt of a salary of £800 per annum, and on retiring he will be entitled to a pension of £525 per annum, so that by an act which will bring us into discredit in every scientific circle in all parts of the world the Government is going to effect a saving of only £275 a year.'

On 25 January 1892 the Argus continued:

The proposal to compel Baron von MUELLER to retire from the position of Government botanist raises the question as to how far Ministers should be permitted to involve the reputation of the colony by important acts during the recess. There can be no doubt that in practically dismissing him, the Government will bring discredit not merely upon Victoria, but upon Australia, and that is a result not to be contemplated with equanimity. We have an interest, not to be measured by a sum in arithmetic, in maintaining whatever prestige we may enjoy in the estimation of learned men in all parts of the world, but when the fact is published that Baron von MUELLER has been retired in order to save the paltry sum of £275 a year, we shall probably be regarded with contempt. The proposal, though couched in the deceptive phraseology of the public service regulations, really means that in the evening of his life one of the very few eminent scientists of Australia is to be deprived of a third of his income, and considered in that light it should be made the subject of emphatic protest. If Parliament had been in session the proceeding would not have passed without severe criticism, and possibly the Government might have been prevented from committing a serious mistake; but as Ministers are allowed a free hand in the recess it is impossible to reach them excepting by representations from the standpoint of public opinion. And that opinion will, we feel assured, be against the Government in this matter. It will be recognised that the least we can do for a distinguished man of science who has devoted his life to the study of Australian botany and the classification of the Australian flora, and who has established for himself a world-wide reputation, is to allow him to enjoy for the remainder of his days the not very magnificent salary of £800 per annum which he now receives. We should do so much for the sake of our pride. We are apt to indulge in self-glorification in regard to many material things, but we must remember that a nation is judged as much by the encouragement it gives to science, art, and learning generally as by its riches and resources. So far we have not had so many eminent scientists that we can afford to disdain the distinguished attainments of Baron von MUELLER or disregard the great work he has done in promoting knowledge of the flora of Australia. He has been honoured by scientific societies in all parts of the world, and the decorations and titles which have been showered upon him have been bestowed on the recommendation of those European savants, holding official positions, who are best able to judge of the value of the Baron's services to science. In addition to being raised to the dignity of a baron by the King of WURTEMBURG, he has been created a knight commander of the order of St. Michael and St. George by Her Majesty the QUEEN, and he has won renown in every learned circle in Europe. Should we, then, who have derived much practical advantage from his labours, and who have shared in the credit he has gained abroad, cast him from his position simply because he has had the misfortune to reach the maximum age recognised in the public service? The Ministry surely cannot have considered the matter in all its bearings.'

On the same day, 25 January, the Age wrote:

THE Government may be complimented on its effort at economy in connection with the forced retirement of Baron Von Mueller and the proposed abolition of his office of Government Botanist. There is a general feeling that Dr. Mueller's services have been given rather to the cause of science generally than specially to the colony which pays him. We presume that the writing of books for learned societies is not a work which it is incumbent on the Government of Victoria to promote, and yet this is the kind of work which its Botanist has been doing, and the Government has been so generous in addition as to allow the books to be printed at the public expense. In this case it is not so much the office as the officer whose utility is in question. Baron Von Mueller is a highly distinguished man in his own branch, and richly deserves the honor he has won; but he is not the man for the work that the colony wants of him. It is of great practical importance to the farmers and stock raisers that the poisonous plants of the colony should be tested, figured and described. In the interest of agriculture the weeds of the colony ought to be similarly dealt with; while the fodder plants and grasses ought to be more generally studied as representing the great source of wealth of the pastoral industry. When it is remembered how rich and varied is the medical botany of the United States, it seems strange that Australian medicinal plants are almost an unknown quantity. There is every reason to suppose that amongst the native vegetation there are remedial plants of great value, possessing special qualities of their own, and unlike those which have been discovered in plants in other parts of the world. There remains, moreover, to be constituted a museum of economic botany which will exhibit every variety of useful product which can be grown in the colony, and illustrate the process of manufacture as far as possible. In connection with vegetable pathology, the Agricultural department has done some really good work — a fact which has been recognised by the scientific journal, Nature. It is important that the work should go on, and the question arises whether the office of Government Botanist should not be associated with that of Vegetable Pathologist. What the colony wants from a public officer is not so much abstract science as the application of scientific knowledge to everyday pursuits. This has been done in the United States to a large extent, with the best results to a number of rural industries. In the neighbouring colony of New South Wales there is a tendency to increase rather than diminish the number of scientific officers in the service of the State. Not only has a Government Botanist been appointed, but also a Vegetable Pathologist, at a salary of £800 per annum. We cannot afford to fall behind our neighbours in that scientific research which has a direct bearing upon some of the most important of our national industries. In the present condition of the finances it is imperative that superfluous officers should not be appointed, and therefore, if it be desirable to retain the office of Government Botanist, the gentleman who fills it should be compelled to perform the functions of Vegetable Pathologist also.

