Cottage Grove sentinel and Cottage Grove leader., March 19, 1920, Image 4

»
The Sentinel
rrai ed. to get inside the covers of get thn names of thoso four obscure
Atlantic,
a longing which
©wry French r iw r s t ” Seme are inclined to
author has. In the pleasant relations believe that they were put in Hfter
that followed while the diary was be­ Opal attended the university. As the
A W « k l ; Hewspaper With Plenty
ing pieced together iu order that its idea o f publication o f the diary pre­
o f Backbone
value as a literary document might be sumably never occurred to Opal until
Elbert Bede and Elbert Smith Publishers judged, a friendship ripened, there it was suggested by the editor o f At
was a mutual meetings of minds and lantic, there seems to be no object for
Elbert Bede________________ Editor
souls. The stag»' could not have been the alleged iuterlections into the diary,
A first-class publication entered at Cot purposely and studiously better set for but aside from this it is pretty certain
tag© Grove, Ore., as second-class matter
the reception without question by even that the diary had been torn into bits
Business O ffice_________ 412 East Main so scholarly a man, so expert a judge before Opal became a university stu
o f .human nature, as the editor of A t­ dent.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES
lantic, o f the story Opal told.
Many here advance the theory that
One year_____ $2.001 Three months__60c
The idea that Opal hua but recently the s|wlling was accidental, but if net
Six montha__ 1.00 ] Single copy_____ 5c invented the foster parent theory for accidental, she refers to her friends
No subscription listed for leas than 60c
literary purposes is as unteiinble as Jean and lsirry, evidently mime« ef
the charge that the staid and respect French derivation, it is not impossible
Member of
National Editorial Association
able old Atlantic has done something that one or the other helped her with
Oregon State Editorial Association
o f that sort. No person familiar with her spelling. Again, Opal snys in her
Oregon Newspaper Conference
Atlantic thinks such a piece of deceit diary that she got many things out of
Willamette Valley Editorial Association could come from it. None who knows the two mysterious copybooks. I f they
Lane Cour.ly Publishers’ Association
Opal well doubts her siucerity in her Contained so many of the things which
claims. Her relatives, her father, scout »he used in her dinrv, why may thev
PK1DAV, M M il'll 1:'. l'.'L’ih
hot have contained these French
such an idea.
Is it not possible that Atlantic had wordsf Tho author admits that high
TRU TH AND POSSIBLE FIC TIO N
what it deemed Acre positive proof of sounding words had for her a peculiar
STRANG ELY M IX E D IN STORY tho foster-parent claim thuii any pre- charm. “ Comparer ” and “ riviere”
edited in Opal's own introduction f may have been found there and may
(Continued from first page.)
Such proof might as easily be explained have made the same impression ns did
awny as some o f tho other statements “ serewtineyes” when used by the
things that took place before that that seem untenable, yet it is probable •chiHil teacher, at which time ¡the made
that such proof is not only such as to the mental note, “ It does have such
name was takeu from it.
There is so much in the diary that explain why this fancy o f O pal’s, if an interest sound. I think I will
is known to be fact and so much that such it is, has remained with her past have uses for it .” That the use of
might be pure fiction that the correst the age when others have dropped it, French words came to her because of
solution only seems further away as but also sufficient to convince Atlnn French ancestry is thought here to be
T T Is easy to honst nnd make claims and to so magnify mere
the inveetigntion isto the mystery pro tic that there was no need to investi­ hardly tenable.
