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Washington,
March 15, 1908.
Dear Sir:
I take the opportunity to bring to your
attention the three Cape York Meteorites, now
on exhibition in the Museum of Natural History.
This group of meteorites can never be
duplicated in any way, by any other Museum,
the three specimens including the entire fall
and one, the "Ahnighito", being the largest
known meteorite in existence.
In size, in locality, in difficulty of
locating and transporting to New York, in hu-
man and historical associations and interest,
they are unapproached by any other known me-
teorites.
They were first heard of in 1818 when
Sir John Ross visited the Aretic shores of
Melville Bay, but repeated endeavors by the
British and Danish governments to discover
them proved unsuccessful.
It was reserved for Commander Peary,
after years of effort, to locate them and de-
termine absolutely that they were of meteoric
origin. Three successive voyages were then
necessary to remove them from their Arctic
bed and bring them to this country.
It was your late President's constant
and often expressed wish that these meteorites
become the property of your Museum. Not more
than a year ago Mr. Jesup said to me, "I wish
I were able to buy your meteorites, because I
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"ocrText": "Washington,\nMarch 15, 1908.\nDear Sir:\nI take the opportunity to bring to your\nattention the three Cape York Meteorites, now\non exhibition in the Museum of Natural History.\nThis group of meteorites can never be\nduplicated in any way, by any other Museum,\nthe three specimens including the entire fall\nand one, the \"Ahnighito\", being the largest\nknown meteorite in existence.\nIn size, in locality, in difficulty of\nlocating and transporting to New York, in hu-\nman and historical associations and interest,\nthey are unapproached by any other known me-\nteorites.\nThey were first heard of in 1818 when\nSir John Ross visited the Aretic shores of\nMelville Bay, but repeated endeavors by the\nBritish and Danish governments to discover\nthem proved unsuccessful.\nIt was reserved for Commander Peary,\nafter years of effort, to locate them and de-\ntermine absolutely that they were of meteoric\norigin. Three successive voyages were then\nnecessary to remove them from their Arctic\nbed and bring them to this country.\nIt was your late President's constant\nand often expressed wish that these meteorites\nbecome the property of your Museum. Not more\nthan a year ago Mr. Jesup said to me, \"I wish\nI were able to buy your meteorites, because I"
}