The Sunday Oregonian., September 22, 1907, Magazine Section, Page 5, Image 53

Type of telescope used byJtofstsor LowsQ Is
obtaining photographs, of Unit Tfcs observer.
it in the tipper building gad looks down through'
the long white tnha to the .lower inclosure, where
; tha lenses, photographio pUtM and mirrors an
i placed. The roof of the lower structure evens to
perlnit ezpoeare. "
ONCE again the astronomical world
has been thrilled, and this time It
(s a thrill which the layman may
enjoy. It Is the thrill which follows
the thought that some day not far off
we will be able to exchange greetings
with our planetary neighbors, the peo
ple of Mars, now that proof of their
presence there appears to be accumu
lating. And, Indeed, there is in some minds
startling evidence at hand now 'that
Mars Is as deeply Interested in Earth
as we are in them, and Is trying fran
tically to signal us and get back some
sort of answer.
Professor Perclval Lowell, of Lowell
Observatory, Flagstaff, Arizona, pho
tographer, geographer and typographer
of Mars, has just returned from South
America, where, . In the Andes Moun
tains, he has been making observations
and taking photographs of the planet
( during its apposition. We were com
paratively "near" the planet then some
40,000,000 of miles away but quite
close astronomically speaking. Pro
fessor Lowell, who has always held the
belief that Mars was inhabited, comes
back brimful of enthusiasm for hav
ing obtained what he regards as abso
lute proof that his theory is correct.
Summing up the result of his work,
this is what the professor says:
"It Is a direct sequitur from this
that the planet Is at present the abode
of Intelligent, constructive life. I may
say in this connection that the theory
of such life upon Mars was In no way
an a priori hypothesis on my part, but
deduced as an outcome of observation,
and it has been since fully confirmed
by my observations. No other sup
position Is consonant with all the facts
observed here."
But that Is not all. There Is a more
startling, though perhaps not so scientifi
cally reliable suggestion that we are be
ing "called up" by wireless telegraph
across the awful distance which
stretches between our planet and our
fiery-looking heavenly neighbor named
for the god of war. .
Onelght a few weeks since an ope-
Grover Cleveland's Most Intimate Friends
Those Best Known, as Such Are E. C. Benedict, Richard Watson Gilder and John Finley.
Of middle height and stock, his weather-beaten
face framed in a fringe of
white 'whiskers, with a voice that sounds
like the filing of a rusty saw, and in ap-
pearance suggesting the seasoned, deep
water salt that Is EX C. Benedict.
Slight, gentle-mannered and low-voiced,
with a poet's hair and a poet's air, some
times of a dreamy gaze, but methodical
and businesslike for all of these things
that Is Richard Watson Gilder.
Impressing you as burly, yet showing
the student's stoop sometimes when he
stands or walks, with a voice which still
has the honest ring of the farmer's son's
that is John Finley.
Successful banker, aged 73; editor of
the most exclusive magazine of America,
aged 63: overworked college president,
aged 44; these three men, each utterly
unlike the others, are the best known
friends of the only living ex-President.
The first was becoming a power in finance
when Cleveland began his first term
In 18S5 and the second had been at the
Century's head for four years, but the
third, who later was to be the youngest
college president In the land, had been
free from the university only a year or
so and had hardly begun to find himself.
In more ways than one, although en
tirely unacquainted with him when a
White House occupant, Finley is' now
closer to the former Chief Executive than
any other man. For some years they
were neighbors at Princeton In fact. Fin
ley lived In one of Cleveland's two Prince
ton houses for some time and each sum
mer they are neighbors now, since the
Cleveland and Finley farms In New
Hampshire are located on the two sides
of the same line fence.
Dr. Finley and the former president
may have met before 1900, but their
close acquaintance began In that year,
soon after Finley was appointed to the
chair of polities on the Princeton faculty.
Naturally Cleveland was Interested In the
chair of politics, which was an innova
tion decidedly, no university ever having
had a professor of politics before; and
naturally he was interested, also. In the
personality of the new professor, then
only 37, and a year more than a quarter
century his junior.
Now, Princeton is a university town,
strictly. It has no Industries not de
' pending, directly or Indirectly, upon the
big school. There are no factories there;
no steel mills, no sweat shops, no big
stores. The population Is made up of the
professors, the students and those who
cater to their wants, with a few who
have retired from active life, as Cleve
land has from the presidency, and a few
others from the farm. From a business
point of view it Is not a lively place, and
its population Is practically stationary.