It is easy to believe that hnd the
incidents that they m ay appear as mighty events. It Is easy
greases. The place where the road goes gate the statements made by one so
three ways is still there; the lane that apparently sincere as Opal and appar­ diary been written in Inter years, with
to
paint
in the colors of exaggeration.
the
idea
o
f
giving
it
publicity,
things
ently
so
incapable
o
f
deceit
or
bypoc-
went to the house on the hill is still
thsre; the girl ‘ • without seeing ” is iden­ risy. Perhaps the storm which has that might cast doubt upon its pro
Chandler advertising has never carried boasts or unfounded
tified; the Sadie McKenzie is identi­ risen may result in the presentation of cocious authorship would have been
omitted.
this
contributory
proof
of
this
strange
assertions
to the public. It has never extolled some single per­
fied. AU o f these events must have
The precociousness indicated through
taken place, i f they took place at all, tale i f there is such contributory proof.
formance
as
final evidence of superiority.
not over 16 years ago, yet the Jean Atlantir, it would seem, owes that the diary, i f really written at the ten­
much
to
its
readers.
Opal,
it
would
der age o f six, is not so particularly
and Larry, whom God furnished u
The Chandler Six is so distinctly the leader among m edium -
baby ou such short notice, can not be seem, owes that much to her many out o f the ordinary. Many children
friends
who
maintain
that
what
she
priced high-grade cars because of its own worthiness, which for
can write intelligently at that age, let
identified; those who lived at the time
and around the place where Jean and says is fact as far as her own belief alone print. Many can form words mid
sales purposes does not need the support of exaggeration.
know their a, b, c ’* before that tender
1 jirry are supposed to have lived, can goes.
• • •
age.
Prodigies
there
have
been,
and
place no such persons, the Uncle Caleb
Chandler worthiness comes primarily, of course, from Its
Was Diary Written at Age of Six'’
many o f them, who have attained, in
and Rob Ryder are equally mythical
great
chassis, light, strong and enduring, featured by the
While
there
are
many
to
scoff
at
the
other
lines,
the
intelligence
that
must
persona so far as those who have
known every person who ever has lived claim that so much o f the diary ns has be given the aix-yenr-old Opal i f we
famous
Chandler m otor developed throughout seven years of
in that vicinity are able to recall. been printed is the literary effort of a concede the diary to have been started
constant
m anufacture with no change of type of design, but
child
o
f
six,
there
are
many
incidents
at that age. Her diary, supposed to
Michael Angelo Huuzio Raphael, the
with refinements and developments which have kept it long
fir tree with an understanding soul, to tnnke this claim seem much more have been written nt the age o f six,
is no more wonderful thnn her book,
can not be identified. Not even a than probable.
strides ahead of any other six.
It would seem unlikely that a child “ The Fairyland Around Us,” known
stump o f such a tr«v can be found
o
f
that
age
could
spend
so
much
time
to
have
been
written
by
her
before
near the old barn which still stands.
This Isn’t a claim . It ’s a fact, and over sixty thousand
None remember such a tree. Fact in writing and still keep her literary the age of 20, a book which has won
Chandler owners would tell you so If you could ask them.
and fiction seem strangely mixed, but efforts hidden from her parents; it tl>e wondering admiration o f kings and
ono is told with the sumo embellish­ would seem unlikely that a ehild of queens, presidents, statesmen, scholars,
that age would be so secretive; but church dignitaries o f the highest rank,
Six handsome bodies, s p le n d id ly built and finished, are
ments o f plausibility as the others.
parent,
relatives and friends remember great editors who have hesitated not
How much is fact and how much is
mounted
on the one standard Chandler chassis.
that Opal was not an ordinary child; to express their appreciation in writ-
notf
there
are
those
who
knew
her
in
her
ing.
Why daes she not remember her fo r­
O t H e r c a r s o f s o m e s i m i la r i t y a r e
mer name, although she had arrived at babyhood who say she was a very odd
This diary, i f written at the age o f
an age when it would seem that oue so youngster; that at the age of six she six, is no more wonderful thnn her col­
l
i s t e d a t H u n d r e d s o f d o l l a r s m o re
precocious «ould not so quickly forget talked like a grownup; that sho had lection o f 20,000 or more specimens o f
few companions.
something so important nowf
rocks, flowers, ferns, moths, beetles,
I have found no one who ever saw
S IX S P L E N D ID B O D Y T Y P E S
Why is not the story of the substi­
butterflies, birds, bin! homes, sen
the diary, but it is remembered that
tution told in the diary, or do the re f­
shells, etc., known to have attained
S
ev
en
-P
a
ssen
g
er
T
ou
rin g Car. SlfWS
F o u r-P m lon g er Hnutliler. IMV1
erences to THE mamma, TH E papa, the child spent much time iu forming that proportion at the age o f 17, to­
F o u r-P a ssen g er D isp a tch Car. IIV7.S
words
and
in
writing.
