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About The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 26, 1905)
3 THB SUNDAY OREG0NIA2S, PORTLAND, FEBRUABI' f.. - - -'E - 2 jtniiW .-w.l - v " 1 f sheep, castles and Dackhorscs. wera ar- HtaH " -7 ' BPy'"' .w b"flA ranged in the cave, making a scene of S' BlKiEsSsiSiil- -iVswt.J& - .; iSR: Mi fairy -llkn beauty. When the children re- -r ""Blll repeated one of his about the fairies that AS c$gprZr7 X. HKp' "Suppose we take a boat and look for 7 ir jj BtlllHliiHHK-' SHk- b ' them." No words can describe the sur- SCisy JrA IBfiBiPllMjSiiitf "-BHtL: 1 priso and the delight of th children as " ' 7 "nv jm HBSk49E laKBIS51v'w3KHfl& 1 thcy entcred tnc srotto and saw the BA MEf j2BHfc5t?"iP'l ZSkbBBK illHk 1 ' falrios actually before thorn. the people the island! Equally de- VCQ. HSBBb tPHS''tBBfci 1 voted to the church were his children ttTsi HHHS8HBbBI5 "fid grandchildren, who occupied Gib- Wt2 HBBH&iKiHHMpSI rnltar during: the Summer months, i ftSk 'BHIiBHHHitf7SB9WS?m 1 -F&r-iAr OH0- sutzx By co&rcL S the western nd of Lake Erie lies a i , I beautiful group of islands. The largest "of these is known as Put-In-Bay. It was in these waters that the battle of Lake Erie, of the "War of 1S12, took place: J and It was from this island that Com modore Ferry sent his fa,mous message -Vc have met the enemy and they are ours." Put-in-Bay comprises about 1100 acres, has a population of about 1000, and has Ions been a popular Bummer resort. Uke the other islandp of the cluster it contains many vineyards: also orchards of peach and plum. Thousands of dollars worth of fruit Is shipped from theEe islands annually. About ten years ago I was temporally in charge of the church at Put-in-Bay. In this way I came in contact with Jay Cooke. the noted financier., the monetary mainstay of the Government in the dark days of the Rebellion, and the father of the Northern Pacific Railway, who recently passed away at the age of S5 yoarf. Mr. Cooke owned a tiny island near Put-in-Bay, which he called Gibraltar. Upon it he built, many years ago, probably just after the Civil War. a stone mansion, or "castle" as it is generally known. A spa cious and substantial structure, but not elegant nor pretentious, for with all his 'wealth and notwithstanding his lavish expenditures In many directions, he was a man of simple tastes. A tall tower com manding a magnificent view of the lake, the surrounding islands and the distant mainland formed & -part of the castle, and in front he erected a monument commemorative of Perry's victory. This castle he was in the habit of occupying every Spring and Fall, coming up from his home at Ogontz, near Philadelphia, to engage in fishing and in s.uch hunting as the islands afforded. Enthusiastic Fisherman. He was an enthusiastic fisherman, and would charter a steamboat for a '.period of several weeks for fishing: pur poses. Day after day. Sundays always excepted, the little steamer, not a launch, but a steamboat, with a. ca pacity for SO or moro passengers, would take ltim to the places whe.ro the black bass, white fish and. perch were the most plentiful, and. rod in hand, he would spend the entire day on its deck, returning at night to Gibraltar. He kept the rectory well supplied with si i r i Y-i... it To s : J generally. At other limes he would j. exenange me roa tor me ruie, ana many a wild rabbit and wild turkey were Ms victims. Thanks to his thoughtfulness. we once feasted" on turkey overy day for two -weeks, but toward the last Jt bogan to pall upon us. On one of his .visits, years ago, a business trip, he stayed at one of the Summer hotels instead of beneath his own roof. ;For several days there was no fish on the bill of fare. Mr. Cooke couldn't stand that sort of thing, and complained to the proprietor. "We can't get any fish just now," he was told. "I'll got you some," said he. He imme diately went out in a rowboat, and re turned with 353 black bass. "I re member the number," said Mr. Cooke, in relating the incidont, "because it was the same number that St. Peter caught on one occasion." and then he quoted St. John xxi:II: "Simon Peter wont up and drew the net to land, full of great fishes, an hundred and fifty and three.' Deeply Religious Man. As this Indicates, Mr.