New houses In Princeton are a rarity,
and, when Finley began to look for a
place to live in, he wfes dismayed to find
that there wasn't a vacant house in the
village.
Cleveland heard of this situation about
as soon as any one else, and his Interest
In the chair and Its prospective lncum
- bent prompted him to offer a solution of
a&tajrri'!te i i 1 E
WHO SAYiS ff 9J"
THA T tTAR-S IS SUYA&ZrMTJD .
rator in charge of a lonely wireless tel
egraph station on the North Atlantic
Coast caught three distinct "taps" or
flashes on his instrument. He could not
recognize the call as any he knew, nor
did he appear to have intercepted a mes
sage, for the flashes were not repeated.
The next night the "taps" came again al
most at 'the same hour, and when the
thing happened again the third night, the
operator did some energetic thinking.
There was something about those mys
terious ' signals which seemed uncanny.
the difficulty. The property, on which his
own home stood was larger than was
necessary; In fact, it was quite large
enough for another house; his plan was
to build a new house especially for the
young professor. This pleased everybody,
especially the university authorities and
Finley most of all; so as soon as the
house could be put up he moved in and
remained the former President's tenant
until called to the metropolis to serve as
president of the College of the City of
New York. It was a natural sequence
that a strong Intimacy should spring up
between them.
Finley "worked on the farm" until
he managed to get to Knox College, at
Galesburg, 111., where he was graduat
ed In 1SS7, while yet Cleveland's first
term had a year to run. The young
man had to work hard to get himself
through; he devoted most of his Sum
mer vacations to earning money for his
Winter expenses, and, one day when he
was to take a stiff examination In
some branch of mathematics, he put in
part of the morning "plowing" corn,
walked eight miles after luncheon to
the place of examination, spent two
or three hours wrestling with the
problems that had been framed to test
him, and then walked home again "In
the shank of the evening."
He Is a versatile man. After serving
the New York State Charities Aid As
sociation as secretary for a while, he
achieved the presidency of Knox, his
alma -mater. In 1892, when only 29,
and held the post seven yeare. Since
then he has edited several periodicals,
written a book on taxation (in collab
oration with Richard T. Ely), and trav
eled over a good part of the world, In
addition to his educational work.
Also, like Richard Watson Gilder, he
has written some poetry, and pretty
good poetry, at that. He is a good
speaker, too, equally happy on the
platform and as a post-prandial ora
tor. '
Cleveland's Yachtsman. Friend.
Dr. Finley has one characteristic in
common with the other two of the ex
Preoldent's best-known friends. He is
a devoted fisherman, although none of
the three can catch as many bass in a
day as Cleveland can.
Finley is the only college man of the
three. Like Cleveland, the other two
have had to worry along "without a
degree." Benedict Is a native of
Westchester County, just beyond the
'limits of the present Greater New
York, where he was born 30 years be
fore Commodore Vanderbllt abandoned
steamboatlng for railroading. Benedict
began as a clerk In a stock broker's
office, and his business headquarters
has been in Wall street and its vicinity
for half a century or more, but he has
long lived in Connecticut, where for
years he was a real power in state
politics. That power exists no longer,
but his home on the Sound, near Green
wich, is one of the Nutmes State's
J
THE SUNDAY, OREGONIAN, PORTLAND, SEPTEMBER 22, 1907.
TffS JTALfAN ASTRONOMER
WJZO FSRST NOTfC&D TffJS CANALS
They did not sound to him like any other
he had heard before.
So he told another man at a station
farther down the coast, and to his sur
prise this operator, too. had received the
same signals at the same hour.
And up and down the Coast the news
ran, only to be confirmed by every man
who worked a wireless "key."
"It's Mars calling," some one suggested,
and science did not frown upon the ex
planation. There were those who fell in
line with the suggestion, and still others
who feared to combat It, remembering
greatest show places. It is built so
close to the shore that it seems almost
to rise directly out of the water. It
stands on the site of the old Indian
Harbor Hotel, which, in its turn, stood
on the site of the Amencus Club, built
by Tweed nearly 40 years ago as a
retreat at certain times for himself
and his fellows in politics. Benedict's
house is one of the handsomest in the
country, and he is proud of it and the
money It cost him.