Even
at
the
uge
TH E grandma, TH E Uucle Caleb infer
gether with her apparent familiarity
of three the one whom we may posi­
Seven - Pat longer Seilart, 1114!
F our-Passen ger Catipe. 1174]
l.in w u iim r I H 4 I
that they were not of her blood !
with the history o f etch one o f her
tively call the real Opal could tell most
u u r o t m f a » (M
i J. (
M
4
*
>
I f there has been a substitution,
specimens.
Caterpillars
were
collected
o f tho letters and could form words
how remarkable that at the moment ot
by the barrel and chrysale by
from a copy book. As bhe other chil­ almost
the thousands.
the death o f a daughter another o/ the
dren grew older they learned that Opal
same age ahould have appeared bearing
The wonder caused by such a di"ary
kept a diary, but none were permitted
all the characteristics o f a child of the
written at such an age is no greater
to
see
it
except
as
the
author
read
to
family, one having the same precocity
them from it. There is, therefore, no than tho nstonishment o f bald pnted
for writing, one having the rim e in­
positive proof that the diary being professors when this little outdoor
C H A N D LE R M O T O R C AR C O M P A N Y , CLEVELAND, O H IO
quisitiveness for exact details o f ev­
printed is the one written by six-year fairy knocked at the doors o f the Uni
ery little event that the father remem­
old Opal, but Atlantic Monthly’s ed versity o f Oregon and was almost Ce
bers in the other child.
itor should be a good judge and he fused admission because she had not
On the other hand, where did those
has
accepted it as such. That png*' the necessary textbook learning. A
copy books, which had such an influ
o f the diary o f which a facsimile has newspaper story printed nt the time
ence ou her life, some from I Why have
contained the following:
that she has caused broken heart* anti 7; friendship, 7; inhabttlveness (love compare, 7; con Science, 6; hopc, fi;
they so mysteriously disappeared f been published certainly indicates the
work o f a ehild o f very tender years.
“ Tutored by nnture, a tiny 17-jrenr shedding of tears.
o f home and country) 7; mutiny, 5; splrttuality, 7; vencration, 0; ktnd
Are they and their disappearance pure
Prom the newkpnper accounts so far approbation, 6; self-reliance, •>; firm ri «ss, 6*/».
fabrication f How aro we to account Being printed in capital letters would old mountaineer girl, her hair down
indicate that it was written before the her back, has opened the eyes o f the published, thoso inclined to lielieie the no**, ti; continuity, <’>; conslrui tivenoss,
t • •
for the fact that this fantasy, known
chilif learned to make pot hooks, and Eugene teaching profession and left it White ley parentage, may remain doubt­ 6; Ideality, 7; sublimity, 7; imitation,
to have existed several years ago, has
I
attempi
to
mnkc no deductions
she started to school at six. Any who gasping for breath. Educated by her ers because nimble to explain the pe­ 5; mirthfiilness, 5; agrrcnhlenesa, *1;
been tarried way past the adolescent
self in the forests o f the Cascade culiar talents of the child. I f we doubt human nature, 5; Individuality, 7; from thè fnrts presented, bui I think
believe
that
Opal
in
later
years,
during
age, when all other children with a
tho time she was cramming her head mountains, she has made n college edu that the One who made the heavens form, 0; size (perception of magnitude, thè clami mny Ite succensfiilly lumie
similar fantasy have dropped it T
with her lore of the great outdoors, cation appear artificial and insignifi­ and the earth, the witter* and all that etc.) 7; weight (perception of law of thnt nny solution of thè mystery of
• • •
took time to write 150,000 word* cant, university professors admit. In in them is if we doubt that the One gravity, etc.) 7; color (perception o f), Opal, her pnrentnge and her iliary
Has Atlantic Monthly Been Spoofed? (which Atlantic says the diary con­ three days she became the talk o f the who placed the planets in the firma­ AM; order, 5; calculation, 'i; 'locality would he us sfrangi- nnd alinosi ns un
We who know Opal well, who know tains) and in doing so to imitate the faculties o f three educational institu ment and made them to demonstrate (perception and memory of places), 7; believalde as it would he to find
the innocently sincere way in which painful and labored print of a child, tions. Entrance rules have been cast their various revolutions; if we doubt memory of events, 7; time, ti; tune, 6; Opul's story proveil by incontroveri
casuality, 6; power to iblo fact.