-Cooke was fa miliar with the Bible. In fact, he was a deeply religious man, a devout Epis copalian, and for many years senior warden ,of his church at home and teacher of a large Bible class, both of which positions he held as long as health permitted. He not only accu mulated money here, below he "laid up treasure In heaven." It was his policy To devote one-tenth of his income to religion and charity, and his benefac tions were many. Best of all, he did tkis work in a modest way. He was a elf-effacing-, rather than a self-advertising philanthropist. In the earliest days of his connection with Put-in-Bay there was no church on the island. He persuaded a wealthy Spaniard named Riverla, who at that J time owned a large part of the island, to donate an acre of land for church purposes, and Mr. Cooke erected on this property, at his own expense, a neat house of worship and a comfortable rectory. He also equipped the rectory with a complete supply of household furniture. This was in 1S6S. I believe, and tho first rector of the parish was the Rev. John M. Kendrick, now the Right Rev. Dr. Kendrick, mshop of Ari zona and New Mexico. Mr. Cooke al ways saw to It that tho successive rec tors were comfortably paid. While I was there his annual subscription was $200, and in addition it was his cus tom to put a crisp $5 note on the plate whenever he came to church. Liked Songs, Cigars, Short Sermons. This was every Sunday during his stay at Gibraltar, two or three weeks in the Spring and about six weeks in the Fall. Although he was 75 years of age at tho time of my roctoratc, he would come over to the services regu larly. His rugged form and benign face there in a front pew were a real inspiration to me as I tried to preach. My sermons suited him in one respect they were short. "I like long cigars, and short sermons," he once said to me. Jt was good to see him kneeling In prayor. to see him receiving the holy communion, and to hear his strong, clear voice In the chants and hymns. What an example he was to Some Sundays there would be as many as four pews filled with people from the "castle."' A Friend of the Clergy. Mr. Cooke was one of the best friends the clergy have ever had. He was liter- , ally "sorvus servorum. Dei" (Borvant of the servants of God). For some years , he made a practice of placing his Gib raltar residence at the disposal of the clergy during the Summer months. Ten i clergymen at a time would occupy tho J house for a period of two weeks, he pay ing all expenses, including their trans portation. Knowing him to bo a pro nounced "low churchman," 1 once asked him, Jokingly, If he had cvor entertained a "high church" clergyman in this way. "Not if I knew it," ho replied. Three times he said to me, 'Make out a list of $10 worth of the books you want mo3t, and I will sand on to Philadelphia for them." Some of the best books In my library came to me in this way. Ono day he handed me a package consisting of a box tf cigars, a briar-wood pipe, and a half-pound of Klnnlkinlc tobacco (other wise known as "klll-me-qulck"). Ho owned an oyster bed In Chesapeake Bay, and every Winter he would send to the rector of the church at Put-in-Bay a barrd of oysters which the latter was to share with the morabers of the ves try. Every year he would drive over the Island distributing little gifts to the chil dren, such as books and Jackknives. Fairy Story in Real Life. Speaking of children reminds me of a beautiful story which Mr. Cooke fold us. of the way in which he onco surprised his grandchildren. One day he sent the whole family off on an excursion on the lake. As soon as they were gone ho 7 called the servants together and told I them that he had brought supplies from Philadelphia and wanted them to help ; him make a fairy grotto in one of tho i recesses under the Island. They all set Paid Every Debt. To pass from this fairy tale to hard facts. Mr. Cooke once told me the story of his failure. "I was building the North ern Pacific,' said he, "and was depending largely on capital from France and Ger many. But on account of the Franco Prussian War the money was not forth coming. That broke me. However, I told my creditors to hold on to my paper and I would pay every dollar. This promise I made good In overy case." Story of a Photograph. The accompanying portrait Js a repro duction of a photograph which Mr. Cooke once gave my wife. He also related tho history of the picture, somewhat as fol lows: "There was an artist at my house one day. We were conversing together and I was seated in a large oa3y chair with my head thrown back. 