Benedict was a close friend of Edwin
Booth in the days of that tragedian,
making his acquaintance through Jo
seph Jefferson. Booth and Benedict
had houses near together at Greenwich.
Benedict prospered, bought a steam
yacht, and, under the Influence of Jef
ferson, bought a Summer place near
his on the shore of Buzzard's Bay.
Ceveland already owned his famous
Home there, and Jefferson brought the
ex-President and the banker toegether.N
This was in 1899, after the expiration
of Cleveland's first term.
On general principles, they say, Cleve
land, who never has been fond of Wall
street men as a class, did not care
much for Benedict's friendship at first.
But the tastes of the two men were
similar along some lines, especially
fishing and shooting, and It was not
long before they were so Intimate that
everyone came to recognize the banker
as the one meant whenever "the Presi
dent's friend" was mentioned.
The intimacy thus begun continued
through Cleveland's second term and
after Its expiration. Together the two
men have shot over many ' hunting
grounds and fished in divers waters, and
together they have made long cruises in
the Oneida, Benedict's yacht. Of the two
possibly Benedict Is the better shot; of
a certainty Cleveland Is the better fisher
man. Although still friends, the old
Intimacy of frequent meet.ns no longer
exists. After Jefferson's death both
Benedict and Cleveland left Buzzard's
Bay, while Cleveland's new Princeton
friendshops have grown appreciably from
year to year. Dr. "Van Dyke, who
preaches and fishes, teaches and writes
with uniform facility, is one of those now
closest to the former President, as every
one knows.
Commodore Benedict Commodore of
the Seawanhaka Yacht Club, many of
whose members are Oyster Bay residents
is an interesting figure quite apart from
his former Presidential friendship. He
has strong likes and dislikes and must be
fond of a scrap; at all events ne has had
many differences with his neighbors and
others that have wound up in right lively
rows. Some of the liveliest of these dif
ferences have been with men much richer
than he the famous fuss between him
and H. O. Havemeyer. tne sugar "mag
nate," over the school house in Green
wich which Havemeyer built was an
Instance but some of them have been be
tween Benedict and various srmul busi
ness men saloon keepers, brush makers
and the like whose places of business
near the grand shore palace at Indian
the wonders which astronomy had proved
by line and arc and angle.
Is Mars calling us? Has she found
some method of driving the electric
waves across the gulf between us and
telling Earth that she, too, is peopled
with the "intelligent, constructive life"
Professor Lowell speaks of? Surely Pro
fessor Lowell argues logically enough
in supporting his assertion that there are
people on the planet to send such a mes
sage. And if we are to Judge them by
their apparent handiwork. It may be rea
sonable to suppose that they have de
Harbor did not suit the lord thereof.
Benedtst aspired to be viovernor of Con
necticut at one time, but his aspiration
never materialized.
Benedict's friendships always have been
diverse. Besides great actors and the
former President they havo Included
illustrators, musicians and other art for
art's sake folk. For years he used to
take a certain Mendelssohn singing club
aboard the Oneida for !ts annual picnic.
G. C. Brush, the newspaper cartoonist,
then in his prime, was a guest of the
club on picnic day, and there hangs on
the wall of Benedict's dingy office, on
Broad street, near Wall, a Brush cartoon
of the yacht with the Mendelssohn club
on board. Benedict's friendship with
Booth lasted until the latter's death.
It was while Edwin Booth, Thomas
Bailey Aldrlch and Lawrence Barrett
now all dead were Benedict's guests on
the Oneida that Booth made public his
notion of founding the Players' Club,
which Is today the great actor's most
noteworthy monument. Benedict Is un
usually fond of cribbage, a card game
which Cleveland likes as well as the
banker. Benedict made his big financial
strike in Chicago gas, along with Yerkes
in his luckiest days. -
Cleveland and George F. Parker.
The friendship between the former
President and George F. Parker, ' secre
tary of the Equltable's Board of Trus
tees of which Cleveland is chairman
dates back to the middle '80s. Parker
was an editorial writer on the Phila
delphia Times. Cleveland appointed W.