The next day, 26 January, the Daily telegraph (Melbourne) wrote:

A Good Public Servant. BARON VON MUELLER, the Government Botanist of Victoria, and perhaps the most eminent and scientific botanist in this hemisphere, is to be superannuated, in order to effect a modest saving of £275 per annum, or thereabouts. This is economy of the heroic, but dubiously practical sort. But Baron Von MUELLER is to be deprived, not only of his office, but of his reputation. He is to be suppressed, the public is assured, not so much because he is dear, as that he is "unpractical!" It is but fair that some of the many misconceptions about the range of the Baron's work and the value of his labours should be publicly corrected. There is probably not a man in the whole community whose tendencies and plans have been more practical than his. Through all Baron Von MUELLER'S researches there runs a thread of practical applicability. Instance only his work during the past year. In 1891 the Baron published the "Atlas on Salcolaceous Plants," in order that pastoralists might at a glance recognise each of the nearly one hundred saltbushes, the best of which being required from the various colonies to maintain sustenance on the celebrated saltbush runs. During the same year he further brought out with much labour the eighth edition in the English language of the "Select Plants for Industrial Culture and Naturalisation, more enlarged than any former edition, and brought up to the present date of discoveries and observations—a work of wide sale, and which has had a great influence on rural development in this and other colonies. His likewise largely illustrated work on "Eucalyptograph" is one for continued reference regarding our native timber resources; while his "Key to the System of Victorian Plants" is in the hands of the masters of hundreds of educational establishments and amateurs for the study of our native flora. In addition to which, his correspondence, at the rate of 3,000 letters a year, we believe, on the most varied questions connected with indigenous or introduced plants, has always afforded prompt and reliable professional information. The Baron's work upon the "Chemistry of Plants," based on WHITSTINE's, deals with most of the really medicinal plants of this country. The Technological Museum placed in the Public Library, as the most central position in the metropolis, contains a very large assortment of timber specimens, fibres, resins, gums, oils, scents, vegetable chemicals of practical importance such as potash,iodine, bromine, acids, etc., all from Victorian raw material. In the gallery of the Exhibition-building may also be seen a long series of drugs, a whole series of imitation wood-books, various turnery, etc., designed by the Baron for public information. Baron Von MUELLER'S herbarium, commenced 52 years ago in his orphan boyhood, is one of the nine great herbariums of the world, and is by far the richest in Australian materials. Into this incomparable collection, and into his scientific travels and studies, Baron Von MUELLER has sunk nearly all his worldly means; and now, in the evening of his life—so unselfishly is he absorbed in his scientific labours—all that he now asks from the Government is that they will allow him to administrate, out of his pension, as an honorary officer, this herbarium, with which his whole life is bound up, during the short time which may still be left of his worldly career, in order that he may be enabled to continue his researches for progressive knowledge undisturbed, and that in this way his unique experience and vast stores of practical knowledge may not in the future be entirely lost, but be used for the advancement of the colony. Surely the Government will not refuse its consent to so noble and unselfish an appeal!

