Among the many beautiful and valuable furnishings of the Mother's Room is a magnificent eiderdown blanket, the gift of a loving student. The rug or blanket contains one hundred skins of the duck. It is the work of one person for a month to pluck a single duck, while it is the work of several families for a year to completely make one of these rugs. Only five rugs in each season are allowed to be made in any one village. The value of this rug, from the ordinary standpoint, will thus readily be seen; but when we add to that the higher sense of value which it expresses, we get some idea of the meaning it bears by way of a testimonial. The following copy of a letter from Dr. Cook, the eminent explorer, through whose kindness the rug was obtained, will be interesting:—
OFFICIAL BUREAU OF THE AMERICAN ANTARCTIC EXPEDITION.
DR. FREDERICK A. COOK, COMMANDING.
15 Hart Street, Brooklyn, N. Y.