F. Harrlty chairman of the Democratic
Campaign Committee in 1892, Postmaster
of Philadelphia, and Harrlty made Park
er Assistant Postmaster. Parker's first
meeting with Cleveland took place at the
White House some weeks later, when,
with Harrlty, he went to Washington to
pay his respects.
When the campaign of 1SS8 came along
Parker wrote the Democratic "Text
Book" through the Influence of D. S.
Lamont, Cleveland's private secretary
and came into frequent contact with the
Chief Executive while making the collec
tion of the Cleveland addresses and pub
lic papers which the book contained.
Throughout the campaign Parker looked
after the press for the Democratic com
mittee. Together with Cleveland and the
others Parker was retired to private life
by the election of that year, but by this
time the friendship between the two men
had become thoroughly cemented.
In 1892 Parker was auditor of the cam
paign committee under Harrlty, who was
campaign manager. After his second
election Cleveland made Parker Con
sul to Birmingham, England.
Parker began life as a country news
paper editor and publisher in Iowa, and
remained a journalist until made As
sistant Postmaster at Philadelphia. As a
country newspaper man he sometimes
showed real metropolitan enterprise. A
man who knew him in the early days
tells how he "beat the world" one Sun
day on a news Item of such magnitude
that all the big city newspapers had to
follow him on Monday morning.
While on his way to church he heard
that a man, crazed by religious excite
ment, at a place some 10 or 15 miles
distant, where a series of revival meet
ings' had been In progress, had practi
cally "run amuck" among his relatives
Id
Theory That Our Neighbors on
the Planet Are Calling Us
by Wireless Telegraph Thrills
the World of Science
veloped certain things to a far greater
degree than we. So why might this not
be true of the wireless telegraph?
Professor Lowell and his associates be
gan observations of Mars In the Andes
last March. This was three months and
a half before the apposition of the planet.
From then on until the middle of July
the observations continued. They set up
their apparatus In much the same fashion
as did Processor Pickering, of Harvard,
when ne took his famous photographs of
the moon in Jamaica. The observatory
stood at the top of a hill, with the long
tube of the telescope running downward
about 135 feet to a smaller lnclosuhe in
which was fixed the lens and a mirror
attachment. The photographic plates
were placed under the lens In this lower
building, and by the aid of the mirror the
observor who sat in the house on the
and neighbors. The story as told
doesn't give details, but two or three
were dead and several hurt.
The next issue of Parker's newspaper,
a weekly, was not due until the follow
ing Thursday, but according to his way
of thinking there was one thing only
for him to do, and that was to get the
news as quickly as possible and give It
to his readers.
His first move was to get a "rig",
from the local livery stable. Then he
drove round to the homes of his print
ers, and told them he'd be obliged If
they would report at the newspaper of
fice late In the afternoon. Then act
ing as a reporter he drove out to the
scene of the trouble. He was the first
newspaper man on the spot, and the
only one who got there that day.
He was in such haste to get back
home and publish the story In the form
of an extra that he took no notes, and
as soon as he had got the facts together
drove back as fast as he could, relying
entirely upon his memory for details.
Hie men were on hand all right on his
arrival, and they began to set type long
before Parker had finished his story.
He was still acting as a reporter, but
later he became both proofreader and
editor, while still later he was publisher
and circulation manager combined. I
don't know but he helped "kick off"
the edition of the broad sheet printed
on one side only, which he Issued.
If so, this added the occupation of
pressman to the others which he as
sumed that day, but anyway Parker's
old-time friends say that his prompt ac
count of the wholesale killing added
Immensely to his prestige in Iowa and
made the success of his newspaper a
certainty. The "broad-sheet" was in
the street just as the churchgoers were
going home from evening service. Par
ker had several boys out, each with a
big bundle of the sheets under his arm,
with Instructions not to sell, but to give
them away to any who wanted them.
This feature of the enterprise was the
one thing needed to make it a perfect
hit with the villagers, and in the long
run no doubt brought in a good deal
more money than it cost.
Mr. Parker has made many contribu
tions to the best magazines and reviews
on both sides of the ocean and for a
long time was a special American con
tributor to the London Times, but he
has had little time for writing in some
years.
Some Friends of His Later Years.