See also M to Wilson, 16 January 1892. The file contains several notes, one of them in shorthand. One note is the draft of a letter to the Chairman of the Public Service Board, dated 30 November 1891, and identified as 're Mueller & Hayter's [the Government Statist] [retirement deleted] retention': 'Ref[errin]g to a letter add[e]d by me by the C. S. dir[ection]s on the [space left in MS] to the Secy to Prem Dept recom[men]d[in]g that the services of Baron V. M. & Mr Hayter be further cont[inue]d, I am now directed to inform you that it has been decided [four lines deleted] to abolish the Govt Botanists branch of this Dept on the 31st March next'. A further note states: 'Mr Hayter's retention not yet dealt with by Cabinet. Awaits Premier's return to town 5 January 92.'

The file also contains several newspaper clippings regarding the decision to abolish the position of Government Botanist.

1. Age , 3 February 1892:

The Chief Secretary has received letters from the Medical Society of Victoria and the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association, urging that the services of Baron von Mueller should not be dispensed with. This appeal is made on the ground that Baron von Mueller's distinguished services, rendered as Government botanist, entitle him to be considered as one of the greatest scientists of the world. Replies have been sent, stating that the department has no intention of dispensing with Baron von Mueller's services, but that reductions are to be made in his department from motives of economy. [The published account of the meeting of the Medical Society of Victoria  held on  3 February 1892 reported the Society’s intervention and the response, and concluded ‘the Secretary has also received a letter from Sir Ferdinand, thanking the President, the Committee, and the members of the Society for the action that it had taken' (Australian medical journal, 15 February 1892, p. 51). M’s letter not found.]

2. Evening standard (Melbourne), 1 February 1892:

The alleged design of the Government to shunt the Baron von Mueller provokes anger and contempt. It is, indeed, one of the acts which ought not to be possible. The Baron is as much a Victorian and an Australian institution as Mount Macedon or Hobson's Bay. He is part of all our life and development. He has seen constitutions formed and Governors and Ministers come and go, and, keeping always in his own place and doing always his own work, has absolutely made his own niche in the general plan of the time. He has neither seniors nor juniors nor colleagues. Alone he has laboured on, seeking to discover, classify, and describe the various elements of the outer raiment of this continent. No explorer has worked harder or endured more. He has climbed all our mountains, he has penetrated the recesses of all our forests. His very peculiar figure has been encountered by lone stockmen in the hot inner lands. He has travelled the west as the east, and always on returning he has applied himself to the most arduous labour in preparing the results of his works for the understanding of others. He has displayed all the ruggedness and impenetrability of the old philosopher, making few friends, and shunning all time and lip service. His work is of world-wide importance, and of undying interest. And yet those creatures of a day, the present Ministry, whose very names may be forgotten a decade hence, are reported to have put forth their sacriligeous hands, and with intent to close this man's work and embitter—and probably to shorten the declining—years of his life. Desire wedded with impotence is often, we know, erratic, but seldom so wicked as this. Is it possible to conceive of any serious proposal made to superannuate a Herschel, a Huxley, a Tyndall? And our old Baron, with all his eccentricities, stands in the same category. "Bottiney! wot's Bottiney? Is it bred 'un chees? Is it anything for the breeches pocket?" Do the powers that be argue in that way, or are they inclined to chip in against influenza in the destruction of the venerated wisdom of the world?