'I,et me skotch you. Just as you are, said mv friend, the artist. I assented, and he took a sheet bf paper and a niece of charcoal, and made a hasty sketch. It took about 20 minutes, I should think. I was so pleased with the result that I .had the sketch photographed, and I would like to give Mrs. Shcppard one of t.io photographs." It Is a striking likeness of the "good gray head." But an even more Interesting photo graph Is one which his son. the Rev. Henry E. Cooko, of Warren, O.. formerly rector of Trinity Church, San Franc showed me about five years ago. It a photograph of four Jay Cookes. Se in the center was the ' subject of sketch. Upon his knee was hi3 in great-grandson. Jay Cooke, 4th. Stj Ing on one side was the son and grandfather. Jay Cooke. Jr., and on other th grandson and the father, Cooko 3d. A Personal Tribute. Jay Cooke is an historic figure. A -who was to tho Nation, from a flnar point of view, what Grant was to Nation from a military ( standpoint man who contributed to the developn of the country as he contributed the. by inaugurating a transcontinental way, has written his name as with delible ink upon the pages of hist Yet I, for one. prefer to think of Cooke as and all this he "was most talnly the clean and upright man: conscientious, unbrlbeable citizen: the ponent of "the simple life": the mo benefactor: the faithful Christian loyal churchman. And as I think him I feel llkft saying, in the w of Tennyson (ode on the "Death o Duke of Wellington"): Mourn for the man of Iong-endurlns b Whole In himself, a common good Mourn tor the man of amplest Influen Yet clearest of ambitious crime. Rich In ?&v!ntr common sense. And as the greatest only are In his simplicity sublime. O. lroi nerve to true occasion true: O, fallen at length that toner of stre Which stood four square to all the t that blew. Whose llf was work, whose language With, ruggr.d maxims hewn from IU; Whos eighty Winters freeze with on buke. All great self-seekers trampling on the WILLIAM C. SHEPPAr PECK'S BAD BOY IN FOREIGN LANDS i He Makes Friends With Some Italian Children J Da Is Chased by Lions From the Coliseum. (By Hon. George W. Peck. ex-Governor of Wisconsin, former editor of Peck's Sun, author of "Peck'a Bad Boy," etc. Copy right, 1003, by Joseph B. Bowles.) OME, Italy My Dear "Parti": Weil. sir. If you could see mo now you wouldn't know me, because foreign travel has broadened me out, so I can talk on any subject, and people of my age look upon m as an authority, and R And It Brought on a Rerplutlon. they surround me everywhere I go and airge me to talk. The fact that the boys and girls do not understand a word I say makes no difference. Thejr do not wear many clothes here, and there is no style about them, and when they sec me, with a whole suit of clothes on. and a hat, and shoes and socks, and a scarfp'n. on my necktie, they think I must be an home, and they snug up to you. and are as warm and cheerful as a gas stove. Say. I sat on a bench in a plaza with a girl about my age, for an hour, while the other girls and boys' sat on the ground and looked at us with admiration, and when I put my arm around her and kissed her on. her pouting Hps It brought on a revolution. An Italian soldier po liceman took me by the neck and threw me across the street, tho girl scratched me with her finger nails and bit me. and 1 yelled some grand hailing sign of dis tress, her brother and a ragged boy that was in love with the girl, and was Jeal ous, drew daggers, and the whole crowd yelled murder, and I started for our ho tel on a run. and the whole population I of Rome seemed to follow me, and I might ! as well have been a negro accused of j crime in the states. I thought they ! would burn me at the stake, but dad came out of the hotel and threw a hand ful of small change into tho crowd, and I it was all off. v i After they picked up the coin they beckoned me to come out and play some more, but not any more for little Hen 1 nery- 1 have been In love In all coun' trios where we have traveled, and In ll ; languages, but this Italian love, takes the i whole baker?', and I do not go urou. i any more without a chaperon. The girls j are ragged, and wear shawls over their I heads, and there arc holes In their I dresses, and their skin isn't white, like American girls', but is what they call olive complexion, like stuffed olives you buy In nottles. stuffed with cayenne pep per, but the girls, arc just like the cay enne pepper, so warm that you want to throw water on yourself after