` ` 
THE POLYTECHNIC PICKS UP THE PIECES ` V 3
This course could be based on a "fatal flaw"
Towne thought he discerned in the charter: the
clause providing for dissolution of the Public ’
i Library of Kentucky by distribution of its as- ’
sets among the stockholders, according to the
proportion of stock they owned. To Towne’s
knowledge, confirmed by the statement of one of `
A the trustees, Dr. C. C. Graham, no stock had
ever been sold and no money paid in for any. .
So Towne bent his efforts to keeping the li-
i brary intact until a new society could be or~
V i ganized to take it over. The management of the
theater fell into his hands when Will S. Hays,
E the manager, resigned because of the meagerness
Q of his commissions on receiptsfromthe hall.(5)
i Towne was conscious of his lack of expe- {
i rience as a showman and aware also that the `
‘ other theatres and halls in Louisville provided j
competition in the theatrical field too strong I
- to be overcome. He decided to make an inde- *
pendent effortiJ1another direction. At another .
library, possessing similar facilities, he had
L seen a course of ten lectures net $4,000. As
"· an experiment, on his own initiative, he en- g
{ gaged in February, l87b, two well—known loc- fi
turers, R. A. Proctor, astronomer, for three ‘
{ lectures, and Paul Du Chaillu, the explorer,
I for two. The library barely broke even on the ‘ /
g lectures, Proctor and Du Chaillu receiving /
? their customary fees of $600 and $300 respec— W
j tive1y.(b) »
g Nevertheless, Towne persevered. One of his ‘_
' purposes in promoting the lectures was the di-
version of the hall into educational channels .
as far as possible. Despitethe financial fail-
ure of the first experiment, therefore, the li-
53
,_y;
0, V A .,,,,,. ., . . ,_ . .,_ , _______, ... · , . " any.;)