"SIC TRANSIT GLORIA" J
editor of the weekly paper published bythe Pub- , ;
lic Library of Kentucky. 21
Reuben T. Durrett already has been identi-
fied; but this appraisal of him by Casseday say
be additionally illuminating:
His (Durrett’s) labor, like his mind,
was diffusive, not concentrative. His
work was not like the deep current of a
mighty river that sweeps away all the ob-
stacles in its course, but like the rest-
less mountain stream that seeks here and
there an egress for its waters, careless
‘ where it makes a bed so that a bed is
made, and avoiding impediments by sur-
rounding, not by overturning them...(11)
At all events, the incorporators were men »
whose attainments and standing in the community ,
. were such as to arouse and sustain the confi— '
dence of the public upon whose favorable re- »
sponse depended the success of the grand enter-
prise. And the response was forthcoming in
stupendous volume. _
Under the provisions of the charter the  
trustees contracted with Charles R. Peters, a
San Francisco impresario, to stage the first w
grand "gift concert." Fifty-five per cent of ,
the gross amount realized was to be distributed {
as prizes to lucky ticket holders. From the )
other 45 per cent the expenses of concert and IY
drawing were first to be paid; the remainder
was to be divided equally between Peters and
the library.(12) /
_ The drawing took place December lo, 1871:
29
xl? , `
W ` > H __ _ _ ....,.3llr