she tells her stories, who know o f her to imitate the oddly misspelled words aside; scholarships are proposed; a that the One who oonceived man nnd language,
deeply religious nature, who know of and peculiarly twisted English, proba­ home was fouroT for her in Eugene— gave him woman, would not evade the
her love for God and his great out­ bly aro wasting their time in some pro everything has been done to keep her laws o f his own making and give n
DISTRIBUTORS
doors, who have often seen the face to sain occupation when they should be here.
child o f this kind to parents entirely
which deceit and hypocrisy would writing the best sellers in fiction.
“ This experience happens to n uni­ dissimilar in nature, which the news
seem strange companions, can easily
I f the diary was polished up in later versity but once in a generation,” do paper accounts so far published would
understand why the editor of Atlantic years, why such words still remaining dared Warren I). Hmith, head o f the indicate has been the case, we
I
would believe whatever may have been as “ screwtineyes, ”
“ new monia,’ ’ university geological department. Hhe not despair, for the mother was a
told him when, as the editor himself “ rownd,” “ wood” for would, “ dus” knows more about geology than do woman o f refinement, a graduate of, a
says, he drew out the foster-parent for does, and “ sun” for was, while many students that have graduated normal school, and the father is not
C.
story and the fact o f the existence o f such words as “ untangle” and “ silk from my department. Hhe may become by any means the backwoodsman that
the diary on an occasion when their en ’ ’ arc correctly spelled.
one o f the greatest minds Oregon hns it pleases the newspapers t<> make him
GENERAL REPAIR W O R K -W O R K GUARANTEED
author mine to seo him on an entirely
Even after reading Opal’s introduc­ ever produced. Hhe will be an invest appear.
AUTOMOBILE ACCESSORIES, TIRES AND TUBES
different mission. Plainly the author tion, in which she says that she got ment for the university.”
I f this peculiar talent must come
CARS FOR HIRE— D A Y AND NI0HT SERVICE
had no intent to capitalize this al­ tho names for her pet* from the two
“ Hhe is a travesty on our education from heredity, we find in a newspaper
leged incident in her life ; plainly she copy hooks “ given her by her angel »1 system,” explained A. R. Hweetser, story under date of March 10, 11* 15,
had never thought o f using the diary parents,” all.still ask “ Where did she head o f the botany department. “ Is the following statement: “ Hhe (Opal)
to gain the literary fame which she get those w ords!” "W h e re did she all our great system wasted; is it hin­ attributes much of her interest in nn
Wertz
Perini, Prop».
Phone 4 3
Sixth and Waihinffton .
turn to un uncle, Henry Pearson, a
dering normal development!”
pioneer miner, who died last year.