3. Record (South Melbourne), 6 February 1892:

To the credit of Mr. [James] MUNRO'S Cabinet be it said that it has refused to sanction the abolition of the Department of Government Botanist and the superannuation of its distinguished administrator, BARON SIR FERDINAND VON MUELLER. In times of great commercial and industrial depression, most unquestionably it is the duty of the Government of the day to cut down the public expenditure to the very lowest point of efficient service, before asking the Legislature to impose additional taxation upon the people. Therefore the desire evinced by members of the Government to effect large retrenchments in the public departments, and thereby render the necessity for increased taxation as slight as possible, can be understood. This desire the Cabinet has now decided shall be given effect to by a judicious curtailment of expenditure in every department of the State, and the decision will most assuredly meet with public approval. But to have retrenched out of all existence one of the State scientific departments devoted to the most utilitarian of the sciences, the administration of which has been most economical, has largely aided the development of our natural resources, and has also helped to make this colony illustrious in the eyes of the world, would have been something worse than a blunder, and would have met with as strong a condemnation from parliament as the mere suggestion of it did from the public press. In congratulating the Government on the decision arrived at, we are expressing the sentiments not of scientists alone but of all those whose interests are in any way associated with the development of the agricultural, pastoral and industrial resources of the colony. Baron VON MUELLER has for more than 40 years administered the Government Botanist's Department with a devotion and success rarely if ever equalled in the public service. His brilliance as an original thinker and worker long since placed him in the front rank of the worlds most eminent scientists, and has left him without a peer in his own special branch of science. Amongst the many unique distinctions which his scientific attainments has brought him, is that of being one of the few Crown Gold Medalists of the Royal Society of England, a distinction attained by no other scientist in the southern hemisphere. It is only right that the misconceptions as to the character and value to the State of the Government Botanist’s department, and the wide range of its administrative work should be publicly corrected. The Herbarium which is one of the nine great herbariums of the world, contains upwards of three quarters of a million of sheets of specimens for typical reference as to Australia, just as the Linean collection is for Europe. For the next hundred and fifty years it will be to the Victorian herbarium that reference will be made for a settlement of any doubts regarding the flora of Australia. The departmental expenditure needed for the systematising and preservation of the collection enhances its value, just as the care bestowed by the assistants in sorting goods increases the value of a merchant’s stock. To this herbarium and to the library additions are annually made, thus increasing our stock of knowledge and rendering it a more substantial national asset. Nor should it be forgotten that the constant outgoing of seeds and roots of new kinds of grasses and fodder herbs, (amongst utilitarian plants) fibres, plants for bee keepers, etc., is a factor of national wealth. There is no one in the community whose tendencies and plans have been more practical than his. [The same summary of M’s work during 1891 follows as was published by the Daily telegraph .] [H]e has, moreover, now in the course of publication an illustrated work on the "Thistles of Victoria." The Technological Museum connected with the Public Library, as the most central position in the metropolis, contains the Baron's very large assortment of timber specimens, fibres, resins, gums, oils, scents, vegetable chemicals of practical importance such as potash, iodine, bromine, acid, etc., all from Victorian raw material. In the gallery of the Exhibition-building may also be seen a long series of drugs, a whole series of imitation wood-books, various turnery, etc., designed by the Baron for public information. His departmental correspondence at the rate of 3,000 letter[s] a year, furnishing prompt and reliable professional information on the most varied questions connected with indigenous or introduced plants, must certainly be estimated at a high monetary value, for either the knowledge would not have been forthcoming or much loss of time would have occurred in furnishing it. Baron Von MUELLER — although generous to a fault in his private affairs and lavish in all that pertains to his position as a nobleman — is one of the most saving of administrators. Everything in his department is done in the most economical manner. Utility and not show is the characteristic of the department. Take for instance his use of black plates instead of chromo-lithographs in the illustration of his numerous works. Consequently we feel assured that the Baron will co-operate with the political head of the department in effecting whatever reductions the exigencies of the case may demand, more especially in the curtailment or temporary cessation of the publication of elaborate works. However the Baron has one work in hand which is comparatively inexpensive and is of such wide public importance that we hope to hear of provision being made for its continuance. We refer to the 'Key to the Native plants of Victoria.' Part the First came out 7 years ago, and the information in it is consequently that number of years in arrears of actual knowledge. While Part Two, supplement to the Key is 4 years in arrears. If no progressive work can be proceeded with, at least we may anticipate that the important work we have mentioned will be brought up to date.

4. Argus, 11 February 1892:

THE GOVERNMENT BOTANIST AND THE BOTANICAL MUSEUM.

to the editor of the argus.