they have touched you. Gee, but 1 wouldn't Want to live in a climate where girls were a torrid zone, "cause I should melt, like an icicle that drops in a stove, and makes steam, and blows up tne whole house. Well, old man, you talk about churches, but you don't know anything about it Dad and I went to St. Peter's in Rome. and it is the grandest thing in the world. sands of good Christians in Italy, and confess that you are a fraud,- that ought ! to bo arrested. i Dad and I "have been to all kinds of : churches, everywhere, and never turned a hair, but "since we got to this town, and i got somo of the prevailing religion Into our systems, wc feel guilty, and it seems ! as though everybody could see right into i uj. and that they knew we were heathen', ' that never knew there was a God. Sure i thing, I never supposed there were s4 i many people In the world that worshiped i tnelr Matter as there are here, and 1 don't wonder that all over the world good people look to Rome for the light. Dad keeps? telling me that when we get home wo will set an example that will make people pay attention, but he says he docs not want to Join the church un til he haseen all the sights, and then ho will swear off for good. He said to mo yesterday: "Xow., nen ncry. I have been to all the pious places with you. the Pope's residence, the cata- Americano that is too rich for n'nv us. or something that ranks with a prince at 1 Say. the Congregational church at home. least, and the boys delight to he with'! "hlc1 w thought so grand., could be put me. and do errands for me. and the girls ggZ. SXS seem to be in love with me. . : ground about half a mile square, and There is no way you can tell if a girl : when you go Inside and look at grown is In love with you, -except that .she looks I people on the other side of it, they look at you with eyes that are as black as ! 1,ke nles and tl,c orSn Is b's as a coal, and tbey seem to burn a hole risrhr diock oi ouuatngs m ynicago. ana wncn take J they blow It you think the last day has i command yet the music u? as sweet as a into your .Irtsldes, and whon they hold of your hand they hang on. and melodeon. "and makes you want to ..get squeeze like alamand-lcft, In a dance at ' down on your knees with all the thou- Dad Wanted (o See. combs and St. Petor's. where they preach from 0 different places, and make you feel like giving up your sins, and I have looked at carvings, and decorations, and marble and jewels, and seen the folly of my ways of life, and I am ripe for a change, but 6efore I give up the world and all of its wickedness, I want blood. I want to sec the other extreme, and sec the wild beasts at the Coliseum teat human beings limb from limb, and drink their blood, and see gladiators gladlate. and chop down their antagonists, and put one foot on their prostrate necks, like they do In the theaters, and then I am ready to leave this town and be good." Well, sir, I have been In lots of tight places before, hut this ono beat the band. Here was my dad. who did not know that the Roman gladiator business had been off the boards for over 006 years, that tho eating of human prisoners by wild beasts in the presence of the Roman populace was played out. and that tho Coliseum was a ruin and did not exist as a .place of amusement. He thought everything that be had read about the horrors of a Roman holiday was running today, as a side show, and he wanted to see it. and I had encouraged him in his ideas, because he was -nervous, and I didn't want to undeceive him. He had come to Rome to see things he couldn't tlnd at home, and it was up to me to de liver the goods. Gee, but It made me sweat, 'cause I knew If dad did not get a show for his money he would lay it up against me, so I told him we would go to the Coliseum that night and see the hun gry Hons and tigers eat somo of the leading citizens, just as they did when Caesar tun the show. Then I found an American from Chlcagp at the hotel, who sells soap In Rome, and told him what dad expected of me in the way of amusement, and he said the only way was to take dad out to tho Coliseum, and in the dark roll a bar rel of broken glass down the tiers of seato and make lilm believe there was an earthquake that had destroyed the Coliseum, and that the lions and tigers were all loose, looking for -people to eat, and scare dad and mako a run back to town. I didn't want to play such a scandalous trick on dad, but the Chicago man said that was the only way out of it, and he could get a barrel of hroken glass for a dollar, and hire four ruffians that could roar like Hons for a few dollars, and it would give dad good exercise, and maybe save him from a run of Roman fever. 