Thomas Spratt, of Ogdensburg, N. Y.,
is one of the ex-President's molt re
cently acquired friends. Spratt Is of
the legal profession, and so typical an
old-fashioned country lawyer that In
Ogdensburg they call him "Tom"
Spratt. Cleveland knew him first when
President. Spratt was then the law
partner of "Dan" Magone whom Cleve
land appointed Collector of the Port of
New York In 1889 and made so great
an Impression upon the Chief Executive
that he suggested him for an Equitable
director two or three-years ago.
It may be that Spratt's old-fashioned
qualities fall to impress everybody at
first as they Impressed Cleveland, but
anyway the selection has turned out a
ten-strike. It was necessary to appoint
a special committee to straighten out
certain complications in the big insur
ance organization handed down from
the days of Hyde and Alexander, and all
elevation, saw he reflections of the
planet.
Ptofessor Lowell's last expedition was
a sort of "checking up" on earlier ob
servations. In the first place he had satisfied him
self that the planet had an atmosphere
through certain variations In the light
about it.
Then he watched the "south polar
cap," a great white field on the lower
axis" saw It fade away and reappear reg
ularly as though controlled by the sea
sons. As the cap disappeared, Its outer
edge was bordered by a deep blue line,
and when the blue line faded out the ca
nals came Into prominence.
The explanation was soon forthcoming.
The polar cap was Ice just as our own.
The disappearance of the cap at regular
seasons and the deep blue line succeed
concerned agreed, after watching the
methods of "Old Tom Spratt" for a
while, that he was Just the man to be
chairman. C. H. Zehnde. of Philadel
phia, and J. Edward Swanstrom, of
Brooklyn, are his fellow-members and
they have done their part of the work
very well Indeed, but it Is to Spratt's
simplicity and directness of method, his
far-sightedness, his shrewdness and hid
knowledge of human natiire that the
remarkable results obtained by the
committee mainly are due.
."Tom" Spratt is much of the Lincoln
type of man; homely, quaint and full
of illustrations and stories In his talk,
but with a brain that, were he to take
up the practice of his profession In
New York, would enable him soon to
enroll his name among those who can
demand "princes' ransoms" for their
fees. Cleveland's admiration for
Spratt's ability has grown into a close
friendship because of his "human"
characteristics, not because of his legal
and business ability. Judge Morgan J.
O'Brien, one of the Equitable trustees,
has been a close personal friend of
Cleveland for many years, and so has
W. L. Pierce, of Boston, another of the
directors.
Of those who as Cabinet Ministers
under Cleveland were among his clos
est friends, Charles S. Fairchild Is now
residing In New York, so that the old
time friendship has been kept up with
out interruption, although Don M.
Dickinson, of Michigan, Is still living
and as great an admirer of the ex
President as ever.
Fairchild Is essentially a legal man.
He Is the son of a lawyer who for
years was local "up-state" attorney
for the New York Central Railroad
away back In the days of old Dean
Richmond. As a yonugster, so runs the
story, Charles S. was rather a dreamer,
and his father was afraid he wouldn't
cut much of a figure in the great
world. After graduating from college,
however, the young man became more
practical, Btudied law, and, attracting
the attention of Samuel J. Tilden. got
into public life. He was Cleveland's
Secretary of the Treasury during his
first term and his frequent adviser
during his second. J. G. Carlisle, who
was Cleveland's Secretary of the
Treasury during his second term. Is
undoubtedly the ex-President's closest
all-around Intimate today, and a more
frequent guest at Princeton than any
one else. Richard Olney, of Boston, is
another close friend, and so is Judge
D. Cady Herrick, of Albany.
Plenty of Knobs on Bryant.
Not so often figuring in print as in
the old days. Dr. Joseph D. Bryant,
"the President's physician" in tha
early nineties, is still the same close
friend of tho ex-President that be was
then.
Dr. Bryant is now 62, a big, tall,
broad man, "with more knobs on him
than you'd find on one man in a mil
lion," as one of his admirers describes
him. His relations with Cleveland be
gan when the latter, as Governor of
New York, made him Surgeon-General
of the National Guard of the state.
Dr. Bryant is an "up-stater" by birth,
but most of his active life has been
spent In New York, where his practice
3
ing It, showed the Ice melting, the resul
tant water appearing in the darker hue
and filling the canals. The fact that
there were air, land and water on the
planet made It possible at least for hu
man life to exist.