Sir, —

The thanks of the well-wishers of our colony are, I think, due to The Argus for its just stricture commenting upon the action of the Ministry in attempting to reduce expenses at the Botanical Museum without first deeply considering its effects. In deciding to retain Baron von Mueller in his position as Government botanist and director of the museum, it is to be regretted the Ministry did not see the way clear to allow a larger sum than £300 per annum for the working expenses of so valuable an institution. Our worthy baron has by no means been idle in the past, and few of your readers are aware of the enormous collection of indigenous and other plants, which, I have been informed, numbers little short of 1,500,000. One million five hundred thousand mounted botanical specimens — all beautifully classed and numbered in their proper orders — forming a collection second to none in the globe; and this, Sir, is not empty boasting, but a real fact, which anyone can prove by paying the museum a visit, for it is open to all. Now, this immense number requires to be looked over and placed through preserving processes at certain and regular intervals, so as to preserve them from destructive insects and decay. Can this be done with the small sum of £300 per annum? Surely our Ministry could not have seriously considered the position, and I hardly think that our new Parliament, when it meets, will support so suicidal a policy as the destruction of the lifelong collection of so eminent a scientist as Sir Ferdinand von Mueller. We are all more or less indirectly benefited by the result of his labours, and rather than so valuable a collection should be lost to science (failing, of course, a better arrangement than that just made) I would suggest that it should be handed over to our neighbours in New South Wales, who, no doubt, would better appreciate its possession.

I am, &c.

JOSEPH GABRIEL

Feb. 10.

5. Argus, 12 February 1892:

THE GOVERNMENT BOTANIST AND THE BOTANICAL MUSEUM.

to the editor of the argus.

Sir, —

It may somewhat allay the anxiety of those in doubt as to the future fate of the specimens at present in the Botanical Museum to learn that a movement is on foot for bringing the subject prominently under the notice of the Government and the public generally. At a late committee meeting of the Field Naturalist's Club a sub-committee was appointed to give attention to the subject, and last week a letter, containing most of the facts set forth in Mr. Gabriel's letter of today, was addressed to the council of the Royal Society, asking for co-operation on the part of their society. It is confidently expected that this co-operation will be afforded, and a strong representative committee formed capable of viewing the subject in all its details as well as of formulating means of arousing public opinion on the matter.

I am, &c.

WALTER FIELDER

Joint Hon. Sec. F.N. Club. [Field Naturalists Club of Victoria.]

St. Kilda, Feb. 11.

6. Evening standard (Melbourne), 3 March 1892:

A WORLD RENOWNED SAVANT.

ENGLISH JOURNALISM COMPLIMENTS VON MUELLER.

DEPRECATING THE CURTAILMENT OF HIS FUNCTIONS.

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, 6.5 P.M.

The Globe strongly deprecates the treatment of Baron von Mueller, Government Botanist of Victoria, by the Government. The reduction of the small amount of money laid out on the Government Botanist's Department is condemned. The Globe ridicules the apparent rigidity of the Victorian law of retirement, which necessitates the superannuation of men of genius, whose place is not to be filled. At the end of January it was decided by the Victorian Cabinet that, from motives of public economy, the £2865 annually expended on the Government Botanist's department must be cut down to between £1100 and £1200 for the future. It was decided, however, that Baron von Mueller, whose period of compulsory retirement has already passed, should be retained in charge of the herbarium at his full salary of £800 per annum, the small balance being available for expenses incidental upon the botanical researches of the worthy doctor.

