Huntington cial in various roads in which Collis P. Hunt- ington was interested. He was then called to San Francisco to join his uncle's greatest sys- tem, the Southern Pacific Railway, From 1892 to 1900 he held the important positions of as- sistant to the president, second vice-president, and first vice-president in this transcontinental enterprise. While in San Francisco he became interested in the street railways of the city, his large holdings and progressive policy bringing about a great expansion of the system. Dispos- ing of this in 1898, he began to invest capital in Los Angeles, where he bought and consolidated city transportation lines until he became sole owner of one of the largest urban systems in the country. In 1900 Collis P. Huntington died, leaving to Henry a large portion of his immense fortune. He thus became the logical head of the Southern Pacific Railway, but shortly after his uncle's death he sold advantageously the control of the road to E. H. Harriman and devoted his atten- tion to other forms of transportation, particu- larly inter-urban traffic. By purchase of exist- ing lines and by new construction he covered Southern California with a network of electric roads and elaborated plans for a still more com- plete system to extend from Santa Barbara to San Diego and from the ocean back to the moun- tains. At this point he sold these lines to the Southern Pacific Railway in 1910 and applied his energies to other interests. He became a dominant figure in the development of electric power. His foresight in the purchase of real estate made him for years the greatest single land-owner in Southern California, his holdings running into tens of thousands of acres of city and country property which grew in value with the development of the country. To his vision and activity was due in great measure the phe- nomenal growth of that portion of the state. Parks, beaches, boulevards, hotels, and land companies testify to the wide extent of his own- ership. After moving to Los Angeles he built up a fine private estate in San Marino, adjacent to the city of Pasadena, where a stately mansion was surrounded by many acres of park and gar- dens, planted with rare trees and shrubbery, as well as botanical specimens from distant sub- tropical climates. Here also he built the library and art gallery to which he devoted his chief at- tention during the later years of his life. The library represented the accumulations of some twenty-four years, but the most important collections were made after 1910. The first sig- nificant step was the purchase of the library of E. D. Church in 1911, followed in 1912 by the Huntington Beverly Chew collection and selections from the Robert Hoe library; part of the Duke of Devon- shire library in 1914; the Halsey collection of English, American, and French literature in 1915; the best part of the Pembroke library in 1916; and the Bridgewater in 1917. Other im- portant acquisitions include the Loudoun Papers and the library of Judge Russell Benedict; the Lincoln collection of Ward Hill Lamon; the Grenville Kane collection of Washington let- ters ; purchases from the Britwell library; not to mention individual rarities added from time to time, Huntington*s preferences were for books and manuscripts relating to England and Amer- ica, but the library is not exclusively confined to those fields. At his death it contained some of the rarest incunabula, was one of the best li- braries in America for materials on English lit- erature, and for original sources in the history of America was one of the great collections of the world. In art there was also a preference for English painters, the gallery containing some of the best works of Reynolds, Gainsborough, and others of the eighteenth century. Hunting- ton's immense wealth and the exigencies of life in the early twentieth century made such an as- semblage possible. At first the books and art treasures were housed in his residence in New York City, but as this space was rapidly out- grown they were removed to San Marino and placed in the palatial building in the grounds of his estate, where he employed experts to con- tinue their care and classification. By deeds of gift made in 1919, 1920, 1921, and 1922, these collections together with the surrounding estate of more than two hundred acres were placed in the hands of five trustees with the duty of main- taining them for the use of the public after his death. When this occurred in 1927 the library and works of art were valued at $30,000,000, and an endowment of $8,000,000 was provided for their operation. In appearance Htmtington was tall, erect, having in his later years the aspect of a retired army officer. Naturally modest and reserved, his methods of business were quiet but effec- tive. Approachabk and friendly, he was at the same time an excellent judge of men,