'cause there was nothing like a good sweat to knock the fever out of a fellow's system. The thing struck me as not only a good experience for dad, but a life saver, so I whacked up the money and the Chicago soap man did the rest. After dark he went out to the ruin of the Coliseum, where a great many tour ists go to look at the ruins by moonlight, and dad was as anxious and blood-thirsty as a young surgeon cutting up hid first "stiff." When we gotjto the right place and I told dad we were a 'little early, because tho nobility wero not in their seats, the villains bogan to roar three dollars' worth, like hungry Hons, and dad turned a little pale, and said that sound ed like the real thing. I told him wc better not get too near, because we were not accustomed to seeing livo men chewed up by beasts, and dad said he didn't care how near we got, as I r I Didn't Know He Was Such a Sprinter. long as they chewed and tore to pleccg the natives: so wc started tu work up a little nearer, when there was a noise such an I necr heard before, as the hogshead of broken glass began to roll down the tlcre of stone seats, and I fell over on the ground and pushed dad, and he went over in the sand and struck his pants on a cactus, and'yclled that ho was stabbed with a dirk, and I'got up and fell down again, and just then the Chicago soap man came up on a gallop,, followed by tho villains -playing Hon and tiger, and dad asked the Chicago man what seemed to be the matter, and he said: "Matter enough; there has been an earthquake, and the Coliseum has fallen down, kill ing more than 10,000 Romans, and the animals' cages arc busted and the ani mals are loose, looking- for fresh meat, and we better get right back to Rome, too quick, or we will be eaten alive. Come on If you are with me I Do you. hoar the Hons after us? said he, as the hired villains roarqd. Well, you'd a died to see dad get up out of that prickly cactus, and take the lead for good old Rome. I didn't know be was such a sprinter, but we trailed behind,, roaring like Hons. . and sna like tigers and yip-yapping like h and barking like timber wolves, an couldn't see dad for the duur, on moonlight night "Wo slowed up and let dad run a and he got to the hotel first, and we off the villains, and finally we we the hotel and found dad in the bar puffing and drinking a high-ball. "Pretty near hell, wasn't it." said to the soap man. "Did the lions t anybody?" "Oh. a fow of the lower classes." -the eoap man. "but none of the nob Tho nobility were in the bo.'.es. and part of the Collwum never falkj durln earthquake." and the soap man Jo dad in a high-ball. After dad got through puffing and wiped about two quarts of pcrsplratiox hts head and neck, and the soap man told him what a great thing It was perspire in Rome, on account of Roman fever, that catches a man at nl and kills him before morning, dad tur to me and said: "Hennery, you go p up and we got out of this In the mc ing. for I feel as though I had beer chewed by one of those hyenas. Not anj more Rome for papa," 'and the hlgh-bal party broke uq, and we went to bed t get sleep enough to leave town. Do you know, the next morning thos hired villains made the soap man and. 1 pay ten dollars extra on account ot straining their lungs, roaring like lions But we paid for their lungs all right rather than have them present a bill tc dad. Well, good-by. old man. We are getting all the fun there Is going. Tour only HENNERY. Widow's Pets. Toronto Globe. A- singular case was decided In a ilon treal court recently. Mrs. I. Brossard widow, resides in a rented house and he landlord moved to have the lease canccle on the ground that the woman used th house more as a menagerie than aa -place of human habitation. It was cc forth that about a hundred cats wcr kept by the lonely widow, and the pie was that they not only Injured the prerr ises but were a nuisance to the nclghboi hood. The woman conducted her own di fense. Sho argued that she was a poo lonely widow, and therefore should t allowed to have as many cats as si" thought necessary to solace her decllnlr years- Judgment was rendered by Judg Tachereau. who ordered the woman vacate the house and' to pay all the rei due, as well as the costs of the case. 1