Then came the evidence of an Inhabited
planet. As far back at 1877 Giovanni
Schlaparelll, the Italian astronomer, had
observed a series of regular lines which
he took to be vast canals or water
courses. Professor Lowell took up the
study of the Martian canals and his ob
servations developed these deductions:
That the canals were cut with a pre
cision and absolute regularity which In
dicated beyond doubt the hand of man
and not an accidental formation of na
ture.' That water was exceedingly scarce on
the planet save that which vame from
the melting of the polar cap.
That water being scarce and the canals
artificial it was logical to assume that
the waterways had been dug for the pur
pose of Irrigation.
That the canals led from a greenish
blue colored region to a red-ochre colored
portion of ,the planet which appeared to
be arid land, and that patches of presum
ably fertile land dotted the canal routes,
indicating that the Irrigation process had
made great oases in the huge desert.
. That the greenish-blue, or presumably
fertile portions changed with tne seasons
as though Influenced by the development
of vegetation.
Professor Lowell saw also that the
canals were of tremendous, size, the lines
appearing on the planet being fully 30
miles "wide and from 10(0 to 33)0 miles
long.
To construct this vast Irrigation system
he has counted 56 canals on his photo
graphic plates it Is evident that great
minds and perhaps mightier bodies than
our own have been at work.
Those who would believe that our wire
less telegraph has actually caught a sig
nal from Mars, point to the mighty
achievement of the canal builders and
ask: .
"Is it not reasonable to believe that
people who are wizards in engineering
might also be wizards in electricity?"
And even the astronomers who doubt
cannot absolutely dismiss the idea of an
other peopled world In our universe.
The evidence Is too overwhelmingly in
favor of Professor LoweM and his work.
is one of the largest going. To those
who meet hlra for the first time he
seems unnecessarily brusque occasion
ally. He always has been brusque to
the newspaper men, being constitu
tionally opposed, apparently, to giving
out news, even If the patient Inquired
of is in public life. This never has
tended to make the doctor a favorite
with the reporters.
It is said that once, when a corre
spondent went into the White House
and expressed to Mr. Cleveland a de
sire to see Mrs."Cleveland, the Presi
dent forestalled the proposed inter
view with the curt remark that:
'Mrs. Cleveland is not on exhibition,
sir."
Dr. Bryant's replies to inquiring re
porters frequently have been of the
same sort, which quite explains his
attitude toward the newsgatherers. .
But whence chooses, Dr. Bryant can
be. as agreeabln as the next one, and.
In conversation, say those who know
him well, he is- often most entertain
ing. Despite his sturdiness he doesn't
look as If he was a farm product, but
he Is. He never hired himself out as
a chore boy, but he worked on his
father's farm vacation times, both be
fore and durinug his college course,
and probably this has had something
to do with his rugged physique.
He was born near the birthplace of
Dan Lamont, and they were the clos
est of friends. It was Lamont who,
drew Cleveland's attention to the dpe
tor and led to his being made Surgeon
General of the state, a post which he
filled under Governors Hill and Flower,
as well as under Cleveland.
Dr. Bryant was a frequent guest on
Benedict'. Oneida when it was known
as "the President's yacht," and was
generally the life of the party, for he
Is a side-splitting story-teller when he
sets out to be. He is a blunt talker
When he wants to be. also, spitting
out facts and opinions regardless, but
never verging on the coarse. He has
strong prejudices and opinions, and Is
well known among the circles of which
Cleveland is a member as the only
man alive who can overrule the "only
living former President" when occa
sion arises.
When I am Dead.
' Smart Set.
Wh I am dead, and nervoui hands have
thrust
My body downward into carelens dust;
I think the grave could not suffice to hold
My spirit prisoned In the unless mold.
Some subtle memory of you would be
A resurrection of the life of m.
Tea, I would b. because I love you so, -The
speechless spirit of all things that grow.
You could not touch a flower but It would be
Like a caress upon the cheek of me.
I would be patient In the common grass.
That I might feel your footfall should yoa
pass.
I would be kind as rain and pure as dew,
A loving spirit round thr life of you.
When your soft cheeks by perfumed winds
were fanned,
'Twould be my kiss, and you would under
stand. But, when some sultry, storm-bleared sua
had set,
X would be lightning If you dared forget I
, The Japanese have a coin called the
"mousang," which Is worth one-two-hun-ArtdUk
part of an English penny.