The matter led to four letters being published in the Argus. On 25 January 1892 George W. Knight, F.R.H.S. of England, Bendigo, wrote: 'It must not be, it must not be. The Agents-General may be recalled by Mr. Munro, and Mr. Munro may see no more fitting person than himself both to recall and to appoint in his stead, and the country may be in such an apathetic state just at this moment only as to allow of this sort of acting to go on with but a faint protest; it is viewed generally with disgust, though but a few persons have the courage to give it utterance. | But, Sir, is the country for which the learned baron has done so much going to stand quietly by and see him shunted at his age? Is this outrage to be allowed when the House is in recess? A dozen persons can replace Mr. Munro, but there is not one person in the Southern Hemisphere that can or would even attempt to take up the work of Baron von Mueller. | His late contribution just issued, the eighth edition of Select Extra-Tropical Plants, alone, if he had never done any other work, entitles him to the thanks and gratitude of every horticulturist in the country, to say nothing of the acres of other botanical knowledge he has paged. | Let us call, and call loudly, upon every horticultural society in the colony to demand the restoration of the learned baron to his labour. He will never rest from working until he is beneath the "turf," every blade of which knows him as its godfather. | Let me rouse your city to indignation, if I have to put a torpedo under each inhabitant. The country knows his worth, and every journal in it will join with you in protest. | But some say he is peculiar. Who is not? What right have we to see his shoe-string and criticise it when we have not the ability to criticise his mind? The man is not his manner or his apparel; the soul, the mind, is the man. | Sir, help me to finish my letter. I have so much to say I cannot utter it. I am disgusted with the action of His Excellency's advisers, and I shall be disgusted with my countrymen if they put up with it.' (Argus, 27 January 1892).

Ixodia, Geelong wrote on 25 January: 'You deserve the thanks of all your scientific readers for your article on the proposed retirement of our distinguished Government botanist. | For over half a century—having commenced an independent investigation of Danish plants in 1840—he has sacrificed all else in life by his devotion to his work. | From Baron Von Mueller, I, as well as many other botanists, have received most invaluable assistance; and I would suggest that, should this proposed policy of the Government be carried out, a committee should be formed to present him with a testimonial as a tribute to the noble work he has done in connection with our flora.' (Argus, 27 January 1892).

On 26 January Alfred J. Taylor, Tasmanian Public Library of Hobart, wrote: 'Your subleader in yesterday's issue has expressed the feelings of every scientific man in the colonies. At the recent gathering of the members of the Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science in Tasmania, the deepest regret was expressed at the action of the Victorian Government in deciding to dispense with the baron's valuable services. To do so after the work he has done in the cause of science is to wound unnecessarily the feelings of one who has given the best years of his life to a work that redounds to the credit of the colony and that must be of lasting interest to mankind. | When I saw the baron last year, he expressed a fond hope that he might be enabled, in the time left him, to classify the work of his lifetime, and leave it in order for those who might succeed him. | Why should the crown of his labours be snatched from him at the present moment? If, instead of taking from him the opportunity of finishing his labours, the Government had provided additional facilities for enabling the baron to complete the work he has been carrying on so long and so faithfully the scientific world would have rejoiced over the fact. Victoria should be proud of such men as the baron. In the work he has done he has built up a monument for himself that can never decay. Surely the least that the colony can do is to give some consideration to the claims the baron has upon the gratitude of the people he has brought honour to by his magnificent and useful work. | I trust with many that the matter has not been finally settled, and that the baron will be permitted to retain a position under the Government, the emoluments attached to which will enable him to keep up his position as a scientific man, and that will enable him to continue to the end the great work to which he has devoted his life.' (Argus, 27 January 1892).

F.L.S., 'An Australian Native' wrote, 26 January 1892: 'Your able article in The Argus of the 23rd inst. under the above heading should awaken throughout Australasia, and, indeed, all over the civilised world, a feeling of intense sympathy for one whose botanical researches in the southern hemisphere place him in the front rank of nineteenth century botanists. There are absolutely no living botanists whose work is more appreciated than Baron von Mueller's. The occasion has now arisen when our Victorian Parliament might well assert its power and recognise the distinguished merits of Victoria's illustrious savant. How different is this proposed treatment to that which Germany accords to her illustrious savants, such as Virchow, or even France to her venerable scientists! | Yes, Sir, your well-timed notice of the intended enforced retirement of one whose whole life is one of self-denial to botanical science will, I am certain, not fail to call forth not only universal sympathy for our venerable scientist, but also an expression of dissent to any such proposal as that of enforced retirement for one who, in the plenitude of his power, is performing such a noble national work which redounds to the credit of Australasia.' (Argus, 27 January 1892).