It is not the presumption that at six ‘ He, used to tell me of nature nnd
years Opal was able to form sentences now, though he’s dead, his thoughts
and record her thoughts that causes can live on, because I ’m learning those
wonder. Many who never will he re
things he wanted me to learn.’ ” The
corded in history as prodigies have uncle referred to, who |s»ssibly may be
•lone that. The wonderful part o f the “ the uncle Caleb” o f the diary, was
diary is the simple and fascinating a brother o f the Grandmother Hcott,
manner in which trivial events are mother o f Mrs. Whiteley.
given an interest far beyond that to
Htaiiley, tho second o f Opal’s given
A beautiful, well kept hand
which they seem entitled and in the names, is that of a grandparent
revinling o f an understanding soul in through the Whiteleys. It is not known
a child o f such tender yearc.
adds to attractiveness
that this name is in any wav connected
Opal’ s Sincerity.
with that o f the great English ex
One o f the most inexplicable phases plorer, but it would not be surprising
o f the odd story o f Opal is how one to find such to be the ense.
I f we enn not believe that such a
who loved God’s great out-of doors,
one in whom a phrenologie reading a mind cun come from parents such as
number o f years ago showed a super- have been described We may find that
development of the spiritual and mor­ those parents have been misrepresent­
al, as well as the same super-develop­ ed. I f we can not believe that the
make manicuring easy
ment o f the mental and love o f liter­ spirit o f the uncle who is gone is di­
ature, one o f a marked affectionate recting thn footsteps and wind of the
disposition, one who is known to have niece he loft behind, it is possible that
felt her filial responsibility to the the exponents of the Whiteley parent­
Cuticle Solvent Jonteel........ 35c
Whiteleys, regardless o f how she may age can find heredity even closer than
have regarded her parentage, ono who thnt o f the uncle nnd grandparents.
loved art, musle, poetry, drama, bi­
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Phrenologie Reading.
ography, zoology, astronomy and all
The following phrenologie rending
Pure throughout, dependable always, Red
the nobler, better and higher things of was mndc for Miss Opal Whiteley Hep
Nail Cream Jonteel
......... 25c
Crown gasoline gives the utmost power-val­
life, ono who has dedicated her life tember 3, 1915, by Mrs. Jean Morris
to bringing joy and gladness to others, Ellis, noted character analyst nnd now
ue. It ia made to meet the requirements of
Nail Polish Jonteel.................25c
could do anything to bring pain and engaged in the educational work of
your
engine.
sorrow to those whom she must love the Y. M. C. A.:
and who love her.
Adaptation in business: Assnyer, bot­
“ Red Crown" ia all-refinery gasoline with the full
That she has done this despite n anist, chemist, geologist, artistic lec
and
continuous chain of boiling points necessary for
These products are the result of years of
mental development that would turn turer, sculptor, author, linguist, novel­
resdy starting, quick snd smooth acceleration,
her from doing n wrong or the slight­ ist, orator, poet, scientist.
All of
est injury to God’s most lowly crea­ these are under the general heads of
steady, dependable power and long mileage. Look
practical experience of a life time spe­
ture, despite a mental development scientific, artistic nnd literary.
for the "Red Crown sign before you fill.
that would force her to turn from in­
Degrees o f strength considered in
cialist on the care of the hands and nails
tentional defaming of one whose life tho scale o f 7 (7 being the highest murk
S T A N D A R D O IL C O M P A N Y
on earth meant much to her, is the obtainable): Organic quality, fi'/hi
(CalMsraU)
best possible proof that Opal is sin­ health, 6; motive temperament, 4 % ;
cere in her clnims. Her nnture, as wo vitnl temperament, 5; circulatory pow­
have come in contact with that na­ er, 8; breathing power, 6; mental tem-
ture, would make it impossible for her perament, 6; activity, 7; excitability,
to sell her soul even for the literary 6; size of brain, 6 (21 5 Hxl4); vita
fame that her story has brought h«». tiveness, 6; courage, 6; executiveness,
It is my opinion that she believes that 6; appetite, 5%; bibneity, 6; acquis­
Cottage Grove
__
Oregon
those held dear already know the story itiveness, 5; secretiveness, 5; nmntive-
she tells and that she does not realize ness, 6; conjugality, 7; parental love,
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